Hamster Central - View Single Post - How to capture a new hamster who is very skittish?

Imogen · 07-13-2021, 03:00 AM

Hi there.

As you are all mostly aware, on Thursday I fetched home a Russian dwarf named Oreo.

He's been hiding under the same substrate for two days straight and hasn't come out. I would like to capture him to do a quick check over to make sure he's okay as today will be the third day I haven't seen him at all with my own eyes. A note on this too: he hasn't even come out to use his wheel or anything else... he's been stuck under the same substrate all the time. I've been up all night and as I'm writing this it is 11:05am in the morning, and I'm exhausted but too late to sleep now. I haven't had a glimpse of him all night either! And I'm completely sat over the other side of the room - I'd definitely still be able to see him though, his enclosure is near enough to see in.

How do I go about this without making him harder to trust me? I don't want to just reach in and grab him which will frighten him - is there any calmer approach to go about this? Do I just scoop the carrier under the bit he's hidden in and hope I do a "catch the fish" type of thing? But that doesn't really sound good to me either. He definitely wont come out on his own accord if he knows I'm there, and if he sees me he'll flee straight away and out the carrier if I try to lure him in with treats and step out for a bit (or better yet I completely miss my chance...)...

Any recommendations?

07-13-2021, 03:00 AM
Imogen Hamster Pup Join Date: Apr 2021 Location: Essex, England Posts: 215	How to capture a new hamster who is very skittish? Hi there. As you are all mostly aware, on Thursday I fetched home a Russian dwarf named Oreo. He's been hiding under the same substrate for two days straight and hasn't come out. I would like to capture him to do a quick check over to make sure he's okay as today will be the third day I haven't seen him at all with my own eyes. A note on this too: he hasn't even come out to use his wheel or anything else... he's been stuck under the same substrate all the time. I've been up all night and as I'm writing this it is 11:05am in the morning, and I'm exhausted but too late to sleep now. I haven't had a glimpse of him all night either! And I'm completely sat over the other side of the room - I'd definitely still be able to see him though, his enclosure is near enough to see in. How do I go about this without making him harder to trust me? I don't want to just reach in and grab him which will frighten him - is there any calmer approach to go about this? Do I just scoop the carrier under the bit he's hidden in and hope I do a "catch the fish" type of thing? But that doesn't really sound good to me either. He definitely wont come out on his own accord if he knows I'm there, and if he sees me he'll flee straight away and out the carrier if I try to lure him in with treats and step out for a bit (or better yet I completely miss my chance...)... Any recommendations? __________________ Age: 20 years old • Hamsters I currently own: 2 • Hamsters at the Rainbow Bridge: 1 Last edited by Imogen; 07-13-2021 at 03:06 AM.