Adopted Robo is pertified of me.

[Vanhorne86]

Hey all! New here and have made an account as I really need some help. I adopted a 6 month old female Robo hamster, it's been 3 weeks and she is still petrified of me, whenever I try to put my hand near her in the cage, she pretty much teleports to the opposite side. The only way I've been able to get her out of the cage so I can clean it is by chasing her around with my hand and grabbing her which I'm sure isn't helping. I've tried making her bedding out of tissue which I've made smell of my hands, I've tried leaving my hand still in her cage for her to smell and get used to and I'm always gentle but she's so so so skittery. I took her out to see if I could bond with her on a bed but she flipped out of my hand the second I opened it and ended up behind the wardrobe. My last Robo ham was nothing like this and this ham came from a pet shop, she had been returned by another person which is why she was in their adoption centre. I'm at my wits end here, I just want to show her that I'm no threat but the second she even catches my scent, she's gone! She's VERy hard to catch, she speend off at 100 mph the second she sees my hand. I would really appreciate any tips!

[velma]

Hello & welcome to HC. Robos sure are speedy! 3 weeks isn’t that long so she’ll still be settling in. And if she was returned by a previous owner you don’t know if she was a little roughly handled before which may adding to her skittishness. So really, I just think gentleness and patience are the key. The more you chase her the more wary she’ll be of you. As robos are so teeny and squirmy, I found the best way to get them out for cleaning or to go in a playtub is to use a jam jar or a mug, something like that. Put some sunflower seeds or something she likes in & put it in her cage do she can go in and see it’s no threat. When she’s in you can gently right the jar & lift it out. And I don’t really think she needs full cleans every week. So you may be able to spot clean with her in the cage. That and feeding should help get her used to your hand being in her cage. I’m sure with care & patience you’ll gain her trust.

[sushi_78]

I don't have much advice to offer since I am a hamster newbie too, but I have had my Robo about 3 weeks too and she is exactly the same. What I am doing is getting her used to my presence by just having my hands in the cage, moving the bedding around a bit, just generally making my presence known in a hopefully non-threatening way. When I am finished, I leave something tasty behind. I hope once she is fine with this, we can move onto to taking treats from my hand. I would avoid full cage cleaning if at all possible, since any disruption seems to set my Robo back with the taming.

[Ria P]

I have an adopted Robo who spent seven months in a small pet shop tank. I've had him for three months and sometimes he comes on my hand to get some linseeds. Soon as the seeds are gone he's off. At first he run off soon as he saw my hand and wouldn't go anywhere near it. I just left the seeds for him then.
I spot clean with him in the tank and have only once in three months cleaned his whole tank, a few days ago. I put him in a mug to get him out and then in a transport box.
I have no particular expections of him, accept him for who he is and would never dream of chasing him around trying to catch him because that could destroy the little trust he has in me.
I will continue to offer my hand with seeds on it and maybe one day he will trust me enough to let me stroke him which would be lovely.

I think you need to go back to the beginning and introduce yourself slowly in a non threatening way without compairing your hamster to your previous one. Also, be prepared that she may be a hamster to watch only.

[Otaku]

I have never had a Robo but considering their tiny size I can understand their shyness. I wish you all the best of luck with these little darlings as though I love to watch them handling makes parenthood more rewarding, so I hope you are all rewarded for your patience. Good luck everyone!

[Pebbles82]

Our last robo was always a bit like this. It is time and patience. I'm not sure how often you're cleaning the cage, but cage cleans can stress them as well. It's usually recommended to leave the cage alone for the first couple of weeks while they're settling in and not move things or disturb things - maybe a bit of spot cleaning of pee area (if you can find it!) If not then it's probably ok for a bit longer

Most hamsters don't like a hand in the cage but an untame robo especially. Some robos can be tamed, some are more for watching and talking to. It takes a concerted effort to tame a robo though I think.

Ours was never really tamed - just a little bit. He did exactly the same as yours and was wise to even a mug appearing and wouldn't go in it - he would run behind his wheel and flatten himself between the wheel and bars where you couldn't get at him.

If she's been adopted it can take longer to adjust - not just a new home and a new cage but a completely life change as well. I would carry on with just talking to her through the bars and giving the odd treat through the bars.

Our robo would sit and have long conversations - while I was talking to him and did a lot of non verbal communication! But he was very much a "look don't touch" hamster.

So I would hold off doing anything in the cage a bit longer, just put food and water out, and chat to her through the bars - put a treat through the bars - if she doesn't come to take it then leave it half in and she'll take it later.

What I did for cleaning with our robo's cage was to do half the cage at time- mostly spot cleaning - rather than a full clean. So I'd do the left half - which had the wheel and his second burrow/nest. He usually moved out of that burrow afterwards into his house on the other side of the cage where he had another nest. A couple of weeks later I'd do the right side of the cage. And he'd move backto the burrow on the left! That way he always had one half of the cage undisturbed.

They pee so little that a lot of it probably evaporates! I could never find an actual pee spot so just spot cleaned when doing the half cage clean.

When she's settled a bit and sits and listens when you talk, then you could try getting her out in some kind of receptacle. A mug didn't work for me but I used a snooze cube - large-ish fleece cube with a hole at the front and he liked that so would walk into it and I'd lift him out that way. Otherwise it may be a case of just removing everything from the cage and then scooping him into a mug (had to do that too). For a taming session.

A playpen would be good for taming. I enjoyed that - had a robo running up my trouser leg (sit in the playpen with her and she'll run over you and get used to you. It's also easer to get them used to being handled if they're in a playpen. I would pick ours up and immediately turn my hand over so he was on his back and stroke his tummy.He tended not to move when he was on his back. But always do it low in case they wriggle free, so they don't hurt themselves - and keep away from the edge of the playpen so you don't become a route out of it.