Scared after cage cleaning + taming issue

[Unicorn]

Hi all

Roughly speaking about a week and a half me and my boyfriend got a little robo hamster girl (and we named her Freddy). She's from a pet shop so we were aware she's going to be extra shy. We set her cage and after a few rounds around it she settled in her hideout and seemed to enjoy her wheel and other toys in the evening. As she was literally scared of our every littlest movement, we just watched her from the distance. For next couple of days we just opened the cage to change the water and food and she was quite scared of our hands. She calmed down a tiny bit on the fifth day so I kept my hand longer in the cage just to show her I won't cause her harm. I didn't chase her, just kept my hand a bit farther away. She wasn't very curious so I wasn't pestering her either. We didn't want to take her out of the cage at all but majority of hamster keeping guides tell you to clean the cage once a week so we did this on 8th day I believe.

I scooped her up with a small cardboard box and placed her in big plastic storage box. And I think that was the point when she get really stressed. She hid herself in a wooden log and didn't move at all. I thought that it night be normal so after she settled a bit I placed my hand in the corner as I thought this might be a good opportunity to start taming - I've read a lot of advices that suggested taming outside of the cage is better. She just got scared even more and stayed in the log till the end of cage cleaning.

We kept quite a bit of her old bedding in the cage (clean bits ofc) so she has a familiar smell in there. After we put her back she got extra shy. The next day I tried to with a play pen again but it just stressed her out so I put her back. Surprisingly she took a pumpkin seed of my hands and munched it next to it. She sniffed me and then ignored me and after that she did the same with my boyfriend's hand offer in the treat. I was really happy she feels more comfortable around us but then she just went into her house and didn't use the wheel at all. Next day she woke up about half an hour later and exercised a little. I tried offering food again and she ate it. Then she sniffed my hand and run to her house not coming out at all.

Today she didn't seem like she's going to come out at all. As it was quite late for her to go out I got worried because I couldn't see her moving. I made a subtle noise near her house to check if she's moving. She run for her life and hid under her toy. I didn't want to make sudden moves not to scare her so I kept my hand still with her favourite treat between my fingers. She took it but then she suddenly got scared and hid.

I could hear her exercising on the wheel a minute ago so I'm less concerned but I still need a bit of advice (after long intro).
Should we leave her completely atm? And if so, for how long do you reckon? I'm not sure then how to change her water/food so we don't stress her out.
Another issue is taming sessions. It seems like we will struggle a lot with getting her out without seriously scaring her. But then should we try to tame her in her cage? I've read neutral territory is better and they don't like being bothered in their cage. And when should we start taming her? It seems like she's really scared of us again.

Sorry for such a long post and thank you in advance for any suggestions and advices.

[Ebbtide]

Hello,

Congratulations on your new hammy! I love her name! I had similar issues with my Syrian hamster. I've had him for about 3 and a half months now.
The best advice I can give is to take it really slowly. It's great that she's taking treats from you and eating them near you. I'd keep doing that for a little while before moving on to the next steps especially if she's been shy recently.
My hamster still doesn't like to be picked up so I put his favourite cup in the cage with a treat in it to tempt him in and then life it out.
When I started taming I put him in the bathtub with a towel at the bottom and some hideouts and toys. I let him explore on his own a few times and then started to gently stroke him. It took a fair few taking sessions until he stopped flinching when I stroked him.
It is hard to take it slow when they're so cute and you just want to play with them but it's best to go at their speed. If you rush things then you can end up going back a few steps. Unfortunately I learnt this the hard way when I tried to hold him too soon!
Best of luck taming her, I'm sure she'll get more confident soon x

[AlfredHam]

Don't clean once a week spot clean every other day and do a big clean once every three to four weeks. Erin's animals on YouTube has a really good video on cage cleaning it's a lot of stress for a ham to have their entire home turned upside down every week when realistically they are very clean animals. Robos can be notoriously difficult to tame, she may never be completely tame but should trust you more in time

[Pebbles82]

I spot clean as and when and do a partial clean about every 2 or 3 months! But then our hamster uses a litter tray (good tip! Get a litter tray! If you put it in the place they usually wee in they tend to use it - then you just empty the litter tray every 5 days or so and the rest of the cage stays mostly clean - unless you have a ham that pees everywhere). You do need to check their hoard for fresh food every few days in case it goes off really, but don't take the dried food away, as then they start peeing on the hoard if you steal it! The dried food is fine. Our hamsters always eats fresh things straight away anyway.

It's still early days. Too much too soon can freak them out. Usually it's recommended to leave them alone completely for the first 2 or 3 days and not to do any cleaning for two weeks - except a little bit of spot cleaning of the wee'd on substrate - ie take the odd handful out and replace it.

It might be a good idea to start from scratch again but it's good she is taking a treat from you. Another thing might be to have lots of "cover" in your cage. So although they like lots of substrate for digging, you could mostly cover the floor area with hidey places like toilet roll tubes, little cardboard boxes with a hole in, or part cut open - just so there isn't lots of empty space above when she ventures out to explore.

Have a look on youtube for videos about taming Robos - there are a few tips. But you're right it's best done out of the cage - in the cage they are territorial. They also behave differently out of the cage.

Sometimes setting up a playpen can be a good way of taming. They can run around and hide in toys, and you can sit in and let her run over you - as long as she doesn't use you as a route to escape the playpen! So you might need someone else there to put a hand out and block shoulder exits!

You can do the same in the bathtub (dry obviously). But yes take it slowly. Give her 2 or 3 days alone now, add some extra hidey toys maybe and cardboard toilet rolls. Hide bits of food in her cage in different places so she'll forage for it. She'll be scent marking the cage at the moment and getting it all familiar again.

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi Unicorn and welcome to HC.
Congratulations on your new hammy.
I spot check every couple of days and clean the cage every 4 weeks.
I clean the toys every 6 to 8 weeks.
I also keep back a third of the substrate and mix it in with fresh substrate when I clean the cage.
Hams like to be able to smell their scent and over cleaning can stress them.
With fresh veggies, mine have always eaten it straight away.

[racinghamster]

This: "I scooped her up with a small cardboard box and placed her in big plastic storage box. And I think that was the point when she get really stressed"....

Hi Unicorn. Robos are (in my opinion) best left inside their own cage/habitat rather than exposed to a wide open space or a strange bin where they will normally feel scared at being removed from what the robo considers to be their safe haven, their cage. If the cage is large enough (a Zoozone 1 is big enough for a single robo) the space in there, along with the wheel, provide plenty of running room and stimulation without the need to remove them from the cage. Especially a speedy robo who can sometimes leap or jump from a hand or a box and fall if they can get away with it, so it`s a better idea to interact with a robo inside of their cage and allow them to approach you only if they want to. Some robos can become tame, but most just don`t want to be.

I never do full cage cleans either (I have an older Russian dwarf) and spot clean corners, the shelf or his tube and every few months, I will remove quarter of half the substrate and wipe around the cage with damp kitchen towel. No need for any cleaning sprays or solutions as these are only necessary if the animal has had the runs or wet tail or something inside the cage has gone sour or rancid and requires this.

I do all this while he is still in the cage! No need to remove them when they can get in the way or stay in their nest while you carry on spot cleaning. This makes for an easier routine both for yourself and for your wee robo. x

[cypher]

It is sometimes difficult to know what to do for the best with pet shop robos, similar in some ways to pet shop Chinese which can be just as timid & fearful, unfortunately most good videos on taming robos seem to be showing breeder hams which have been handled from an early age so aren't too helpful so I can understand your concerns & confusion over both taming & cage cleaning!
I agree definitely don't clean every week, most robos will pee in the wheel mostly which makes things easier in a way, just spot clean the cage if you do find any wet areas, leave the wheel for about a week or more if it isn't getting to smelly then just clean it with either warm water or a pet safe unscented disinfectant, I use Safe4.
If you provide a sand bath your ham may well pee in that too & you can just remove any clumps of damp sand.
That doesn't leave much in the cage that actually needs cleaning so a partial cage clean maybe once a month or even less is more than adequate.
I've had dwarf hams that are comfortable with being in the cage while it's being cleaned & others which have been totally freaked out by it so you have to go by how your ham behaves really.
I do think it's worth persevering with taming out of the cage or handling in the cage if you can, robos are not generally hams that like a lot of handling but if you can get to the stage where she'll be comfortable with being picked up for health checks & if necessary being in a box or a carrier while you do clean her cage then so much the better.
I would give her some time to settle down, maybe for a day or so don't do more than the essentials in the cage but although I've never had a robo I have found with Chinese that if you leave it too long it actually makes it harder.
If you haven't already do the tissue trick, or do it again, just so she's completely used to your scent being around the cage, keep offering her treats if she'll take them & talk to her a lot!
For box/bin taming I would begin with really, really short sessions, literally take her out for just a few minutes really then let her go back in the cage, more frequent shorter sessions are usually best to begin with.
Her first time in the taming bin & going back to a cage that's been cleaned was probably just too much in one go, she needs to know that she can be taken out & her home will be just as she left it when she goes back really.
It's still very early days so don't be too disheartened, plenty of time to bond with her.

[Unicorn]

Thank you all for your replies! I really regret I didn't find this forum before getting Freddy it's great to get support from more experienced hamster owners. It turns out we've made a lot of rookie mistakes and the first one was talking to the store assistants at P@H . Before getting a hamster we went to the store to ask about cages and accessories and it turns out we bought the cage that is too small following their recommendations (even if it was biggest one suitable for robos in store). I'm really annoyed at myself but what's done is done and hopefully can be fixed.

Thanks for the tips with spot cleaning, we will definitely do this as this will be less stressful for the hamster. I'll try European cleaning as well. About spot cleaning - The tricky thing would be her main hideout as I would have to take it out to clean it - it seems like it's both her hoarding spot and... A toilet.

I'm not very bothered by the fact that she's a cage hamster but as @cypher mentioned - I need to gain her trust to do health checks at least. And I just want her to know that we mean no harm.

We gave her space yesterday and today so hopefully she'll feel more comfortable again. Yesterday she run for life after taking out her water bottle for a refill.

If she's not a playpen type and it turns out Our cage is too small (and they told us it's enough to for two robos lol) we are thinking about getting a bigger cage like zoo zone large. But wouldnt be too much stress for our hammy to change the environment again? Even if we keep the substrate?

Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate every piece of information you gave me x

[AmityvilleHams]

If you change the cage it shouldn't be an issue.Just keep the substrate and try and set up similar nests and such,so it isn't a massive change.Set up the cage well with lots of hiding areas,avoid having much open space at all as robos can be very nervous with huge amounts of open space!

Don't feel bad about getting bad information at pet stores though,it happens everywhere to the point where it's often best to just ignore the majority of pet store advice.

[cypher]

Most of us make mistakes with our first hams but they are very forgiving with time so don't worry too much.
I wouldn't even think about changing her cage just yet, some robos never settle in a larger cage & it would make any taming harder, much as I love big cages & want all my hams to have the biggest I can give them I understand that some do feel happier & more secure in a smaller space so don't rush in to any decisions about what she should have try to let her guide you, if she becomes more confident with time then have a think about an upgrade.
It is a bit difficult when they pee in the nest, you may find you'll have to take her out & put her in the play bin once in a while to clean that but she may get used to you just doing a quick clean in there while she's still in the cage, only a little bit of experimenting with both will show which she's most comfortable with really.