A YOUNG mum who thought she’d found a rat in her bath discovered it was a hamster on an escape bid from a neighbour’s house.
Chloe Beck got the shock of her life when she looked in the tub at home and found a rodent staring back at her.
It later turned out the creature was a hamster that had escaped his cage from a house two doors up the road and somehow made his way into her bath.
The health care assistant from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, posted a hilarious picture of Hammy on social media and appealed for information, writing that she would “hate to think that there’s a wee kid out there heartbroken”.
Chloe, 24, turned to social media after knocking on neighbours’ doors and initially failing to find out who Hammy belonged to.
The runaway rodent was eventually reunited with his owners after they spent two days fearful their beloved pet had been eaten by their cat.
Chloe said today (Wed): “I absolutely s*** it. I walked into the bathroom and it was dark. I just heard the thump in the bath. Looked round and seen something running.
“I automatically assumed it was a rat and ran back out again. The kids were in bed so couldn’t be too loud. I took two minutes to compose myself and turned the light on – only to be met with the cute little guy.”
Chloe continued: “I chapped my neighbours in the close and no one knew who he belonged to. So I cleaned out my old fish tank.
“I ripped up an old poster and made a wee bed out of a Risk box and an Old El Paso box and stuffed it with tissue. I got my friend to bring me some hamster food and just kept him in there.”
She added that her son, Reece, five, “found it hilarious”.
“He had been given a book to read for school the week before about a hamster that ran away so he said his book came to life and we got the hamster.
“It turns out it’s the next close opposite side, two up. The wee thing had been missing since Friday.
“They said he escaped through one of his tubes that came loose. They were worried as they had a cat.
“I have no idea how he got in though as there aren’t any holes in the house anywhere. Probably through the phones but baffles me how he got in.”
Social media commenters were happy to offer their support.
Julie Busby said: “Aww he is sweet. My hamster stays in a fish tank he loves it. If you can’t keep him and no one claims him let me know.
“I’m a student vet nurse so i know of people who would give him a good home. Same goes for if you need any advice.”
Rachael Rundell Sloan said: “They can hide for a while. I had one that got into the floorboards under the house and for months I missed him.
“And then one day I went into bathroom and got such a fright he had came back up the hole he fell down. At first I thought it was a rat cause of the colour of him.”
Lesley Macdonald posted: “Aww I only ever find spiders.”
