hamster safe traps

[OG_Jam]

had a terrifying experience with my long haired syrian hamster Bandit. he got scared by something and jumped out of my hands and i didnt wanna squeeze him to keep hold of him in case i hurt him so he ended up wiggling out my hands and onto a bag of paper before rolling down it onto the floor. i was able to get him back after a mini panic attack 😅 basically if it ever happens again and im not so lucky at catching him i would like to have one of those automatic closing traps that when the "mouse/rat" steps on the pressure plate it closes. can anyone recommend any that are large enough for a syrian hamster? all the ones ive been finding are like 2 inches wide and i dont want it to be too tight for him to turn in case he freaks out inside it and i would also like to avoid the larger cage traps because i have a small dog and i would worry about bandit getting his foot bitten off or something
obviously best case scenario is he never escapes and there will be no need for the trap but i would feel a lot more comfortable if i had one just in case. also bucket traps are a no go because
1. i dont have a bucket
and
2. as i said above i have a dog and family that forget to close doors 🙄

i live in the uk so any trap suggestions that would be easy to get over here would be appreciated, thank you

[velma]

I'm not sure that any sort of trap like that is without risk so I really would think twice before going down that route. Might I suggest instead getting a playpen to sit in when you handle him? Or lining an empty dry bath tub with a towels and getting in that with him? You'd be closer to the ground when you handle him so if he did jump, he'd be a lot closer to the ground and less likely to get hurt plus you'd have more time to pick him back up before he ran away if he's contained in the pen/bath. The bonus of playing stuff him in the bath, is that you'd be able to shut the door away from the dog.

I hope Bandit isn't too jumpy after his adventure and you get back to normal with him soon.

[OG_Jam]

Originally Posted by velma

I'm not sure that any sort of trap like that is without risk so I really would think twice before going down that route. Might I suggest instead getting a playpen to sit in when you handle him? Or lining an empty dry bath tub with a towels and getting in that with him? You'd be closer to the ground when you handle him so if he did jump, he'd be a lot closer to the ground and less likely to get hurt plus you'd have more time to pick him back up before he ran away if he's contained in the pen/bath. The bonus of playing stuff him in the bath, is that you'd be able to shut the door away from the dog.

I hope Bandit isn't too jumpy after his adventure and you get back to normal with him soon.

i have a playpen but i cant set it up till i buy new floor mats to cover my floor which i should be getting in the next week or 2 and its more of a case of transporting him into the playpen without him getting spooked by the smallest thing and deciding jumping into the unknown is "safer" i dont know why he's so jumpy he came already tame and didnt seem nervous at all when i got him but the slightest movement makes him flinch obviously him jumping out my hands and falling a little probably didnt help but i have no idea how to get him to be more comfortable and not so scared of everything. ive even been scared of handling him in case he gets scared and jumps out my hand again the last thing i wanna do is hurt the lil guy so i dont wanna "squeeze" him to keep hold of him or pull on his long fur to keep a grip of him ive barely interacted with him the last week other than talking to him and offering him a pouch of baby food when i do need to take him out for anything i dont even let him hop into my hand anymore i use the plastic base of a pet carrier and hold it up the the cage and the sides are tall enough that he'd have to climb at the side to lift himself over to get out so it gives me more time to try calm him or put him back before anymore accidents happen im starting to question who is more scared... me or him