Where did our hamsters go? Another update (possibly the end) Final update #183

[DawnM]

UPDATE ON POST #131
Another Update #169

Original post:

Silly question, but our hamsters got out of their cages (long story).

We are new to hamsters and honestly, I am thinking of just giving up on them.

Anyway, we don't see any way they could have gotten out of the house, but we can't find them.

Will they just die somewhere in the house after a few days?

We have dogs, but I could see them playing with the things and killing them, but I can't see them actually eating them. Would they?

So frustrated.

Dawn

 

[Swimalie]

My gerbils would get out when I was a kid. I would check under beds, especially if there are any piles of clothing. They love to borrow. Anything they can borrow under actually. Mine escaped once and I found them down the hall in my sister's room. They can really move when they are free! I really hope you find them.

 

[CaptainHypersock]

It might help to leave some bowls of food out in different places and monitor them. Just a suggestion.

CaptainHypersock out.

 

[maggieusa]

Check by you hot water heater or behing your dryer.

 

[Xanthe]

My daughters hamster has gotten out a couple of times and we always find her in the dresser

 

[dixonismydog]

Our last hamster was an escape artist. We went through 3 cages and lots of duct tape before we kind of gave up.....Toffee was once missing for 5 weeks before we caught him (we left out foods and water, so we knew that he was eating). The only way we were to catch him was with a live trap.

I would say the dogs probably wouldn't eat them. I would get a live trap, if I were you and then tape the cage shut for next time!! My cousins died in the sump pump hole. I guess they are drawn to it?? Maybe check if you have one. There are lots of tricks online for catching them. Ribbon tied to food (which is a good one because then you will have an idea where they are). Or baby powder so you can see their footsteps.

Good luck with that........

 

[bucket o' butter]

When dd had a hamster, it got out a few times. Everytime we found it in her room. As far as we know, it never left the room. One time it was gone for several weeks. HOpefully they will come back. I had one at school that was gone for months and it reappeared in the same classroom. It came out from behind the wall heater. Good luck! They will probably come back.

 

[dixonismydog]

When dd had a hamster, it got out a few times. Everytime we found it in her room. As far as we know, it never left the room. One time it was gone for several weeks. HOpefully they will come back. I had one at school that was gone for months and it reappeared in the same classroom. It came out from behind the wall heater. Good luck! They will probably come back.

Ours used to go through the whole upper floor of the house, down 2 flights (of 20 stairs) and to the farthest coldest part of the basement!! He was a strange hamster........

 

[Pastamom]

We had one that went into the attic and air ducts. One time DS saw her looking at him in a heating vent. One time we heard her in the ceiling.... We found a small opening in the bathroom that was her "escape route" and lured her out with lettuce. DH had to sit in the bathroom a long time though One time DS woke up to find the hamster in bed with him. Other times when we found her quickly she was in a drawer or under a dresser.
We finally discovered those clips worked well - she couldn't open them - although I watched her try...

 

[mjkacmom]

We lost a hamster the first night - we put out a no-kill mousetrap, and caught it within a few days.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

I had a cousin who would often forget to feed his, and one of them ate the other! We are going to do guinea pigs instead

 

[minnie1928]

When I was a kid, one of mine escaped from his ball. My dog alerted me to his location...precariously perched on the edge of an open heat duct. He looked at the duct, looked at me, looked at the duct...then jumped into the heat duct. I put a piece of cloth in the duct thinking that he could use it to climb back out. After a few days I realized that he wasn't coming back out and gave up.

Flash forward about 6 months....

My parents had their annual furnace check up performed and while the guy was in the basement he yells up "Ahhhh, I found something down here". True enough, he found my hamster.

I thought we were good hamster owners, but after this one committed suicide I figured that hamsters weren't really our thing.

 

[Tina]

Silly question, but our hamsters got out of their cages (long story).

We are new to hamsters and honestly, I am thinking of just giving up on them.Anyway, we don't see any way they could have gotten out of the house, but we can't find them.

Will they just die somewhere in the house after a few days?

We have dogs, but I could see them playing with the things and killing them, but I can't see them actually eating them. Would they?

So frustrated.

Dawn

Seriously? Your pet is lost in your house and you're giving up and wondering if they'll "just die after a few days?" Perhaps pet ownership is not for you.

 

[marie1203]

Our got out a couple of times the scary part was that they lived in the closet of the "cat's" bedroom we thought the cat will eat them for sure. We were wrong the got out chewed our carpets and fool the cat! We left their cages open and they always came back. Once i found one in our recycle bin in this room he had chewed some of the paper and made a little bed at the bottom of it.

 

[njmom47]

My daughter had 2 hammies (Minnie and Tink, see a pattern? lol) and they both have gotten out of their cages. Since we have cats, we always kept them them in their cages in her bedroom. When they would escape, we would put their cages on the bedroom floor (even if one escaped, we would put the other one's cage on the floor too-they had separate cages of course) but they would always come out, even though sometimes it would take a day or 2. Their cages were on top of my daughter's dresser, and sometimes they would fall into an open drawer. They would also climb on her during the night and wake her up. Cute little buggers...both passed away (Tink in June, Minnie 2 weeks ago).

 

[ziggystardust]

my sister's hamsters would always end up in the walls.

 

[EllenFrasier]

Get a "Have a Heart" animal trap and put it out and bait it with something that hamsters love to eat. You have to check it a couple times a day though or he will die in the trap from dehydration and exposure. While you are waiting, figure out how it happened and fix the cage. You could leave a trail of food to the trap - like E.T. and the Reeses Pieces.

 

[HeatherFeather]

My daughter's hamster got out a couple months ago from her cage in DD's bedroom upstairs. I tore up her room and the whole upstairs looking for that darned thing. Three days later I was drinking coffee downstairs in the kitchen and heard noise from behind the refrigerator. Sure enough, hammy had come downstairs and was hiding out back there. Don't give up yet...I bet they turn up.

 

[angierae]

When my daughter's got out we found him like four days later in one of her dresser drawers. We had two cats, but they weren't allowed in her bedroom and I am pretty thankful the hamster never got out of her room.

Leave food around in the room you lost him in.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

My DD's hamster would get out and hide in her closet, sometimes the hamster would be found in her shoes.