How to Find an Escaped Hamster

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Hamsters are surprisingly good at escaping. It is quite common to lose track of where your hamster has gone if you leave them out of their cage without paying close attention to it. They can even escape from their cage and decide to wander off. Hamsters can fit into tiny spaces making it even more of a challenge to find them.

Here are some tips on finding your hamster: 

• The first thing you want to do is look in the obvious areas where you think your hamster may hide. Think about where your hamster would hide and begin your search near its cage since they may not have ventured off too far at this point. Make sure to check even the smallest of space since hamsters are great escape artists and can fit into small spaces. So, check places like under the sofa, down the side of a wardrobe anywhere you think your hamster could squeeze into. 

• You do not want to just look near you, you also want to check inside shelves, near a bookcase, in purses since hamsters are great escape artists these sorts of hiding places are not surprising. 

• Hamsters are known to bite around areas where they are trying to get comfy or create a shelter so any sort of bitten material or frayed edges may indicate an escaped hamster.

If the obvious is not working, then try these further tips and tricks:

• Trying to look for your hamster at night. Hamsters are nocturnal so will be at their most active at night. This will give you the best chance of recapturing your hamster.

• Try and entice your hamster by using their favourite foods scattered around different rooms around the house. Use different types of food just to increase your chances of enticing them. Make sure to put the food dishes in areas that you think is the most likely area for your hamster to go. 

• You can also try leaving a trail of seeds such as sunflower seeds and if one of the seeds out the trail goes missing then you know your hamster is around that area. However, hamsters are quick, so do not expect them to stay around for too long. 

• To make the above step (seed trail) even more effective you can put corn starch or flour around the seeds so when your hamster tries to take a seed they step in the flour leaving behind a trail of their footsteps. This can make the tracking process easier since you will be about to see their next few movements. 

• You can additionally, use your sense of hearing to try and hear the pitter-patter of their tiny feet. If you leave cellophane around, you may be able to hear their tiny footsteps. 

How to Catch your Hamster

Hamsters are hard to catch and some hamsters may come back to their cages in their own time so always make sure to check their cage and leave the cage door open just in case. If you are finding it hard to still catch your hamster the last resort may be to use a humane trap where the hamster will go for the bait and then get stuck in a trap. Your hamster will not get injured but make sure to check the trap regularly since you do not want your hamster staying in there for too long.