How does someone get their hamster out of an emergency without traumatizing them?

[aFunnyThingHappened]

Someone on the hamsters subreddit had a formerly affectionate hamster become traumatized and scared of them after they had to quickly grab them and run during an apartment fire. I, very new to hamsters, also live in an aapartment, in a city that had a tornado touch down around this time last year, that's also a hurricane risk area, and on top of that a few months ago a Tesla randomly exploded nearby and we had to shut all the windows and block off air conditioning because of lithium fumes (no one was hurt and there wasn't damage to my building, but it was very loud and rattled everything).

Anyway, all the above would be traumatizing for a human, let alone a little guy. In an immediate emergency, is there a way to grab my hamster and run without stressing and irreparably traumatizing him? Or in the case of a hurricane, evacuating ahead of time to get far away or going to an overcrowded shelter where he'll be in his carrier for who knows how long?

How does the Responsible Human handle such things?

 

[Socks' Mum]

It is an interesting and important question. I keep carriers handy in case I need to get my pets out quickly. I also have a bright bicycle light hanging nearby where I can grab it in case the electrics go out during an evacuation. Ideally, if you can slide the whole cage onto a trolley and evacuate the cage, possibly with help, that would be the best thing. Obviously robust barred cages would be better for that. Having a grab bag with hammy supplies would be good too.

 

[Maz]

I second the idea of a pet carrier kept next to the enclosure at all times. Something like the ferplast Aladino medium (guinea pig sized) pet carrier is good for hamsters. You could keep it set up to use at any time - eg half full of bedding, with a little house inside and then if you ever had to take your hamster out in a major emergency like that, you could just pop him in the pet carrier with a handful of food - and take the water bottle with you. If you use a water bowl rather than a bottle, then maybe now is the time to add a bottle as well (they will sometimes use both) for that kind of scenario.

I think a hamster is much less likely to be traumatised if they are cosy in a pet carrier with a house and some food. I can imagine that being grabbed and rushed out with would traumatise them, and potentially the hamster may have been held quite tight to ensure keeping hold of him, and unable to be set down for a long time.

One tip though - if you ever do need to take him out in a hurry in a pet carrier, don't rely on just holding it by the handles. Support it underneath as well, or hold it in a way that it can't fall if a handle breaks or (worst nightmare) if the top section detaches from the bottom section. That shouldn't happen if it;s securely fastened but I still support it underneath/against my body anyway.

Ferplast aladino medium

A house for a pet carrier doesn't have to be anything special - it can be a cardboard hide - ie cut down tissue box. But I've used a small plastic one that's open underneath, or carrot cottage in mine before.

 

[Amy]

I have a medium size bin and supplies at hand. I lost my flat last year due to a fire, the first thing I packed was my cat, her food and my British passport. I had all these things in easy to access places (girls brownies taught me to always be prepared )
I checked in to a hotel room and that was the best solution at the time. I don’t want to experience that ever again! I had a fight with the fire brigade because I was looking after the neighbours cats and they wouldn’t let me get them. Luckily she lived on the ground floor so I sneaked in in the middle of the night and rescued them. They didn’t suffer from the fire but were drenched in water and foam. They all survived, but it was traumatic

 

[Maz]

That sounds awful! I’m so sorry you lost your flat - very traumatic. We stayed away somewhere for a night in a city recently and when choosing a place to stay, the one I liked I saw on the Internet had had two fires in the last couple of years and all guests had to be evacuated. Two sounded too many so I booked somewhere else! With my knee issues and no lifts working during a fire it was a slight concern - something that had never occurred to me before - so booked a first floor room! Quicker to get out ….

 

[Amy]

That sounds awful! I’m so sorry you lost your flat - very traumatic. We stayed away somewhere for a night in a city recently and when choosing a place to stay, the one I liked I saw on the Internet had had two fires in the last couple of years and all guests had to be evacuated. Two sounded too many so I booked somewhere else! With my knee issues and no lifts working during a fire it was a slight concern - something had never occurred to me before - so booked a first floor room! Quicker to get out ….

That would have put me off too yes it’s a terrible experience. I carted my eyes out all day thinking of the two young cats trapped in the flat. My cat went straight into the hotel bed and was unimpressed by all the action. She was old and just checked bed and food = all is good

 

[Socks' Mum]

I have a medium size bin and supplies at hand. I lost my flat last year due to a fire, the first thing I packed was my cat, her food and my British passport. I had all these things in easy to access places (girls brownies taught me to always be prepared )
I checked in to a hotel room and that was the best solution at the time. I don’t want to experience that ever again! I had a fight with the fire brigade because I was looking after the neighbours cats and they wouldn’t let me get them. Luckily she lived on the ground floor so I sneaked in in the middle of the night and rescued them. They didn’t suffer from the fire but were drenched in water and foam. They all survived, but it was traumatic

Goodness, what an awful experience.

 

[Rescued One]

Having lived in the Pacific Northwest where a "go bag" is a human essential due to the threat of fires, earthquakes and tsunamis, my paranoid brain has considered how to get 2 rescue hamsters (syrian and dwarf), two bonded rescue gerbils and two rescue guinea pigs out in a hurry. While the recent addition of the guinea pigs has greatly complicated matters, here goes:
the pigs both go into the too-small carryable rescue cage; the syrian goes into the larger ready to go hammie carrier, the dwarf into the smaller hammie carrier, which both go into a plastic bin with whatever half-used bag of bedding comes to hand, food, hay, a bottle of spring water and the ger-boys. Once safely outside, there are two larger plastic bins into which hammies and piggies can be dispensed. The hammies will rotate out of carrier time in their bin, the ger-boys stay in the carry bin and one piggie gets a bin and one stays in the travel cage. It will not be pretty and will have to be done in back and forth stages to the end of the hall, then down each flight of stairs until we are all safely out. No worries about lighting, because I will have my phone with me. There is a charger and survival stuff in my car, a pocket on my phone case which always holds my ID, insurance and debit cards, and my keys are on the dog's leash. I will be wearing my go-bag backpack with its emergency supplies and we will all survive, but probably not enjoy, our adventure.

 

[Amy]

Having lived in the Pacific Northwest where a "go bag" is a human essential due to the threat of fires, earthquakes and tsunamis, my paranoid brain has considered how to get 2 rescue hamsters (syrian and dwarf), two bonded rescue gerbils and two rescue guinea pigs out in a hurry. While the recent addition of the guinea pigs has greatly complicated matters, here goes:
the pigs both go into the too-small carryable rescue cage; the syrian goes into the larger ready to go hammie carrier, the dwarf into the smaller hammie carrier, which both go into a plastic bin with whatever half-used bag of bedding comes to hand, food, hay, a bottle of spring water and the ger-boys. Once safely outside, there are two larger plastic bins into which hammies and piggies can be dispensed. The hammies will rotate out of carrier time in their bin, the ger-boys stay in the carry bin and one piggie gets a bin and one stays in the travel cage. It will not be pretty and will have to be done in back and forth stages to the end of the hall, then down each flight of stairs until we are all safely out. No worries about lighting, because I will have my phone with me. There is a charger and survival stuff in my car, a pocket on my phone case which always holds my ID, insurance and debit cards, and my keys are on the dog's leash. I will be wearing my go-bag backpack with its emergency supplies and we will all survive, but probably not enjoy, our adventure.

I pray you never have to experience this. It sounds like more than an adventure

 

[Socks' Mum]

Having lived in the Pacific Northwest where a "go bag" is a human essential due to the threat of fires, earthquakes and tsunamis, my paranoid brain has considered how to get 2 rescue hamsters (syrian and dwarf), two bonded rescue gerbils and two rescue guinea pigs out in a hurry. While the recent addition of the guinea pigs has greatly complicated matters, here goes:
the pigs both go into the too-small carryable rescue cage; the syrian goes into the larger ready to go hammie carrier, the dwarf into the smaller hammie carrier, which both go into a plastic bin with whatever half-used bag of bedding comes to hand, food, hay, a bottle of spring water and the ger-boys. Once safely outside, there are two larger plastic bins into which hammies and piggies can be dispensed. The hammies will rotate out of carrier time in their bin, the ger-boys stay in the carry bin and one piggie gets a bin and one stays in the travel cage. It will not be pretty and will have to be done in back and forth stages to the end of the hall, then down each flight of stairs until we are all safely out. No worries about lighting, because I will have my phone with me. There is a charger and survival stuff in my car, a pocket on my phone case which always holds my ID, insurance and debit cards, and my keys are on the dog's leash. I will be wearing my go-bag backpack with its emergency supplies and we will all survive, but probably not enjoy, our adventure.

Very good planning I you take all the hides out of the cage, the piggies will usually run into a tunnel and can be picked up like that. My piggies run away when I go to pick them up, but love being stroked freely when they have their feet on the ground. I find using the tunnel the easiest way to catch them quickly