Oh god, my hamster....

[BlueBlackYellow]

I have a pet hamster. She's only new. I have her about 4 weeks. Now. I was socialising her and she was so good. She's a drawf hamster.

I was home on my lunch break. I went to give her food and she bit my finger. I pulled my hand away and she came with my hand like a circus hamster and the she jumped and went onto the floor. Then she ran.

It was a nightmare of a fucking afternoon. I only had a short break in a very long day and I had to spend nearly two hours trying to catch her. I did eventually get her and put her back in her cage. The poor thing she fell before running away.

I didn't even have time to check on her and to help her and I was so stressed and so sick from all of this too. Then I had to go back to work.

I want to take her to the vet then my mother started raging at me about money. I live with my mother and she's controlling.

She's back in her cage now.

Then I was so stressed too and by the time I managed to get her into her cage and she was safe, I started raging and roaring around the house. I really didn't need that.

Fucking hell.

Will my hamster be ok.

Ime hamster likes to sleep during the day and squeak a wheel all night..
Bitey little fuckers ime..
As you now know.

I'm sure your hamster will be fine. There's no need for all the drama.

I am sure she will be fine. I had a hamster do exactly this too, fell to the floor from a height. Just be careful with them in the day, she was probably tired and grouchy!

Is she injured? I'm guessing not if it took you that long to catch her. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she is active and acting normally.

Hamsters have hardly any eyesight. If you smell like food then you get chomped on. No need for the raging surely, you're a grown adult!

Hamsters will run away given even a few seconds of opportunity. I doubt it would need a vet unless you can see it looks injured.
Don't get the hamster out during your lunchbreak. And keep the door shut so if it does escape it's isolated to one room.
They like sleeping in the daytime so best to play with him in the evening.

Probably many caged animals would like to run away. Not a good idea to have them, imo. I wouldn't like to live alone in a cage, either

I don’t think a hamster has enough self-awareness to know it’s living in a cage and that there are other options.

Um "raging and roaring"? WTF?

Get some bloody pet insurance and calm down.

Are you a child OP?

I am in the middle of a 24/7 work stint for three weeks. I get breaks of about 4 hours in the morning but that's it. I only had a short break to go home and I really just didn't need that.

Even so. Raging and roaring is what toddlers do. Not adults.

Are you Albert Camus?

I think you're underestimating the role of instinct, and the drive to reproduce, even if you don't think hamsters will notice that they're in a tiny cage Instead of being able to burrow into sand

But it's an interesting insight into why people think keeping animals on their own in cages is a reasonable thing to do 😳

I’m sure your hamster will be absolutely fine, they are hardly little things.

Its pretty common for them to bite and I’d avoid holding/touching it too much until it’s more used to your smell and its surroundings.

The vets can’t do anything right now.
If it starts acting odd then it may be worth taking it to the vet but they’ll likely just PTS.

There’s no point taking it to the vet right now but if you want to then you are an adult with your own money and you don’t even need to speak to your mum about it.

I'm your hamster will be fine

There's nothing the vet can do

And it will be wasted £££

Hamster will be fine, their bites can hurt though.

They love trying to escape and run - they run for five miles each night in the wild so will happily run all over the house if they can.

I put mine in the (dry) bath when the children want to handle her so she can't run away if they drop her if/when she bites (as recommended by the breeder).

Unless signs of injury I wouldn't bother taking your hamster to the vet. They will likely be fine and ime vets are pretty poor at examining small animals

Do you get your hamster out? It's a good idea to get your hamster out into either a playpen or a bath daily, I use a big tube to transport my gerbils if they won't come to my hand (most of the time they just come to my hand now) and therefore if they escape they just come right back to the tube. They are quite happy to go back in their cage and a lot of the time when they are running manic it's because they are scared and lost not actually escaping, if they are frequently trying to escape then maybe your hamster is bored

I started raging and roaring around the house. I really didn't need that.

You sound just like I felt when I'd spent over an hour at 1.30 in the morning trying to capture (successfully in the end) the live mouse that the cat had helpfully ushered inside the hall radiator. I could actually see its tail dangling out and eventually had to dismantle the radiator. I definitely didn't need that!

This can happen if the hamster thinks your finger looks like sausage.

Does your finger look like a sausage?

Are you the King of the United Kingdom?

I had a hamster as a child and when he bit my finger it felt like someone had stapled my finger! We accidentally left the cage door open one day and when I came home from school he was gone. Three days later we discovered he bit a hole into the mattress of my bed, just large enough for him to fit into, dragged cotton wool from his cage into the mattress and made a new home for himself. I am still fascinated by this 35 years later.

Awww. That sounds stressful op.
That's a hefty straw for the camels back and I think everyone snaps sometimes.
I hope your hamster is ok, they make lovely pets if you invest the time in them which it sounds like you are.
Sorry to hear your mum is difficult. 💐