Kathryn Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I'm so mad! Who opens an animal's cage without permission? My autistic 7yo and my 3yo know not to open the cage. We started therapy yesterday. This is the first time this guy has ever been here or met us and he opened the hamster's cage and left the wide door open. A robo dwarf hamster. The smallest hamster there is, and one of the fastest. Who does that? How am I supposed to find this thing? It could be anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter's Moon Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I do not know how realistic this is, but maybe you could stuff towels under the doors so that if the hamster is spotted in a certain part of the house, it would be trapped there. Does he have any favorite treats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Oh no!! I hope you find him asap. :( I agree, what grown adult does this?? I show chickens, and at one particular show I've caught the same person--two years in a row--opening the cages of my birds to take pictures. Both times I have told her to ask me if she wants pictures and to please not open my cages. This is a perfectly normal adult person who works for the ag dep't and likes pictures for her 4-H kids. Translation: someone you think would know better. My chickens are a very small breed, and the time of year that this show is held the birds I have are likely to be on the young skittish side; i.e., quick to escape and hard to catch! Last year I came into the show hall the day after I'd *again* told her not to do this and found the cage of my best bird wide open and the bird missing. I was so upset; luckily, someone had found her wandering around the show hall and, not knowing where she belonged, popped her in an empty cage. We're talking a bird the size of a small pigeon that could have very easily escaped out an open door--I was so lucky some helpful person grabbed her! So, I did find her, but still!! Now I zip tie all my cages after the birds are judged and I am finished feeding and watering them for the day. Just ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 the only way we have ever re-captured hamsters (other than sheer accident!) is to borrow a live small animal trap and bait it in the area we thought the hamster was lurking. Don't know if this option would work for your tiny hamster or not. We've had them vanish for months and then turn up. Once we found one swimming in the toilet!!! :-) Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I always caught my hamsters prior to having cats in our house because the little stinkers would ALWAYS go into the area underneath drawers or cupboards. If you've got a cat or two, you have a serious problem. Or even many dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Ours got out and was "lost" for three weeks in our house. We finally caught them in the sump pump area of the basement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Check under furniture, especially if it has decorative cut outs-ie, made to order mouseholes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 No other animals, just two crazy boys. But that thing is so tiny and fast, he could be anywhere. I put his cage on the floor, and we'll put food out tonight and see what happens after the kids are in bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzymom Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Food! We have had disappearing hamsters and have always caught them with food. Leave a little bit in the middle of a couple of rooms. Watch to see where it begins to disappear. We caught the last escape artist when he ran out from under the t.v. in the family room one night while we were watching a show! We had food in the middle of the room, and he was quite hungry. (No hamsters here now, and I am good with it!) Hope it turns up quickly. And the therapist is just plain stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Can you charge the therapist for the cost of replacing the hamster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I don't know if I could trust someone with such little common sense with therapy for my children, but maybe I am jumping to conclusions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I would be upset, not because the therapist made that mistake (which shows that he is only human), but because he didn't stay and help to look for the hamster until it was found, or at least offer to replace it if necessary. Gosh, I hope he's not at a bar somewhere right now telling everyone this story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 I would be upset, not because the therapist made that mistake (which shows that he is only human), but because he didn't stay and help to look for the hamster until it was found, or at least offer to replace it if necessary. Gosh, I hope he's not at a bar somewhere right now telling everyone this story. He doesn't know. He was here yesterday afternoon. DS and a different therapist discovered this afternoon that the cage door was open and the hamster was missing. The therapist that did it will be back tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misty.warden Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 What exactly was he doing interacting with a pet during what I assume was supposed to be a therapy session with your ds?? That would be at least an orange flag for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Is it possible that the therapist didn't do it? That one of your dc (who do know better, but are still young children) might have opened it and forgotten to close it? That the hamster could have jiggled something loose while gnawing on it and the door opened? Our neighbor's hamsters were escape artists that way. Some of them were found with food, and some were found too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 No, the therapist who was here today said she saw the guy open it, but she left the room, so she didn't see what happened then. Yesterday was "training," they were here to meet DS and get to know him. The entire top of the cage was flipped open. There's no way the hamster could have swung it open like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I am sorry. I hope you find him soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Our robo dwarf hamster escaped when my boys was going to clean her cage. She hit under my piano and under my sofa bed. We had to shine a torchlight at all the dark spots to get her to run out. It took us two hours chasing her around our living room. Hope you find your robo soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 What exactly was he doing interacting with a pet during what I assume was supposed to be a therapy session with your ds?? That would be at least an orange flag for me. Therapists often use whatever matters to the child, especially when working on speech. I would think using a gentle , loved pet in home therapy is common. That the therapist forgot to close the door is too bad. Maybe the needs of the children distracted him? My question is why the parent was not with the children during home therapy? In MA, parents have to be present the entire time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 it's most likely going to look for somewhere warm to hide. although our gerbils always went for the basement. I had a habitrail cage, and set it up where I thought the thing was, and made it so after it climbed up the tube, it would drop into the cage and would be unable to climb back out. I put favorite edibles in the cage for it to smell so when it got hungry it would go there to look for food. we had it the next day. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Therapists often use whatever matters to the child, especially when working on speech. I would think using a gentle , loved pet in home therapy is common. That the therapist forgot to close the door is too bad. Maybe the needs of the children distracted him? My question is why the parent was not with the children during home therapy? In MA, parents have to be present the entire time. Gotta say, I thought this also. :huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Therapists often use whatever matters to the child, especially when working on speech. I would think using a gentle , loved pet in home therapy is common. That the therapist forgot to close the door is too bad. Maybe the needs of the children distracted him? My question is why the parent was not with the children during home therapy? In MA, parents have to be present the entire time. There were four therapists in a 10x10 room that has a floor area of about 5x5. They were in there for about two minutes gathering toys to be used in the living room, where I was about ten steps away. There is no rule that I must be in the same room with them at all times. I cannot leave him in their sole care. But, I can leave him in the care of someone else during therapy (for instance, his therapist accompanied him to YMCA drop-off program today, where he was in the care of YMCA staffers). They can also go play in the yard or walk into another room without my having to be within arm's reach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 We got him! He's back home. I went to get a book out of the bag of library books for DS to read and he ran out and under the couch. Then it took a few minutes, but we flushed him out, caught him, and got him home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 We got him! He's back home. I went to get a book out of the bag of library books for DS to read and he ran out and under the couch. Then it took a few minutes, but we flushed him out, caught him, and got him home. Oh, thank goodness! I waffled about whether to open the thread, not sure I wanted to know if the update wasn't good. I'm glad he's safely home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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