[Elliriyanna]

Last night I woke up to Emma chasing something around I didnt think anything of it at first I mean we have wild mice in the house then I realized she was in my room ... with humans commonly occupying the room mice would not risk it. PLUS Moki gives off a skunk scent when their are wild mice in his territory and he hasnt been. SO I woke up to find Emma chasing a rodent ... The first thing I noticed was it had Giant eyes and that I could tell NO tail ... My first though OMG HAMSTER... HERE? That means Emma had to have carried it up the stairs!!

Our hamsters Other than Kodi are all downstairs in the living room. Thank god Emma has her harness I woke my bf up to hold her while I caught the hamster. Turns out it was Nami no broken skin just VERY scared and a teeny bit wet. I put her back in her bin and put the top on it which has no ventilation Just so we could get through the night.

The thing is this should never have been able to happen!!! Nami and Koda's cages do not have tops because they are on top of my critter nation double and Emma can not get up there theres no way and her bin was not disturbed. I am thinking she climbed her wheel to get out but that is still a 5.5 ft fall to the floor which would have killed her. I have no idea how this happened.

In our new apartment we will have a walk in closet I am making into a pet room for the rodents other than the rats. It will keep emma from them and keep us from disturbing them during the day but until then I have no way to mod her bin lid for ventilation and I wont risk this happening again. I could switch her to Nina's bin but Nina is even more of a climber than her.

Please Help!!!!!!!!

 

[Purple-Hops]

What do you want help with? You seem to have figured it out, keep the cat away from the rodents. Hamsters can jump, I would cover the thing with even a sheet of plastic eavestrough vents. I got mine at the dollar store and you fasten it with cable ties. Keeps Oliver from pawing in at Acacia.

 

[Elliriyanna]

I dont even know how Nami got out hamsters can jump down but not 5 ft and not up very well.

And the cat has always been kept away from the rodents I am trying to figure out how the heck the frickin hamster got down on the floor so the cat could get her. because she has done it once which means she can do it again and my hams chew through plastic.

 

[FlickeringHope]

My hamster took a fall like that out of his cage and was fine.
Bumbles bounce :/

 

[Elliriyanna]

Kodi fell from less than 3 ft and was temporarily paralyzed ... I just dont understand.

But what can I do for now? I cant keep her lid off or on ...

 

[FlickeringHope]

It must depend on how they land. I;ve had both happen as well; but they're pretty resilient it seems. I'd make sure she feels extra safe to reduce her stress for the next several days and exhaust all possible escape routes to make sure it doesn't happen again. Can't you buy cage tops? Or are the cages custom?

 

[Elliriyanna]

Nami's cage is a bin and I dont have a drill or anything to ventilate it. and yeah I am doing all I can to keep her calm and help her come back from this

 

[Sasami]

Hamsters can definitely survive falls like that, they're small and round . So the climbing out using the wheel theory is probably correct.

 

[FlickeringHope]

Surely you must have a relative with a drill; or someone that can put holes in the top? Or someone with a soldering iron that could burn holes in the top? If worse comes to worse get one of those small plastic pet carriers and keep her in there until you can work out a ventilated cover.

 

[Nibbler]

if you dont have a drill but have a hammer and a nail you could try and use the nail to make the wholes to do small air vents.

 

[Elliriyanna]

Actually what we did is just turn the lid and its covering the half of her cage with her wheel

I know Emma did not get up there Apollo is cage aggressive and would bite her feet plus she has never shown an interest AND I know emmas behavior she knocks over cages and when she doesnt do that she just jumps in and hits them with her paws ...

Now what I find odd is this ... Emma has never brought a rodent to her room before ... So why did she bring Nami to her room and not hurt her at all? She had plenty of time and she kills mice often now.

 

[FlickeringHope]

Rather than kill, cats can and will just play with their catches, and their catches will suffer a heart attack from no physical injuries. I've seen lots of cats play with mice without the intent to kill (at least not at that time) and the poor thing suffers a heart attack from being bapped around.

 

[Elliriyanna]

Why would she carry her to our room though its just odd but the important thing is Nami is safe and can not escape again.

 

[tinypixiexoxo]

For a hamster falling down, it's not like them falling off a 20 story building. Gravity works the same speed no matter the size of the object. So in reality, they are much more able to survive a fall from a height 20x their own height than we would be falling at a height 20x our own height. Does that make sense? At the same time, wow, quite a fall!!

Anyway, for holes, do you have a box cutter or an exacto knife?

 

[Elliriyanna]

Still a fall from 20 times their height even for climbing species is a bit much and hams are burrowers.

And like I said we just covered it box cutter cracks this material.