New Owner -Robos fight

Lapinou · 01-01-2014, 01:58 PM

Hi there! I just got 2 male robos Bunny and Clyde they are brothers and came from the same tank at the pet store. I have only had them for about a week and Bunny is kind of tiny whereas Clyde is a bit chubbier. They live in a 20 gallon fish tank and they both have wheels and each an igloo. I've seen then sleeping together in the same igloo on and off, sometimes they would just each sleep in a corner of the tank. I've noticed Clyde became VERY territorial and claims both wheels, and have heard squeaks at night. This morning I stopped a fight and saw that Bunny had a bit of blood on his bum. I think I stopped them on time so it's nothing too severe, but it's definitely something serious. I don't really have another cage to separate them right now, is there a way I could discourage Clyde from biting his brother? I'd like them to be together I just wish they'd get along more.

Thanks!

ANGELBABIES · 01-01-2014, 02:31 PM

You will need to separate them as soon as possible. Do you have a piece of plywood or strong plastic or anything that you could use to divide the tank so that each has a separate half with each half having its own house / wheel / water bottle / food bowl etc, until you could get another suitable cage to house one of them. Keep us posted. Just look around for anything that would divide the cage and keep them separate.

Sanctuary · 01-01-2014, 05:32 PM

I agree, you need to separate them or this could turn into something very horrible.

Lapinou · 01-01-2014, 07:54 PM

I got them separated. I managed to get a smaller wire cage and put the chubby Clyde in it. Bunny - the bullied one is in the big tank recovering. I had to break a big fight today which had I not been there, might have ended pretty bad. Bunny got bit on the bum and it didn't look too nice. I'll keep them apart for now and see how they are. For the moment even though it's almost 9 pm neither of them is active, they're both sleeping in their igloos. I watched Bunny all day and I think he was too stressed to actually sleep - he was out running all day. Would I ever be able to get them back together? I would have liked to have them both together

BrainGirl · 01-01-2014, 08:44 PM

Generally speaking, once blood is drawn it's usually the case that they can never be together again. I don't know if robos may be an exception but it definitely applies to all the species I have experience with

Nancy's Hamsters · 01-01-2014, 09:51 PM

Sadly once blood is drawn their separated for life. If you like the thought of just one cage you could place a divider in a large tank and house the two in one tank with two single units.

racinghamster · 01-02-2014, 02:46 AM

Hi Lapinou, you have done exactly the right thing here and this will allow them to live in peace now. As far as getting them back together? No. This chasing and biting behaviour is one robo basically chasing (or trying to chase it) from the territory (the cage) and because he has nowhere to escape, he gets attacked. This happens all too often with pairs of dwarf hamsters and can result in bad injuries.

The best thing to do now, is to move on and enjoy each robo as an individual. Robos don`t require a lot of handling as they are so speedy, but if your two are happy to come to your hand or take little seed treats from you, all the better. Try to give each robo a nice cage and wheel and enjoy their mad antics! x