My Runaway Hamster Farewell Basil

[icemarle 0]

Here goes... just when everything was quiet and peaceful, I was playing with my pet dwarf hamster, Basil. He was awake at 2pm and he was being nosy, so I decided to play with him. When I let him run for a bit... I wasn't able to catch him when he ran and fell into a narrow space filled with dust and wires. My house is also cluttered with heavy engineering materials thanks to my dad. So now, what could I do? I started wailing for him like a drama queen and I FOUND him when he came out beside a wicker basket!! I was shocked and coaxed him to come to me with my dirty hands, but he ran away. He hid behind the basket which is beside a wall, so I thought I trapped him. I was wrong. He pulled off a disappearing act, and now I don't know where he is. I left a trap with his favorite treats, but nothing... All house exits are secure, by the way. Anyway, so I decided to put 3 sunflower seeds in every room scattered in different and suspected loacations. Nothing's happened for now. I only put them there an hour ago. Let's wait and see what happens when he wakes up at 2pm. *grin* (He's not always nocturnal).Basil left a mate who's pregnant at this very moment.By the way... I'm veeeeery upset about this... don't take this as a laughing matter.

[jlhaslip 4]

Icemarle, Relax. If you place its cage somewhere near where you think he might be, it will (should) go back to it because that is where it gets fed and watered. Might take some time, though. Don't expect it to happen in 10 minutes. Maybe overnight.I had a pet raccoon once. It got loose while my parents were painting the house and got into the heat ducts. Stayed there for 4 days. Made a terrible racket walking around in there all night, but eventually came out because we didn't place food where he could reach it so easily. He had to climb out and walk across the room to get his food, so we set a trap which didn't catch him, but closed off the heat ducts.Basil will come back, don't worry.

[icemarle 0]

The problem is... Basil is very quiet, so I'm not sure what happened to him. I'm afraid he ate something bad for him along the way. Hamsters will eat anything offered... and maybe not even offered. Well, at least I still have hope. He got lost yesterday afternoon at around 3pm. Now it's 10AM here... Oh Basil, I hope you come back!!!

[wild20 0]

That happened to me, and the dog killed it. Wasn't good. sorry to hear about that. Just keep waiting. He should come out, but I would put any predatory animals away, or you might find your hamster after all. The sunflowers seeds should work. Just be patient and wait. Oh, and please keep us updated. Thanks!

[icemarle 0]

Thanks. I don't have any other pets besides hamsters. The problem is, what happens when he encounters a mouse or some other pest!? I'm scared thinking that my search for him (which means lifting heavy engineering equipment) might've accidentally injured him. I might've squished him for all I know! Noooo!!! I hope he gets hungry and comes out soon. He has to be with his mate when she gives birth. Male dwarf hamsters are known to at least take care of their young as well, unlike syrians... (Yeah, him being a dwarf makes him insanely hard to find)

[Zythrix 0]

hehe I bet he just got nervous about children =P Who knows though. He's probably just out lounging about with his buddies until the due date =) He'll turn up soon enough..

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

lounging with his buddies? pshh he is probably drinking with them down at the local dwarf hamster strip bar...but icemarle, dont worry about it, he should turn up sooner or later. its kind of like if a dog gets out and runs away, just put food right outside he door and he will be there waiting for you the next morning ot later that night because he figured out that he cant get food anywhere else and it is too easy to get hit by a car i like it better in the house and just come home....i hope he does come back though...

[icemarle 0]

Haha... Thanks for the jokes, made me forget about it for a while. Well, it's been almost 2 days since he left, and I'm feeling anxious. I heard that they'll usually appear around 2 days or so, but I don't know how he'll fare after that. I just hope he falls for my trap. I laid a plastic bag on the floor and put in his favorite sunflower seeds. Then I placed a box with goodies over the plastic, so the plastic will act as an entrance and opened the box to invite him to hopefully come in. If he doesn't really go in, but eats the sunflower seeds on the plastic, I'll hear it, and I'll close in on him and trap him in the box. Now I just need Basil.

[BordaForx 0]

Yeah, like jlhaslips says, place the cage (with water and food) and the hamster will come back soon. First, they'll need shelter/food/water. Hopefully, he'll come back and you'll have your hamster back, but, if he doesn't come back, sorry. Maybe it's like in the movie Stuart Little. Yeah, out to save the world, maybe? I don't know, hopefully he does come back and everything's fine. Sorry you lost your pet.

[icemarle 0]

Out to save the world!? Hahahahaha! I can just imagine it... Leaving the cage with food and water? The problem is, he and Vanilla live in the same cage (and I only have 1 cage) Vanilla is also very cozy in the cage (she's sleeping right now) and I wouldn't wanna transfer her to a temporary container. She's pregnant, after all, and has already set up her nest out of tissue paper. I can just hope my trap works...Update:3 days have passed and I'm beginning to smell dead rat in the house. I'm sure it's him. Well, at least I did make sure he didn't get out of the house, but smelling it is depressing. I haven't found the body yet. He sure has hidden himself well. I suspected that he got trapped or something... BASIL NOOO! This is very sad for me to find out what happened to him.

Edited April 19, 2006 by icemarle (see edit history)

[Togi 0]

This is sad ;.;Did the other hamster have her babies yet?

[Hamtaro 0]

I'm sad to hear what's been happening. I know how close you can feel to a hamster (mine, which I loved a lot, died in January, and I was very upset). Hopefully, though, what you are smelling isn't him (there's still a chance he's just fine). Regardless of what happens, though, try to think about something else. I really do hope you find him alive.