Sorry Boring Hamster Advice Again.

[Looking for help]

Scarlett - I'm sure it will be the hamster that has taken the food....you need to set a trap ...we put the hamster's ball out with the lid off it, and some food inside and left it on the floor near where its cage was. When it finally decided to go for it the racket of the food in the ball alerted us and we caught it again. This was very early one morning about 5 30, and child and pal were reunited again. However the darn thing had eaten through the electric cables in somebody's bedroom so I stopped its pocket money
Our hamster was called Colin

[Marylou]

Oh dear! Sounds like your hamster read the same escapology textbook as ours, Scarlett - hole chewed around the water bottle cavity in a perfect circle (how on earth do they do that? )

After all the obvious stuff - such as keeping doors and windows closed and being careful going in and out of the house - we've always found the best way to start is to wait until it is very late and everything is still (don't forget they are nocturnal and probably curled up asleep somewhere during the day), then turn off anything likely to make a noise - e.g. freezers - and just listen. Get everyone to do this in different rooms for a certain length of time, then if the hamster is in the roof, under the floorboards or behind the walls, sooner or later someone might hear something. Try this at intervals - but don't do what I nearly did and forget to switch the freezer back on .

Some very good tips above about leaving food around...unless you have any other furry friends or visitors likely to steal raisins or cheese etc., it's a good way of finding out whether Hammy is still on the premises. I've no idea where they find water from, but they seem to survive somehow! A home-made hamster trap is also a good idea - waste-paper basket with a staircase made of books leading up to it, padding in the bottom and kitchen paper with some bait loosely over the top (think miniature tiger trap). Peanut butter is good as it has a strong smell.

Last time ours escaped I really wished we could use our humane mouse trap but the hamster is too big...should be OK for a Roborovski, though. On that occasion (and there have been several) she was missing for three days, had a grand time burrowing around the layer of polystyrene under our kitchen floor and finally reappeared when DH was drilling a hole in the floor to see if he could find the burrow. The hamster reappeared from behind the dishwasher, presumably to see what all the noise was about. It was like something out of Tom and Jerry.

Anyway, here's hoping both the missing EPE hamsters turn up soon!

[scarlett]

I hope so LFH ! DH is back with these super duper " Big Cheese " traps which DS2 has gone through the motions with about 20 times and declared them suitable. Maybe I'll try peanut butter.

I'm worrying about cables too. If you don't hear from me again, I plugged something in and whizzed off to the moon in a spectacular electrocuted bang.

MaryLou....yes, I read your previous post nearly a year old now ! I can't hear anything at the moment although DD keeps helpfully shouting that she can hear it and it's the dog snoring instead. Would I hear a Roborovski though ? Or is it too small ?

[Marylou]

DD keeps helpfully shouting that she can hear it and it's the dog snoring

- sorry - that made me chuckle -

I think you would hear a Roborovski as I know from experience that you can hear mice All hamsters like to burrow and even a tiny critter would make some sound doing this. My cousin lost a Roborovski about the same time ours went missing once, and the race was on on Facebook to see who found their hamster first! I think he managed it with patience and a large fishing net, but will ask him whether he was able to hear the hamster scrabbling about.

[Moonlight]

Scarlett, I feel really sorry for you and hope that you find George very soon. Both my children have had hamsters and adored them so I know how you feel. DD has just suggested putting some food in a water bottle which will entice George back to his cage. I'm not quite sure where she got this idea from but she seems to think you can buy bottles which a hamster can squeeze into but which they can't get back out of!

I don't know about this to be honest. She has had a long day at school and may just be feeling a little confused!

Let us know when George returns.

[scarlett]

Thanks Marylou and Moonlight ! Your advice about the hamster in a bottle is making me think of a decorative ship in a bottle...will I have to break it to get him out ?

The problem is I don't know how long he has been missing for as he isn't picked up much due to being so small and fast and you can't always spot them in the cage . In the summer my neighbour was looking after them all when we were on holiday and I did say don't get them out...but she did and happened to choose George who is so fast...we're not even sure how she managed to pick him he's so slippery but anyway she spent nearly 2 hours catching him armed with just a tea towel as luckily she knew he was under the sofa. I'm looking at all the possibilities when you don't even know which room. The oven , the hoover , my work bag ( I might close the hospital down ! )the wash basket , the dog basket ,fireplaces...the back door which is always left open the list is never ending ! I'll never find him !

DH has caught a Syrian before with a pink fishing net, but they're a bit slower and again we knew here it was.

[Moonlight]

Thanks Marylou and Moonlight ! Your advice about the hamster in a bottle is making me think of a decorative ship in a bottle...will I have to break it to get him out ?

This thought crossed my mind. I asked DD how she would proceed to get George out, to which I received no reply. There's a surprise!

[Fran17]

OMIH and scarlett, I hope your little hamsters turn up very soon. It is so upsetting for the children when they go missing. I like the idea of the hamster ball LFH, especially as that is something they are familiar with. Keep us posted!

[mystery]

Well I do hope that George returns soon Scarlett. That really is miserable. Are you sure after the summer holiday experience that your friend had that it really is the original George?

[scarlett]

This thought crossed my mind. I asked DD how she would proceed to get George out, to which I received no reply. There's a surprise!

I love that about children...the fact if they don't know the answer they just will ignore you .If only adults could do that too

Mystery, I wouldn't know if George really is George ..maybe we'll catch the original one instead. Both our roboroskiv hamsters have had playtime in the bath together so George might be Rumplestiltskin anyway. I just want whoever it is back in it's cage . DD has spent the last hour shouting " It's here ! " so she can enjoy DS2 frantically running to wherever she's decided to pretend he is .I'm feeling stressed and DH has bought 8 mouse traps so my house looks most attractive.Let's hope no one pops in for coffee tomorrow .