New baby hamster just jumped/been dropped - twice!

[Angie B]

Hi, we have a new hamster and very unfortunately on being transported back to his cage from bath training, he managed to get past my daughter's hand which was blocking the hole in his house (she's 14) and fell onto the floor. I scooped him up but he was so fast he managed to wriggle free and darn it, fell again from about chest height onto carpeted floor. After about 5 minutes we managed to scoop him up into the carrier and put him back in his cage. He initially seemed okay but is now lying still, has ground his teeth a little (which I know is a sign of stress) and is just up a corner, not his normal bed corner. I don't want to stress him by handling him again to take to the vet as I don't think there's much they could do anyway - I think he would die of shock if he was handled any more to be honest. Do you think he'll be okay? My daughter's beside herself, we've had him just about a week and he's our second hamster.

What can we do other than leave him alone to recover from the shock? Thanks.

I forgot to say, he's about 3 months old.

I feel sick

[Angie B]

Update; he did sleep for a while, flat, and is now a bit more upright so has moved a little. It feels like a bad dream, I can't believe how fast it happened. I just hope the little mite's okay.

[Pebbles82]

It sounds like he is in shock and frightened, but observe him and see if he starts moving normally again. He is bound to be scared and a bit skitty for a while so hold off on taming for a few days.

If you think he might be injured, and he is lying still in the cage, then maybe try slipping the palm of your hand under him and lifting him slightly. If he panics and gets up and runs off he's probably ok. If he doesn't move for 5 or 10 minutes, even if you stroke him or lift him up (they can freeze sometimes) then maybe take him to the vet in a pet carrier.

He's probably fine if he landed on carpet but frightened and in shock. It is possible he is injured so check him out in his cage as described. Wear gloves if you think he might go for you! But at least then you'll know he's walking around ok.

I use a hamster ball for transporting them from cage to bathtub or another room. You can pop the lid on and carry it carefully (being careful not to drop the ball) so they can't jump out then set the ball down gently in the bath and take the lid off. They get used to this happening then. If the ball won't fit in the cage for him to jump into then lift him out of the cage in a tube, putting both hands over the ends of the tube then putting one end of the tube in the ball after lifting him out in the tube. Pop the lid on the ball when he walks out of the tube into the ball.

Our baby syrian hurled himself out of his cage onto the carpet during taming as well. I had put him back in the cage through the top door and he then ran at speed out of the side door before I had closed it! Thankfully he was ok. But better to always hold them at a low height and over cushions or a sofa, unless in something escape-proof like a hamster ball.

[Angie B]

Thank you for replying Serendipity

I'm pleased to report that he's moved about, including going to his normal bed corner, accepted a piece of cucumber and ate it, and is now in a different corner having a good wash, so with luck he's getting over his fright.

Not sure if my daughter's quite over her fright yet, however, she is still very quiet and withdrawn. Hopefully once Twinkie is seen to be back to normal, she will be too.

Lesson learned on all fronts - I just wish after the first fall/drop I'd left him on the floor as he was not in danger from anything, but I'd had this super bright idea of picking him up and popping him in his cage. How utterly stupid was that? *sigh

I've advised my daughter that in future he's to be transported in his carrier (or in his ball, as you've suggested, as he'll use that in due course for exercise anyway).

Fingers crossed early indications are that he's going to be okay. Poor little mite.

[Pebbles82]

Glad he seems ok. Yes it's a bit traumatic for the child too! It's instinct to try and catch them so they don't escape so not stupid - but they are good at wriggling free when not tame and a bit scared.

My stepson was 6 when we thought we lost the hamster under his bed and he might get under the floorboards and he was quite distraught. We had to tempt him out. We got over it

Another escape route they try is running up your arm during bathtub taming and jumping out!

Stepson used to get in the bath and hamster would climb all over him - then up his arm to his shoulder to try and jump out, so someone else needs to be there to use another arm to block this - or to steer them in the other direction with a hand

It might sound bonkers but I have little chats with the hamster and say - now you know that can hurt you so don't do it again and be more careful. They do respond to a caring tone of voice and that helps taming too. Once they feel secure with you they are much easier to handle. But nearly always escape artists, given half the chance.

[Angie B]

Gosh, never thought about the running up the arms and leaping over the side of the bath so thank you for that one, Serendipity!

My daughter's 14 but feels guilty as I advised her to completely cover the hole of his little house he was in with her hand, but she didn't, which is how he got out. Still, I'm not playing the blame game as I shouldn't have picked him up after that initial fall - should have also insisted (being the adult) that she covered the hole in the first place.

Just checked on him and he's having a really good wash, all over, so seems to be moving freely as he's washing his back and his butt, and then moving to his underside, so doesn't seem to be having any mobility problems, which is a huge relief! He may be a little sore in the morning however but I would have thought any major problems would have arisen by now.

I've suggested to Niamh she lays off bath training tomorrow and just pops her hand in the cage instead, to give them both time to fully get over today's incident.

But hopefully say Thursday if she's up for it, and Twinkie seems okay, then maybe she can try again - but this time transporting him in something with a lid!

[Angie B]

Well, I'm pleased to report Twinkie seems to be perfectly alright given he climbed a hanging toy at approx. 11pm last night and promptly escaped from his cage! My husband found him wandering around our bedroom when he went to bed. The silly thing had had to jump down again from approximately the same height of his initial fall but we think (hope) he had a soft landing this time on my daughter's big pile of teddies as he headed towards the light from the bedroom/landing door as nothing appears chewed in her bedroom. He gave my husband quite a shock

Luckily we managed to catch him quickly and pop him back in the cage and today my son is going to put some mesh on the top of the cage - it's a ZooZone2.

He's a fast little critter!

I didn't sleep very well last night, had to keep going to check on him, make sure he hadn't got out again although that was 100% impossible as we'd removed said hanging toy and put books above his wheel - not that he could have climbed onto the outside of his wheel to get out as it would have spun him off of course.

Best of it was, my daughter slept through the whole episode even though we put her bedroom light on

She was rather surprised this morning to say the least, when she was told! But also a little upset as to why he keeps wanting to escape . I've told her he doesn't 'want' to escape, he just wants to explore, and he's not tame yet so not used to us, which is why he runs away, bless her.

She's said that she will leave him in his cage for 2 or 3 days, just put her hand in with food/treats. I think that's a good idea .

[Pebbles82]

Goodness! Yes they are little escape artists - and also very contrary - once they know there's a way they will try it again. Yes the Zoozone 2 has 2cm bar spacing and needs meshing. Most people use 1cm square mesh. You would need to use quite a few cable ties to hold the mesh tightly in place, otherwise they can climb through the bars and get trapped between the bars and the mesh. Also check there are no sharp edges on the mesh after cutting. Most diy stores will cut it to the size you want if you measure up before you go and then you can just tidy the edges.

Lucky hamster in a nice big Zoozone 2 though. Your daughter was probably nervous at having her hand completely over the house entrance - hammies can push quite hard at your hand with their noses and she may have feared being bitten so it's instinctive to protect your hand at first! Eventually she will feel more confident and the hamster will sense that.

I wouldn't suggest she puts her hand in his cage though - not for quite some time. They really don't like that and get very territorial about their cage. Usually what's recommended is - first 2 or 3 days leave them in the cage to settle in, scent mark, build a nest and just make it feel like home to him. During those two or three days, talk to them through the bars so they get used to your voices. They sense tone of voice too. You can also offer treats through the bars (trickier in a Zoozone 2). As the Zoozone has a top entrance, the hamster may see a hand coming from above as a predator and be more scared or run at the hand to see it off! You can put your arm in at a kind of angle so it doesn't look like a hand coming from above.

Before they are tame I think it's better to let them walk into a tube and then lift the tube out rather than with your hand. Then from the tube into the ball, then the bathtub.

The aim is to get the hamster to trust you, and when they trust you, and are used to you, and know you're not going to hurt them, they are tame. The trust builds slowly.

Cleaning and messing with the cage is something that affects the trust. So don't clean anything for the first two weeks - just leave well alone. They don't see well and use their sense of smell to find their way around which is why they scent mark everything.

If it gets a bit whiffy after a week or so you can spot clean the pee area - just take out a handful of pee'd on substrate and replace it with a handful of clean and mix it in so it still smells familiar, but a lot less whiffy. Best to do that when the hamster is asleep.

If you have enough substrate in (at least 3 or 4" but 5 or 6" is good so they can bury things and dig) then you won't need to do full cage cleans very often and can just keep spot cleaning. Never take the nest away (unless it is pee'd in and wet - then try and replace some of it even if it's a bit whiffy. It's the number one most important thing along with their hoards. So again don't remove the hoard unless it's pee'd on and wet - and again try to leave some of it that is dry and then put new food back in the same place.

A big tip that helps the need to clean out very often is a litter tray - hammies are quite clean little things and will use a litter tray if you put it in the corner they've chosen as a toilet. If you put it anywhere else, they won't use it. Put a tiny bit of smelly substrate on top of the sand at first so they know it's still their toilet corner.

I had this one for a while, which is a good size for a Syrian. You can put chinchilla bathing sand in (must be sand not "dust") and it soaks up the pee. Our hammies pee in the very back corner and our last one would then sit in the front for a wash.

Poops don't matter - they are not smelly or dirty and like little hard black seeds. A new hammy may hoard a lot of them or even eat them (they have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients and vitamins). Hoarding poops is "emergency supplies" in case there is ever a food shortage If the poops end up being rather a lot everywhere then you can spot clean to remove some, but not inside the house initially.

I'm guessing he has an enclosed house, when you mentioned carrying him in his house. They do best with a house that is open underneath and sat on top of the substrate, so they can burrow down and bury hoards under the nest - it's also more hygienic as the enclosed plastic ones can sweat and not stay clean. Our last hammy used to clean out his own house if it needed it! They really do like to busy themselves about the cage and do things their own way. A shoebox with the bottom cut out makes a good house - make a hole in for a door and use the lid as a lift off roof. That way you can check inside now and then without needing to lift the house out, so the nest doesn't fall apart. It's also a good size for building a big cosy nest for winter.

With enough substrate I only need to do a "big clean" about every 3 months. And even then it's best not to clean everything at the same time. So with a big clean I would replace about half the substrate - (the bottom half tends to stay clean) and mix the old in with the new so it still smells a bit familiar. But not clean the house or toys or wheel. A week or so later, do the toys (if they need it) and then another week or so later, the wheel. In between you can just give the wheel an occasional wipe inside rather than a full clean, if it gets pee'd in.

At first, and when nervous they may pee in a few places but usually settle on a toilet area quite quickly. In fact too much cleaning out makes them pee on everything more to try and deter predators!

I usually hide two or three treats after any kind of clean to distract them from being anxious and stressed about the change.

In time they get used to the routine and you doing the occasional thing in the cage and may follow your hand about to check you're not doing anything you shouldn't.

Anyway - their main thing is their nest and hoard. So a big pile of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper in a heap somewhere will keep him happy - he might pouch some and take it to build his nest. It's the safest nesting material if swallowed. Never use anything called "fluffy bedding" or anything remotely fluffy! Pet shops sell it and it's dangerous stuff and blocks up their insides and can get tangled round legs leading to amputations and all sorts.

The hard thing at first is when you desperately want to interact with them and they're not tame. It's just time and patience and it's worth it when you get there. If you've got space for a playpen you can leave set up somewhere it can help, but the bathtub is just as good.

We got a new baby hamster a few months ago and after having a very old hamster I had forgotten how fast they are and how keen to escape! It not only ran up my arm but inside the sleeve of my dressing gown and down my back lol. So I had to climb into the playpen so he landed back in it.

Cushions on the floor near the cage make a soft landing (or teddies). Glad you managed to catch him again. He will just be very frightened at first.

This is the toilet (the Zoozone might come with one, can't remember)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-cor...=Hamster+potty

An open one is easier to empty and clean out every 4 or 5 days, and most of the others are a bit too small. I find the rest of the cage stays clean once they get used to using the toilet.



This is a little video my stepson made (with some help) on how we tamed our hamster in the bathtub - it doesn't show much but there might be the odd tip We just let him run around and occasionally stroked him on the back with one finger. Once he stopped jerking round to see off the finger and accepted being touched, we moved onto cupping a hand under him and just lifting him very slightly but letting him walk off. After that it was easily to pick him up and he didn't try and wriggle free any more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyEme2xcq4




This is the Chinchilla bathing sand a lot of people use for the toilet. One of those lasts me a few months.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supreme-Pet...a+bathing+sand

[dreamtree1234]

I'm glad that Twinkie is doing well and doesn't appear to be injured from his falls. I know that this must have scared you all. Thankfully, you were also able to catch him when he did his Houdini escape. Hamsters can be extremely wiggly at times and will try to escape if ever given the chance. It doesn't mean that they are unhappy in their home; it is just a natural curiosity that they can't help but thoroughly enjoy exploring. Serendipity gave you a lot of wonderful advice. I do want to mention that some determined hamsters can also manage to climb and stand on the outside top of their wheel. They can do this by shimmying up the outside (side and/or front) or moving boxes, toys, rocks, etc. My Eros did that approximately a week ago and somehow managed to jump up, over, out of her cage while I was asleep and thinking she was safe and sound in her home. I woke up to a rustling sound in my walk-in closet on the opposite side of my house from where her cage is. Luckily, Eros is tame and I managed to catch her. I wanted to let you know so you won't underestimate a hammy's skill like I did. After the fact, I also found out one of my friend's hamsters did the same thing, too. Hamsters can do the impossible at time, lol.

[Angie B]

Thank you both for all of the wonderful advice

He is my daughter's second hamster, and she's done some serious research before she got him, and since in fact, but I'm sure there's stuff in there that she didn't know - such as climbing wheels and being able to escape from a bath tub by climbing up arms! I didn't know they sometimes ate their own poop either. I know rabbits do (we have 2) but not hammies.

I'll get Niamh to read these comments, and thank you both again