Oh Dear...

[Jill Bayles]

Well I had another fiasco on Wednesday when I did my first cage clean...cracked the lid right up in the corner and chipped it...fortunately it's not in an area that Hammy can reach.

My friend Alan came to the rescue...he has lots of experience of keeping small pets so I left it to the "expert"...it's chipped on the outside so he sanded it down outside and in and said it's perfectly safe for Hammy now...phew that was a relief.

Alan re-fitted the cage clips easily before I'd had a chance to get him to help me with those...when I told him I'd had difficulty with them he gave me a lesson and I've finally mastered it.

Then after the cage clean Aidan took Hammy out of his exercise ball without telling me and put him back in the cage whilst I was tidying up but the barred lid was slightly out of place and Hammy sneaked out again...I came into the front room to find him sitting on top of the cage looking rather cute and cheeky so he obviously hadn't had time to fully escape.

It was my fault for not re-fitting the lid properly but Aidan and me had one of our cosy little chats and we've agreed that in future he will give me a running commentary re Hammy's movements and I promised him faithfully that I'll be more careful 8)

[Hana]

Thats a shame you chipped it good job your friend was there! I can just see little hammy sitting on top of the cage looking all cute and inocent! :D

[suga]

You guys are certainly having an adventure. :D

[Emms]

I guess you had abit of an unlucky day then - I have them all the time I burnt my finger twice in the same day once :P

Emma x

[Rach]

My hamster cage has been taped up for months. Nibbler was always sneeking out of his cage but since it was on a stool he only fell off it a few times when I found him on the floor (Mum will never know... :) )

I had a bad day yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow will be better... :D

[babyboos]

Lucky to have a great friend
Some hamsters just seem to find any route to escape other you could leave with an open door and they wouldn't try to get out

[Jill Bayles]

The cage lid is fine, holding up perfectly well and Hammy hasn't had any encounters with the chipped bit yet!

We haven't had any more escapes but last night Aidan thought that Hammy had got out of his cage. He flew upstairs shouting "Mum Hammy's not in his cage". I raced downstairs at breakneck speed, the panic welling up insde of me as I ran, and had a look around the cage...no sign of Hammy...then I spied him sittting in his igloo...phew! So it was a false alarm thank goodness. I was shattered last night after my night out with the girlies...it was a late one and we had a bit of a party afterwards at mine...we don't do anything by halves us lot...so I wasn't relishing the thought of perhaps spending another night Hammy hunting. But fortunately I was spared that awful task...ended up spending an age packing up Aidan's magnetix pieces as he had them all over the floor and they're awfully fiddly to pack up...still managed to get to bed relatively early and had a wonderful refreshing sleep so feel quite perky today.

Hammy was fast asleep last time I checked on him but I'm just about to go check him again...hope some of his food and water has gone but I doubt it as he's not been awake to feed/drink...I fear I'm becoming obsessional about his health so I'll have to rein myself in before it takes over my world :lol:

[babyboos]

please don't worry I am sure he will be fine

[Jill Bayles]

Thanks that's re-assuring. He does seem fine...he's probably using a food stash somewhere...will have another look round his cage tomorrow. And of course there's the pouching so I'm hoping that he's getting some food inside him.

[souffle]

We dont wash the top clear plastic part at every cage clean Jill or take the wire grill out so I would just do that every 5th time or so as it does not get dirty. That will save you the grill removal worry. Glad you caught him though :lol:

[Jill Bayles]

We dont wash the top clear plastic part at every cage clean Jill or take the wire grill out so I would just do that every 5th time or so as it does not get dirty. That will save you the grill removal worry. Glad you caught him though :lol:#

Good advice, thanks!

I didn't remove the wire grill it just became dislodged when the lid fell on the tiled floor in my conservatory :o which caused it to crack. I didn't notice until after Hammy did :lol:

I'm terrible for cleaning...I'd clean the cobwebs from the sky if I could reach up there :lol:

So I'll rein in my COD and leave the lid unwashed more often...safer that way :lol: