Something you may as well resign yourself to right now is the fact that, sooner or later, your hamster will escape. Some will climb up the water bottle, others will pry open the cage door, and yet others will build mounds of bedding in one corner and climb over the top. And once they’re out they can become almost invisible; hiding under the fridge, inside a couch or chair, inside kitchen cupboards.

So, how do you retrieve your escapee? Well, one option is to buy or borrow a live rodent trap – these traps are either wire or fully enclosed boxes with a trap door on the front or sides that allow the hamster to enter, but not leave. Place one or more of these traps around the house, or if you happen to know for sure that he’s trapped in one room then a single trap will do just fine.

The other option is to create your own home-made trap. Get a tall bucket and a few books. Place a few inches of bedding at the bottom of the bucket, and then put something tasty and smelly on top – some apple pieces, hamster seed, and some peanut butter will do nicely. Arrange the books into a set of stairs leading up to the top of the bucket then leave the room and turn the lights off. During the night your hamster will come out in search of food, and will pick up the scent of the food you left in the bucket. He’ll climb up the books and peak over the top of the bucket. He won’t notice the sudden drop off (hamster vision is not very good at all), and will continue towards the food, falling into the bucket. You will hopefully find him the next morning, snoozing in the soft bedding with some peanut butter smeared on his face!

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