Need an answer to an awful question.....

Question
I have checked well and there is no trace of him at all in the cage, alive or dead. So I think he must have escaped, please can you give me some ideas of how to catch him, as I have a cat and dog at home too.  Thank You Hannah
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Followup To

Question -
Last week I got two male Chinese hamsters for my birthday and settled them into their new home together as i was told they would be fine together as they were from the same group. I have not handled them too much and have watched them build a nest in the wheel and this is where they have slept. Yesterday I peeked at them and one was asleep in the wheel and one was asleep(?)in the house, today I have gone to clean the cage and only one was there!
We checked the cage and it is secure and we cannot find any way that a hamster could have escaped.
I have been told hamsters can eat each other, could this have happened? And surely there would be some evidence or do they really eat each other totally?
This is really awful, but I need to know the answer...Please help
Hannah

Answer -
Hi Hannah.  Sorry to hear about your problem.

Yes, hamsters will eat each other, but when they are housed in sanitary conditions and fed properly, adult males will not usually resort to such action.  Usually when people speak of hamsters eating each other, they are talking of females cannabalising their young when they feel stressed, or when babies are born dead or die shortly after birth; the protein is very helpful to a nursing mother and so they clean their nest in the way that wastes the least amount of resources, disgusting as it may seem to you and I.

I have only ever seen adult hamsters cannabalise each other when they are kept in the most inhumane and horrible conditions, usually they are neglected, overcrowded and starving, and the one being eaten has passed away from dehydration or malnutrition or a combination of the two, and the others eat the carcass merely as a last ditch attempt at survival.

I would really really doubt that one of your hamsters ate the other without leaving so much a trace.  Like I said, I've had hamsters dumped by uncaring people at the store I work for, literally too crowded to not step on each other, in filthy bedding and no food or water, with dead, partially eaten carcasses in the cage.  And even with so many starving hamsters in such conditions, they don't eat the skin or fur.  There are always some grisly remains left to give away what has happened.

So, I'm thinking, if your hamster DID eat the other, you would have at least found some remains.  There's no way he ate the entire body all by himself in one go.. and like I said, in a spacious cage with proper food and water available, there's no reason for him to.

So, your next question is, where did he go?  Well, he must have gotten out.  I'll tell you, hamsters can squeeze through the tiniest spaces.  I just had one of my Campbell's females escape from a cage that had housed a smaller Roborovski dwarf hamster with no problems - she squeezed between two bars spaced a little further apart than the rest toward the top of the cage.  I know hamsters can fit through tiny spaces, and even when I went back and looked at the cage I still thought there's no way she fit through that space - but she did, and I know she did, because I'm the one that found her loose!  The space between the bars was literally this wide |-----| and didn't look like he head with fit through without getting stuck, let alone her body, and yet she managed it.

It could also be that your hamster has made a nest and buried himself in bedding elsewhere in the cage, so if you haven't already, run your fingers and hands through the bedding and check thoroughly.

Once you've satisified yourself that he isn't there at all, write me back and I'll tell you some ways that you can catch escaped hamsters.

Thanks for the question!

Answer
There are small traps called hav-a-heart traps that are usually available at pet supply stores and Southern States or other feed stores.  They are human cage-style traps and they come in mouse sizes which are perfect for chinese dwarf hamster catching.

If you go hunting for him, use a flashlight, and look under EVERYTHING.  (Someone else just lost a hamster and reporeted back to me a few days later that they found her under the fridge.)  

Also remember that they are nocturnal animals, so he will be active from dusk onward.  Most rodents have rather poor eyesight, and rely on smell to navigate, hamsters are definately one of these.. and because of this they tend to hug walls and baseboards as they move around, avoiding running across rooms or hallways if they can.  So keep that in mind while you are looking for him, too.

You can make homemade traps by lining a clean bucket with towels, and making "stairs" out of books or blocks leading to the rim of the bucket, and then cutting a fragrant fruit (such as apple) and leaving it in the bottom.  Many times the hamster will come out in search of food in the night, scent the apple and climb up the stairs to get it, and because of the poor eyesight I was talking of before, they just fall right into the bucket (hence the towels) and are trapped there with their prize until you come to retrieve them.

You said you have a cat and a dog.. only you know your animals well enough to know if they would hurt the hamster if they found it.  You might want to put the cat in a proven hamster-free room at night just to be on the safe side, however.

I hope you find him okay!