[Jaysephine86]

Hi

Our beloved Alan, a Syrian hamster, is behaving differently after his first escape and i was wondering if anyone has experienced similar?

He managed to escape two nights ago, jumping from about four foot high to do so. We found him behind the bath last night; had to remove the panel to get to him and he seemed pretty pleased to be found; he ran straight out to me. The poor thing must have been starving and parched. He was also making some strange grunting/squeaking noises and i was worried he was hurt but nothing else seemed amiss.

Tonight we've been watching and our normally sedate, happy and calm hamster has been running amok!! He's going nuts running around and around his cage. We took him out for a short while but have put him back for now as he's so agitated. We don't want to stress him out more and thought he should have more time to calm down. He's clearly desperate to get back out now he's had a taste of freedom. He's gnawing the bars, jumping off little cage ledges and not eating all the treats we give him. I'm also concerned he's hurt something from the fall perhaps but he's running so quickly it seems unlikely. He's eating some but not everything. And he's still making little grunting noises. He's still not aggressive though. Just frantic.

Has anyone else had this happen after an escape? Is it usual and is it likely they go back to themselves after a while?

I want to take him to the vet to be checked but I'm conscious of not stressing him out even more if i can help it.

Many thanks