Roborovskis!!!!

[Emma]

I just wanted to start a robo thread cos I love 'em



My two are brothers, Merry and Pippin. At first I didn't know how I'd tell them apart - until they grew a bit, or rather, Pip grew a bit and Merry grew a lot! M is quite fat, he's a greedy little thing, and always gets to the food first. I tried giving less food, but then M just ate all the good bits and left P the rest, and P started looking a bit thin. So I let them have more again, P looks much better for it, and M has just remained a little pig.



They are very active, but getting quite handlable, Pip especially is no real trouble now. I have spent several months working every day to get him to this stage though, and I still would only handle him sitting down near somewhere safe (the cage or a box) in case he got antsy. These guys are not at all cuddly like Syrians. They have mini exercise balls, which Pip seems to enjoy but Merry will only use for about 5 mins before stopping to have a wash and watch his brother. He's not that lazy though - he uses the wheel more than Pip.



My favourite thing is watching the both of them in the wheel together. They just fit in side by side, it's so cute. Especially when one stops running and the other goes for a little tumble, or they try and run in opposite directions and just succeed in climbing the walls a little bit before bumping back into each other.



Pip has a trick of running really fast in the wheel and then stopping dead so he does a complete loop-the-loop. It really worried me at first, but he hasn't harmed himself yet and seems to mean to do it - he is capable of slowing down as well.



That's it, I just wanted to go on about my boys! I'm really enjoying keeping roborovskis, and I would recommend them as a pet, with certain reservations.

[SnuggleHam]

Awwwwwwwwwwwww



They sound so adorable, I have really been contemplating on getting a dwarf or two next time, although I do love the Syrians, I’m afraid my new bin cage might be to easy for them to escape through the wire.. They measure about a half-inch appear, so I’m unsure.



Now if this were LOTR's I think it would be Pippin who was the greedy one for food before merry, but then they are both kind of silly like that.



The idea that Dwarfs don’t get wet tail is one of the reasons I’m really considering, But I don’t think I should let that fear stop me from getting another Syrian in the future.

[Emma]

Originally Posted by candacebell

Now if this were LOTR's I think it would be Pippin who was the greedy one for food before merry, but then they are both kind of silly like that.

Yeah I know. Before Merry grew quite so much, we told them apart by behaviour - Pip was always much more outgoing that Merry, he still is. We thought the hobbit character Pip was more adventurous and outgoing whilst Merry was the sensible-ish one who was cautious!

[SnuggleHam]

You know "Roborovskis" is quite a mouth full to say, I still sound it out when I really try to read it lol.



Im getting use to calling them Robo's but if I ever went to a pet store and asked if they ever had Robos they wouldnt know what the heck I was talking about :P

[Emma]

I know. A few years ago when I first saw people posting about "robo hams" on the internet I thought they meant like robotic toy hamsters



I've got the hang of "roborovskis" now but still trip up over it sometimes. And I used to learn Russian so should be used to names like that!

[babyboos]

You are quite right Candace in that no true cases of Wet Tail "the stress related illness" have been found in dwarf or Chinese hamsters, although these later species can suffer from extreme diarrhoea which is where some confusion has arisen. Dwarves and Chinese however are not illness free and diabetes for example, once only found in Campbell's Russian Dwarf hamsters has recently been found in Roborovski Dwarves also.



Roborovski Dwarves or the Desert hamster as they are sometimes called (Phodopus roborovskii) originate from China, Mongolia and Russia where they inhabit semi-arid areas with little vegetation. They construct burrows some 2-6 feet beneath the sand. They lack the dorsal stripe of the Russian Dwarves P. sungorus (Winter White) and P. campbelli (Campbell's) but are a similiar shape, only a LOT smaller at about 5 cm (2 inches), and absolutely gorgeous



My Pippin and Merry:



You can see their eyebrows are slightly different and Pip has a dark grey spot on his forehead where his hair seems to whorl in a cow's lick!

Day 1:



Day 3:



Day 10:





I must admit I was a little dubious about this species when first introduced about 10 years ago. Back then I was really getting into my Russian Dwarves but their sweet temperments and adorable faces soon won me over It is quite interesting how long it has taken them to reach their growing level of popularity today. The first specimen was captured during the Roborovsky and Kozlov expedition (which is where their name came from) in July of 1894. However, none were held in captivity until the 1970’s by the Moscow Zoo and the Zoological Society of London. Although many Roborovski Dwarves were captured and sent to zoos in the US and UK, those batches did not breed, and most in stock today seem to have originated from Holland.

[Emma]

Ohhhh! Baby robos!!!!! <3

[babyboos]

They are just so precious...

[Emma]

*is sitting making gaga noises at the screen*

[Emma]

Here's my Merry:





Pippin:





And the two of them together:







All taken last weekend, not particularly good camermanship from me though



EDIT: Pictures should be fixed now I hope.