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Old 06-26-2021, 11:41 PM   #1
emilyy
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 13
Default Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Hello,

My 10 month old Syrian, Chuck, has gone on an adventure!

Thank goodness I’ve managed to narrow it down to the bathroom he is in by closing off each room and leaving carrot and seeds on the floor and noticing that the bathroom is missing bits! I also put a monkey nut in there last night and some more food and his open cage and 2 bed options and this morning I checked and he has taken the nut and more food but is not in his cage or bed so has obviously thought thanks mum! And taken these treats off to his new hoard!

He cannot get out of the bathroom I don’t think but I am aware he can get under the bathroom unit and behind the toilet/bath pipes etc nicely out of sight and reach!

Any tips how I get him back?? I’m happy I know where he is but what on earth do I do!

Worried mum x
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Old 06-27-2021, 12:40 AM   #2
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Did you leave some water out for him or at least a slice of cucumber?

I think a bucket trap instead of the cage is the answer.

Last edited by Ria P; 06-27-2021 at 12:47 AM.
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Old 06-27-2021, 12:45 AM   #3
emilyy
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Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 13
Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Yes I left a bowl water and his water bottle in his cage open on the floor
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Old 06-27-2021, 01:18 AM   #4
emilyy
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Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Yes I left a bowl water and his water bottle in his cage open on the floor
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Old 06-27-2021, 01:51 AM   #5
Ria P
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Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Yes, of course, you said that you left his cage out. Sorry.

Can you hear any rustling or movement anywhere? If you can, i'd take the bath tub panel off to see if you can locate him.
There is a risk that he could squeeze into a gap through floor boards or a gap around a pipe.

Something strong smelling like a piece of cheese attached to a long wire and fed under or around the unit, toilet, bath etc may also tempt him out.

That must be so worrying for you but at least you know that he is alive and not going hungry or thirsty.
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Old 06-27-2021, 02:05 AM   #6
emilyy
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Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Yes I’m really glad he’s eating and thinking that surely he’ll be tempted by one of the many comfy bedding options eventually!

I am going to try the bucket trick I’ve seen online (peanut butter spread around a bottle balanced over the centre of a bucket with books as steps leading up to it and a lot of padded clothing inside the bucket so they fall in fine but will not climb out) and will try the cheese or something on a stick as well, do you think it’s best to do that during the day or this evening when he might be more awake?

Hard to know if he’s happy and made a new hoard or if he’s awake and scared
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Old 06-27-2021, 02:36 AM   #7
Ria P
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Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Hard to know what's the most effective to tempt him out and how he is feeling about the whole adventure.

I'd try the bucket trap overnight but would probably try the cheese anytime. If he doesn't follow the scent of the cheese and come out then i wouldn't leave the cheese for him to take to wherever he is hiding.

Do you know how he escaped from his cage?

One of our dwarfs escaped overnight once because her door had been closed on the first instead of second bar by mistake. She sat in our bedroom in the morning waiting for someone to get up to take her back home!

Last edited by Ria P; 06-27-2021 at 02:45 AM.
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Old 06-27-2021, 02:40 AM   #8
Hammy_Newbie
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Posts: 55
Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Definitely try the bucket trap! I recaptured our hamster using that and she had gone under the floorboards. It’s such a long drop down as my house is on a slope that I wasn’t even sure she’d be able to get back even if she wanted to, so I pulled up some floorboards at the front of the house and laid two bucket traps - one by the taken up floorboards and one where she had originally found a hole and escaped.

I laid them at night and put trails of seeds leading to the staircase made of books then just put broccoli, cucumber and more seeds in the bucket. When I came down the following morning she was in the bucket by the original hole - I have never been so happy and relieved! She had the biggest drink of water when I put her back in the cage and had a few small cuts to her feet but was otherwise unharmed.

Good luck and I hope you managed to recapture him!
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Old 06-27-2021, 03:03 AM   #9
emilyy
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Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Thanks everyone! I have just bought a bucket and will set it up later on and try the cheese in a minute. I think he escaped from his run as I know he can climb out of there so I always keep an eye, I think he must have escaped quickly and silently and I had already closed his cage so must have thought I put him back when I didn't!

I'm so hopeful he comes back I feel all unsettled!
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Old 06-27-2021, 07:15 AM   #10
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Help!! Hamster escaped!!

Bucket trap! I used it to catch our Syrian who was under the kitchen cupboards somewhere. Almost as soon as the lights were out abd all quiet (maybe half an hour latter) I heard this noise - it was the ruler flipping into the bucket - and there he was in the bucket.

Don’t use peanut butter - too sticky and not really good for them. I had a little trail of sunflower seeds then a tiny bit of cheese near the top then more sunflower seeds and a bit of cucumber as the main “bait” on the end of the ruler over the bucket. I used a 12” wood ruler but any piece of thin wood would do.

So - bucket, pile of books as steps (I found it took a lot if books!). I used large books mainly like cookery books to make a long shallow slope then smaller books near the top. The top book level with the top of the bucket or it won’t work. Slightly higher is ok but slightly lower isn’t. The ruler or wood finely balanced with the treats on so it doesn’t fall in. And a towel or something in the bottom of the bucket so he has a soft landing.

Then go to bed and listen out for a noise. I think that’s important as they can get quite stressed if stuck in the bucket all night I would think.
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