Why did the mother hamster run away?

Question

She must have been trying to ruin my life. I have not found her yet and it has been almost 3 hours. It is like she vansihed. What if I never find her? Her babies are going to die. They are going crazy eating seeds in the cage. I cant even sleep and I have school at 7 and it is 2:50. I cant believe I am going to kill 12 hamsters . I am going to hell

Answer 1

How young are the babies? If she doesn't return try giving them bread soaked in whole milk and chicken baby food.

As for Mom, you might try putting some food down and leading her into a bucket in order to trap her.

Answer 2

Read your other question you posted earlier. My answer still hasn't changed since then. Only ting I will add is the following. I think most of them will be fine, you may lose one or two that are the weakest to start with. A mom, dad, and litter of babies I rescued week ago Monday, I lost the runt on Thursday. Little more then a year ago I had a mom die and leave 9 nine day old babies, we had a Russian dwarf that took them in and tried to raise 14 babies on her own (babies were Syrians), we lost 4 to start with, they were the weakest, and another a few months later (unrelated death). The remaining 4 are 1 female and 3 males that are some of the huges Syrians we have.

Answer 3

Know why she ran away? Because you somehow let her out. They don't just run off because they feel like it. They run off because the cage you were keeping her in was not secure enough. I know you feel bad enough about this, but there is a chance you can find her again, although she might not take too kindly to her babies, especially if you've disturbed them. If the babies are eating seeds on their own, then they might be ok. If not, and if you don't find the mother, their odds of survival are slim. To attempt to find the mother, Turn off the lights (since they are nocturnal) and put a dish with food and water (since they are usually very thirsty after being loose).. Wait and listen, usually they will come around eventually. I just hope you don't have too large of an area to look in, or dogs/cats that might have gotten to her first. Good luck.

Answer 4

well.. first thing first don't be panic. just stay calm.. and close any door or window or any possible way out (if you put the cage in a room) and then put some food which she likes to eat in some points where she could possible be.. and keep an eye for any possible move.. maybe she's trying to get some refreshing after tired of giving baby birth.
good luck to you.. and hope you soon can find the lil mommy hammy.

Answer 5

How old are the babies? If they are old enough to eat seeds they'll probably be okay until you find her. Make sure they can reach water.

If she doesn't show up by tomorrow, see if you can get one of those humane rat traps. They don't hurt the animal, you just bait it with food, they go in and they can't get out until you let them out. I caught mine with one of those a couple of times.

The things hamsters are best out is escaping. (Don't let the person who was accusing you of being careless worry you... hamsters are the most amazing escape artists ever. You have to really secure their cages. I had one that could get out of his cage with a brick on top of the lid.)

Your hamster is, no doubt, out looking for a mate. That's what they do. Hamsters have a 16 day gestation period and if she finds a male hamster there will be another dozen hamsters in your life in 2 weeks.

They have a tremendous sense of smell, too. You might consider putting her cage on the floor if the babies are too little to get out, and provide her with a way to get in. She probably wants to get back to her kids, too.

If the kids are 2 or 3 weeks old, she's probably getting sick of them, though. Mine really started to be bugged by hers by that time.

Look in every nook and cranny in your house. We once found a pregnant hamster and her male friend outside and for the next two years it was hamster central around here, so I learned a few things about hamsters.

Look in closets, behind things down in the corners.

Look for them in the evening because they sleep all day and they'll be more active in the evening and early morning.

Listen very quietly in the evening and early morning for scritchy sounds of her doing stuff in the corners of the closet.

Hamsters can climb, so also look on shelves, but my bet will be that she'll be around the edges of the room near the floor or in a closet and she'll be well hidden behind things. But you never know.

If you have a male hamster in a different cage, look around his cage and the entire room where his cage is.

Hamsters can easily slip under door frames, so look in the rest of your house, too.

When I was young and single I had a hamster that would go down the stairs in my townhouse and end up in the drawer underneath my oven. He was lucky I don't like to cook!

I've had hamsters who liked gathering stuff and making a nest in linen closets, clothes closets, under dressers, under beds. The last batch of hamsters we had would escape and get into the closet in my office. I found a little pile of stuff one of them had made- it contained food, bits of cloth, etc.

Good luck- I hope she turns up soon!

Answer 6

It's a sad fact of life that sometimes the mothers dont stay. I'd call a vet and just see what they have to say. When they're that young, their chances are slim.

But, you know, sometimes 'pocket pets' are known for eating their young in stressful circumstances too.

I'm sorry hon

Answer 7

I'm sorry, try taking the hamsters to the vet. Don't say you're going to hell, it's going to be okay.