How to Trap an Escaped Hamster

If you have a hamster for a pet, you face the possibility of having to catch it if it escapes its cage. Whether it has wriggled through the wires of its cage, opened its cage door, wandered out of its hamster ball or leaped from your hands, chances are the hamster won't magically reappear in its cage or anywhere else convenient for you. Like other rodents, an escaped hamster can wreak havoc on your home. Nobody, too, wants to find a deceased hamster. Get t to work catching the hamster right away.

Things You'll Need

  • Flashlight
  • Pail
  • Books
  • Fragrant food (such as peanut butter)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Determine how long your hamster has been missing and how far it could have scurried in that time. Close doors to rooms it may have entered. Let anyone you live with know it's on the loose. They'll want to take extra care walking around the house and especially opening and closing exterior doors.

    • 2

      Look at any of your hamster's favorite hiding spots. If you regularly let it play in the house (supervised, of course), look at corners where it frequents. Check these spots as well as any other dark, secluded spots. Behind books on a low shelf, behind a trash can, beneath low furniture or in the corner of a closet are likely hamster hideouts. A flashlight will help you check many of these areas.

    • 3

      Turn off the air conditioner and any other noise-making devices in your home. Listen very carefully for scratching. You might want to try this at night because hamsters are nocturnal, meaning they're mostly active during the night.

    • 4

      Put your hamster's cage on the floor. It just might return to it for a snack or a nap.

    • 5

      Set a trap, using a pail and several books, for the hamster, especially if you think you know what room it's in. Use a shallow enough pail so the hamster won't hurt itself when it falls into it, but no so shallow that it can escape. Place books in a "staircase" formation leading to the pail, so the hamster will run up them and fall into the pail. Set either trap with a fragrant hamster-friendly food, such as peanut butter. For the live trap, put the bait in only the specified area, so the trap can successfully close while your hamster is eating. The pail trap will need several steps with food to entice the hamster up the "staircase" and into the pail.

    • 6

      Keep searching if you don't immediately catch your hamster. You never know where it might turn up. Hamsters can maneuver into tight spaces beneath kitchen cabinets, behind ovens and in sock drawers.