Stupid Ball!

[cookietiger]

So this evening I was cleaning out Crumpet's cage. What I do is for the first 20 minutes I put her in her ball and then I move her into the playpen and have my mum or sister watch her whilst I wash her bits and bobs.
It had been just over 20 minutes and so I quickly set up her playpen with some of her toys in it. I then went to get her from the kitchen. As I walked down the corridor I could see her in the ball. Then the lid fell off. I was like 5 steps away. And it fell off. I quickly picked up the ball and took her to the pen.
If I spent a few minutes longer cleaning or putting the pen together she would have escaped and I haven't fully tamed her yet. This is the thing! Urgh! I never trusted it in the first place because it was loose. And then it detaches itself! I have -100% trust in it now. Urghhhhh.

I just felt like I had to post this on the forums. Like urgh... don't trust hamster balls with wobbly lids they are hamster activists that want freedom for all hamsters. And just so you know tomorrow as soon as I'm free I'm going to buy another hamster ball... that isn't around 8 years old.

[Wanna Hamster]

Good thing she didn't get too far! I personally never trust balls, for that reason. If you have more trouble with the lid falling off, you can just tape it shut while she is in it, the take it off when she is done.

[Shannonmcn]

Taaaaape, sellotape all the time, check tape twice before you let it go. I don't use a ball anymore but I did for my past 3 hams and all 3 had no bother escaping from the ball if it was tape-less. I bought the last one with a "secure" locking lid, risked it without tape and I was also about three feet away when I watched the lid fall off!

[Esmy]

The same thing happened to me first time I put my girl in one. Now I use a strip of duct tape over the lid and it's reusable.

[DrKMcK]

LOLOLOL! Ah, how many times I had a hamster looking up at me while his ball was a couple of feet away with the lid open. I learned to crazy glue the seam of the ball before I give it to any ham and to tape the door when they are put in the ball. A small bit of tape on opposite sides of the door keeps them in. You can't do just one. I've had a ham smack the ball enough to pop off the side that didn't have the tape.
The reason I decided to glue the seam permanently is because a ham can hit something and the halves pop apart like an egg hatching! I haven't had a hamster get out since I started doing this. It's a good thing you saw it before the hammy escaped.

[angelham]

every ball I've had does the same! I tape mine too. My ham is on a mission whenever she goes in and whacks it against any surface she can until she gets bored, I think they like to make noise and ofc find any excuse to be naughty <3

[ToriandHams]

Yeah, hamster balls are not exactly the safest thing for hammy playtime, I've found. The same thing happened to my Russian Dwarf while I was cleaning his cage. I was letting him roll around the kitchen while I was washing stuff in the sink and when I turned around I noticed the lid had popped off the ball and little Pudge was crawling around on the floor!

After that, I always used tape to keep it shut.

[racinghamster]

That`s why they can be dangerous. I hate the things. Using a secure play pen is better. You can see what they are doing and don`t need to worry about them escaping or trapping feet in the holes. x

[Jen250]

Same thing happened with mine! The lid just fell off out of nowhere as my hamster was running around in it. Luckily, I was watching. I've only let him use the ball once since then--with the lids taped on--and now just put him in a playpen when he wants to come out.

[Tildauk]

Glue and sellotape such a good idea, my current ball is relatively well made but they only last so long before they aren't (you can't expect plastic to scrape over itself forever before its loose can you).

I'm so glad you noticed fast and got your ham

What hamster secure playpens do people recommend (all the ones on amazon come with "don't get it the hamster escapes" reviews)?

How big are peoples balls I always feel they are too small like wheels even if you get a big one and I haven't really found one I like.