I lost my hamster!!

[reedtwick]

Yesterday at night I forgot to close the aquarium and today in the afternoon I realized that she was missing!! I tried everything: I searched in all my house. I put food in the ground with flour. I called her name for hours. But because of my mistake she still lost.
My house is small but my courtyard is huge, so if she leave the house is almost impossible to find her. (I don't know if courtyard is the right word. Sorry for my horrible english!)

Somebody can help me?

[CMB]

If you can stay awake late. You may hear her moving around etc. Put some of her substrate, nesting tissue and some food into a bucket. Make a staircase out of books, DVD boxes etc leading up to the edge of the bucket. Place a small piece of food on each step to encourage the hamster to climb up. Hopefully the hamster will fall into the bucket after trying to get to the food. You may want to add a slice of cucumber and use small treats or your hamsters favourite food items from their normal food.

Hope you get her back.

[Ruth Edwards]

Turn off any gadgets like television etc. So it's completely quiet. And you will hear her rustling around. Just sit still, something with a strong smell like a piece of cut apple will attract her.

[CMB]

A staircase to her cage as well. If you can. She may go back on her own, as it's familiar to hear.

[Vectis Hamstery]

I hope you find your hamster soon.

What I do for catching hamsters is here: Vectis Hamstery and Exotics - Escaped Hamsters

[SabreRose]

Oh no. Losing a hamster is such a scary time.

Try closing all the curtains, blinds etc so it's as dark as possible. Your hamsters more likely to come out of wherever they're hiding if it's dark.
Also try putting tin foil on the ground so if they walk on it you'll hear them.

[Pebbles82]

Was there an outside door open from the room your hamster was in? You mentioned the courtyard being large. Vectis link shows a bucket trap. Maybe you could do that inside the room (and also CMB's suggestions). If you think she may have gone outside that could be trickier as there will be plenty to eat out there and she may be less tempted by food. You could try putting her wheel in the yard with a trail of food leading up to it maybe. Ideally with some kind of playpen wall around 3 sides as if she goes in the wheel you can then block off the fourth side. Large pieces of cardboard from cardboard boxes would do, held together with bulldog clips - if you don't have a playpen.

You say the courtyard is huge. Is it open or does it have flowerbeds and dark places to hide (like under plants or shrubs?)

[minnieandhammy]

My hamster escaped and climbed onto the kitchen units then fell into the swing lid bin and was trapped. I found him because I could hear rustling from the bin and sure enough he was in there trapped so check any containers he could have fallen into and got trapped in unable to get out.

[AprilPearl]

I was going to suggest the bucket trap, but I see that it has already been mentioned.

When my friend lost her hamster, she left a small pile of food in each room of the house and when one pile got smaller, she knew which room he must be in. That made capturing him again a lot easier.

If it is any comfort, most escaped hamster stories that I have heard end with the hamster being found happy and well. So, the likelihood is that you will find your ham. Don't blame yourself. You're only human and we all make mistakes.

Keep us updated and good luck

[Thin Lizzy]

Any sightings of your hammy?