Theodor escaped!! --*He's Back!!!!*

[kelsey514]

I brought him home Monday night and tonight he was playing on my bed, doing fine...all of a sudden some tiny noise from the girls cage spooked him and he went flying across the bed and down to the floor. I took everything out from under my bed and didn't see him, moved the bed away from the wall and saw him lodged under the heater. He is SO scared. I doubt he will come out on his own and I think I'm going to get bitten if I try. What should I do??

BTW My house is not ratproofed at all! I can't have him wandering around on his own...I need to get him ASAP.

 

[victoria]

How old is he? Can you put his cage on the ground, open, and just wait quietly for him to go back in?

 

[kelsey514]

He's only 3 months and I've only had him for two days, so I don't think he even thinks of it as his cage yet. I can try! I've never had anyone try to get down from the bed

 

[SQ]

Is he still in the room? If so, can you shut the room off from the rest of your home.
Any predators around? If so, you will need to confine them.

Put his cage on the floor with water and tastey food that can not be carried away in a dish.
Put a shelter in the cage with soft bedding that smells like him (or smells like his cagemates if he has friends)
Sprinkle flour on the floor around the cage so if he doesn't stay, at least you will know what direction he headed off in.

Hopefully he go into the cage to eat and then settle in to sleep.

Turn out the light and eventually, when he feels safe he may approach the cage.

If this doesn't work, you can try to catch him with a have-a-hart humane trap.

Sometimes catching escapes happens quickly, other times they are having so much fun exploring that it takes a few days.

good luck

 

[kelsey514]

ok I pushed an open cage up against the bed with comfy bedding and a hidey spot. My dad had seafood tonight (ew) so I put a little piece of that in, and some cheese, figured the smellier the better lol

Thank you for quick responses! :heart:

 

[Joanne]

SQ means spread FLOUR on the floor - you see their little footie prints.

Good luck!

 

[SQ]

Thanks Joanne

 

[kelsey514]

Well, going to bed now...I hope the sound of him climbing into his cage wakes me up!

 

[handmeafish]

he'll show back up, don't worry. Seamus did this to me as a baby too... and I found him like 30 mins later trying to get back into the cage

 

[kelsey514]

He didn't show up last night and now I can't even find him. He's not under the bed anywhere
Should I close the cage while I'm out so that when I come I can try again? I mean what if he goes in and pigs out and then leaves again before I get home?

 

[jorats]

I'd leave the cage open, this way he won't see it as a trap. He'll know it's his food place and might even just stay there to hang out.

 

[kelsey514]

I left the cage open today, just got home. He hasn't showed up, there's no food missing. There aren't any new poops under the bed and I still can't find him anywhere.

 

[kelsey514]

I saw him under the critter nation a couple hours ago and spent an hour holding a piece of seafood really still...he came up and nibbled it but wouldn't come out and there's no way I can safely grab him while he's under the CN and my dresser (right next to it).
By the way, to answer some questions from last night, he's in my apartment which I did shut the door to and he's relatively safe in here...just worried if he got out of this room.

 

[Joanne]

Do you have other rats that will come to you? Maybe you could have some out for a play session. He may come to be with them. Glad to hear he's still around! Be patient - he's just scared because everything is still new.

 

[kelsey514]

weeellll we usually play on my bed or in the Grrreat Wall, and neither of those is really accessible to him. They do come to me but probably not if they all of a sudden had free roam. He was hiding out under the CN though, so it seems like he wants to be around them. I'll try to figure something out...not sure I like the possibility of TWO hiding rats though :?

 

[hprats]

Try a trail of yogurt from wherever he is to the cage/somewhere you can catch haha. That worked for me when one of my rats got under the fridge the first day (I'd taped a garbage bag over it but he got through it in about a second and wouldn't come back). The problem is they're pretty smart and once they figure out you're trying to catch them they get much harder to catch!

 

[kelsey514]

omgeeee he is sniffing the cage...shhhh everyone be quiet!

 

[Kayla2]

Good Luck!

 

[Joanne]

Ooooh goodie! Sending "you want to curl up in your cage" thoughts.....

 

[handmeafish]

one thing i've learned from all of Seamus' escapes is not to rush at him... he will run and hide... If i approach really slowly, and talk to him in a very happy voice, and bring a snack, then he will stay put.