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

[luvthemouse71]

Someone may have posted these ideas...

You can take a bucket with food in it- make a ramp leading up to the bucket. This has worked for a relative of mine.


You can always just leave their cage on the floor with the door open, when they get hungry- hopefully they'll go in. Downside to this method is you have to watch the cage closely.

Good luck!

Ps..for those who don't know..you aren't supposed to keep two Syrian hamsters( the large ones)
together. They are solitary and will eventually fight to the death. When they are small it might be ok, but as they grow it'll be an issue.

The dwarf hamsters can live together in most cases but even they have to be separated at times. Just thought Id mention it since I saw a post where the person was keeping two hamsters together.

Pea-n-Me, your Black Bear hammie is adorable! I have one called Little Bear. They are so friendly, aren't they?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Pea-n-Me, your Black Bear hammie is adorable! I have one called Little Bear. They are so friendly, aren't they?

Thank you! Yes they are! This little guy has really tugged at our heartstrings. He's amazingly friendly, funny and cute! Here's a bigger version of the picture - I have to take some more, and a few of him with the dog, lol.

 

[torinsmom]

My old hamster used to get out at school ALL the time. I went to the hardware store and bought one of the larger metal live traps. Definitely put something that smells in there to entice them in. I always used peanut butter and it worked like a charm within a few days.

Mine got out by climbing up on his wheel, balancing, and then pushing up on the underside of the top. He would get it open, squeeze out, and then the top would fall right back in place. It took 3 or 4 times of him getting out for me to figure it out. After that, I duct taped the top down.

I would worry more about them mating and having babies in the walls or something. Or do you know it is two females?

Marsha

 

[Dizneydaz]

Our hamseter escaped so many times that I started to call her Houdini! (Her name was Ginny) First time she got I I lcoated her right away in my home office squeezed between my desk and the wall. I lured her out with some lettuce tied on a string. 2nd time she got out I checked the same spot and she was there again. (She had made her mark). Next time she was in the closet in the room her cage was in. I think the longest she was out was 24 hours. That time I put her cage in the middle of the hallway and happened to catch her in it. Your chances are best to catch her at night. That's when they roam.

If you aren't going to be checking the cage to see if she's back in out make sure to latch it or she'll just move all her food to her new spot.

One time I saw her dart across the floor in the Family Room and the cat was right after her. I didn't even know she was out. I figured she must have crawled down the stairs but I found out another time that one of our cats was carrying her down the stairs. This happend another time. For some reason the cat would carry her but wouldn't eat her. not sure why as this is the one cat of ours who is a good hunter.

When I was a kid my sister and I had 2 hamster that escaped. (Bonnie and Clyde). Took awhile to find them but they were finally located in the overflow in the bathroom sink! We saw their little noses in the whole reflected in the mirror! They were lured out with lettuce.

Sad thing was one time they escaped again and apparently ate rodent poison under the kitchen cabs. (put out by the landlord) Clyde died right after that. A short time after that Bonnie bit my finger and died the next day. My DM was worried and called animal control. They said they would come by to pick her up and to keep her in the fridge (I remember that she was in an Imperial Magarine tub) to they got her. They said they tested her and she was fine. Don't know if they would still do this-this was about 40 years ago.

Hope you find her.

 

[DawnM]

AWE!

Ours are dwarf hamsters.

Dawn

Thank you! Yes they are! This little guy has really tugged at our heartstrings. He's amazingly friendly, funny and cute! Here's a bigger version of the picture - I have to take some more, and a few of him with the dog, lol.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

Oooh, it's hamster watch 2010

Hope you find them soon! The posters who woke up to find hamsters crawling on them really freaked me out!

 

[dixonismydog]

Oh man....I was hoping to hear you found the little turds today!

 

[DawnM]

Nope. Haven't found them. We have food out, open cage with food and water, a live trap with PB, and apple slices in various places around the house. NOTHING.

Dawn

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I had a hamster when I was little...it growled at me, (yes, I'm not lying the thing growled) it didn't like me so I gave him to the boy down the street.
Gizmo, I could have taken good care of you, but you just couldn't love me

 

[momxx5]

OMG, I had no idea that all this hamster stuff was going on in the world.

Thankfully for us a dog and 2 cats are all we can handle right now.

Good luck finding your sneaky little friends.
Keep us posted.

 

[Shelli_5]

I've gotten so much enjoyment from reading everyone's cute hamster stories! My story isn't exactly cute, but I had a hamster when I was 5 or 6 years old & it also escaped. I don't remember the event itself, but I've heard the story from my dad 1,000 times. Apparently it chewed a bunch of holes into the back of my parents' sofa. My dad was pretty upset & they never found the hamster. Needless to say, there were no more hamsters in our house after that.

Pea-n-Me, Gus is just adorable. Please post more pictures!

DawnM, I really hope that you find your little ones soon. Don't give up hope. Maybe you'll wake up one night & see them scurrying around the house.

Shelli

 

[torinsmom]

They can cause a lot of damage if they are left to run around the house--chewing furniture and even electrical cords. Just another reason to try and catch them.

 

[meliss8599]

this worked every time my hamsters would get out- I would make a "stair case" of about 4-5 larger books with hamster food going up it and then put some hamster food at the bottom of a deep tupperware container so they would eat their way up the book stairs and gently tumble into the tupperware you just have to do one in every room if your home is bigger. good luck!

Something very similar to this always worked for us and it was what I was going to recommend to you. Every time, we would find our hamster in the laundry room in the basement near the hot water heater.

Look for a place where you think you've seen/heard him and set up a wash bucket with a ramp (or the staircase of books) to the top of the bucket. What we did differently is drape a very lightweight t-shirt or washcloth over the entire top of the bucket and place very enticing fruits/seeds/nuts in the middle. The hamster would venture onto the t-shirt and ultimately fall into the bucket. Worked EVERY time. Remember they're mainly nocturnal so have it up and ready in the evening. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[bumbershoot]

My first hamster was an escape artist. She'd get on top of her (smooth plastic) wheel, wedge herself in, and either chew or claw on the knobby things that I turned to lock the cage, to get one to turn, and then she'd get out. I now have this image of her secretly watching the bottom of the knob after I would put her in the cage and then lock the top, her little hamster brain thinking on those knobs and figuring that they had something to do with her freedom...

Anyway, she liked to hide in my room (that was easy enough), and once she hid IN the couch. We didn't know where she was for days and days, and one day we heard a little scritching from underneath our bottoms. Turned over the couch, and she was hiding up in the back of the couch.

And around this time of year, she got out for quite a long time. We figured she was a goner. But we were home from school on vacation, and when my mom went to work she generally went out the back door b/c the car was closer to that door...one day we decided to go out the front door. She was there, between the door and the screendoor. I have NO idea how she got there and even more NO idea how she lived. No water, no food, and it was cold (OK, 50 degrees or so...that's cold when you live in San Jose CA LOL).

 

[tiggerplus5]

Have you looked behind all the furniture in the room where the little bugger got out? We found one wedged behind a bookcase once. I think he jumped off the ledge and got stuck back there. We had another one that was living in my DD's boxspring. The hamster dug a bunch of stuffing out of the mattress and made a little den in the corner of the box spring.

We ended up giving away a bunch of babies and their mother because I could not contain them. The plastic tub is a great idea.

It worries me that the food has not been touched. Sometimes if you listen really closely at night you can hear them scratching around. Good luck!

 

[DawnM]

Yeah, the food not touched has concerned us as well.

We have overturned all the furniture almost daily, partly to see if they have chewed anywhere and partly in hopes of finding them.

I will try the washbucket idea, but I am losing hope.

Babies start being picked up tomorrow and should be gone (all but 2) by the end of the weekend.

We will keep the 2 babies if we can't find the other 2 but only because my kids are begging. I told them yesterday that when these die (how long do they last typically? A couple of years?) we most likely will not be looking at more.

I am much more of a dog person.

Dawn

Have you looked behind all the furniture in the room where the little bugger got out? We found one wedged behind a bookcase once. I think he jumped off the ledge and got stuck back there. We had another one that was living in my DD's boxspring. The hamster dug a bunch of stuffing out of the mattress and made a little den in the corner of the box spring.

We ended up giving away a bunch of babies and their mother because I could not contain them. The plastic tub is a great idea.

It worries me that the food has not been touched. Sometimes if you listen really closely at night you can hear them scratching around. Good luck!

 

[Soupermom]

I would check up in vases and things like that. They are like mice and can crawl into any cabinet and the up into most anything. I had the same experience once with my two hampsters. I found one the next day...I had left "toys" out and he ran across one which I then heard. The other one was found weeks later due to the smell. It had crawled into a metal cabinet and then up into a jar or vase or something like that. Not a pretty sight or smell. Good luck!

 

[ToddyLu]

Remy sends you pixie dust for the hunt and thanks you for taking such good care of the babies

 

[Principessa1284]

Every hamster we ever had when I was a kid escaped at least two or three times. We still have no idea how one got out one time - the cage was shut and locked closed, no chew holes anywhere.. the little guy was houdini. We didn't even notice he was missing until the dog was acting funny. She sat in front of the closet and whined for an hour - wouldn't even eat her dinner. Finally my mom looked in the closet, and he'd made a nice little bed for himself in my dad's shoe.

Another time, can't remember if it was the same one, got out when we were on vacation. Our house sitter was frantic and couldn't find him anywhere. We got home a week later and the cable had gone out. Then we heard scratching in the basement while doing laundry. He had gotten into the wall in the basement through the heating duct and chewed through the tv cable for food. He lived to be like, 5 years old.

 

[DawnM]

Well, unfortunately, we are still looking. No sign of them. We have turned over the furniture daily to watch for chew marks or any signs of them. We have everything out for them, food, etc.....not touched.

5 of the babies will be picked up this weekend! We will keep 1 or 2 of them. There are 7 total.

Dawn