had a fright :(

[gellerbing]

last night i was sat on the floor holding rocket like i usually do, but when i was putting him back in the cage something must have made him jump as he jumped out of my hands, i tried to grab him in a panic but he was too fast and landed on the floor running under the bed, i managed to entise him into his ball and put him back in his cage, my heart was pounding after all this and he was breathing fast too, i left him for half an hour and he calmed down even took a monkey nut from me and ran in his wheel, he seems fine today thankfully but i havent handled him incase he still remembers yesterday :(

[chewit]

i doubt he remembers, don’t be worried about getting him out again, we’ve all had instances where our hammies have made a leap of faith :-) chewit got out of her ball (boyfriend didn’t screw the cap on properly), i was away at the time and a very panicked boyfriend on the phone at 1am because she’d run under the sofa!

[kyrilliondaemon]

Yeah, don't worry. We've all done it.

My worst two moments were
For the hamster - Whizz's first escape when she was still terrified of people and it took over an hour to get her back (had been getting her out for a cage clean). She got over it :)
For me feeling worst - I had a foot injury (still have it). At the stage where I could walk fine but couldn't crouch down safely... Scamp dived to the floor as I got her out. Accident on both our parts - I didn't do something quite right, she er... didn't expect her cage to be open and was being overexcited. I felt so bad watching her on the floor and being unable to scoop her up myself. My OH was nearby and he got her for me, but I felt so guilty then lol. She was fine too though and soon calmed down with us :)

[JimTehHackr]

Don't worry. My brother accidentally dropped my hamster in the toilet. Thank god he knew how to swim. After that he was cleaning himself for half to one hour and then went back to the routine, climbing up to his cage and acting like tarzan. =P

[de4life]

I think pretty much anyone who's had a ham for an extended period of time will have had this experience... they notoriously lack common sense when it comes to jumping into unknown spaces and have no concept of height at all.

Just the other night little Hjalmar was wandering around the settee next to me, he then walked onto my phone and across the cover - which was hanging just off the edge. His weight caused the phone to slip and he fell to the floor. I scrambled down and he was laying half on his back, half twisted around waving his front paws. I genuinely thought for a moment he'd broken his back, but thankfully he righted himself and began scampering off before I picked him up. Falls can happen so quickly and they can jump without warning, it's difficult.

[smidgey]

As everyone has said, if he seems ok and isn't injured, don't worry, these things happen! Smidge jumped out my hands while I was standing, did a somersault and landed on her feet. She just wandered off, I was in a right state, but picked her up and she's fine :)

[GhostsInSnow]

Just wanted to echo what everyone else has said, if he seems his usual self, moving around fine and eating/drinking normally then there shouldn't be anything to worry about :)
I made a panicked post here last month after something similar happened to me. Fudge decided to leap out of her cage, 3ft-ish drop onto the floor. I think the fall shook her up a bit as she stayed where she was until I scooped her up. Put her back in the cage and she was fine. She still tries to do it now but I'm a little more wise to her leaps of faith now haha

[de4life]

I can remember the first time Minnie came out of her cage during the taming process I let her wander around on my bed... she walked over to the edge, looked at me and then just jumped D: she was fine but usually they at least peer down and sniff before just leaping. Odd little hams!

[GhostsInSnow]

Fudge doesn't look first, she just keeps on walking haha

[Catherine Spark]

Oooh...terrifying! He ran under the bed, lucky you managed to get him back! Willow did that too at the start, jumping out my hands and skitting round the back of her cage. Still don't trust her fully, particularly as she's on a course of baytril right now, which tastes vile and which I have to hold her for. The time she jumped, I had to grab her by the skirt because I was afraid of her rocketing upwards if I held her in the normal way. Don't let it put you off though...maybe take him out using an exercise ball to hold and carry him in, for extra security, and interact in a run or the bath or some other secure place until you both get used to each other?

One time with ^Oakie^...over the bath...full of warm water...with my partner in it...lots of towels and cleaning himself after that one...We always let Oakie take little risks. The bathroom of our old flat was hamster friendly so it was affordable to do so. He soon learned that any drop higher than 10cm hurt a bit on landing (though we made sure it was never high enough to do him any harm), and that cushions were fun to jump on (we called them 'crash pads').

[gellerbing]

thanks everyone, im so glad its not just me this has happened to he just scared me half to death lol, he definitely doesnt remember i dont think and ive picked him up since, hes seems happy enough, will obviously be more prepared next time lol

[Pompompoms]

Honestly, when the robos are babies and I'm sexing them at four weeks, they're like little jumping beans, The first time I was terrified that I was going to drop one even though I held them really low. I did have a couple of jumpers back into the bowl!

Like everyone else I've had accidents that horrified me, not so much now, but it took a long time of getting used to wiggly robos to feel confident enough to carry them about without worry.

It sounds like no harm was done at all, so don't worry :)