Robo checklist & food types?

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

Yeah thats the P@H food I use
Live mealworms are perfect! I only use dry because they are easier for me to buy cheap, I believe the live ones have more protien in though(?) Its up to you whether you add dried ones to the mix though, some people do some people dont
Yeah I think the KittiKat is a cheap knock off of KiteKat but they do it in wet and dry, basically just any dry cat food is fine as long as there are no onion or spicey flavours added, I just stick with basic chicken flavour.
As for the cheese and veg I stick with the rule of it being a few pieces small enough to pouch but not tiny, so about the size of a shelled monkeynut/peanut

[kiania]

I have tubs of mealworms in the fridge, and beetles and aliens on the side - hopefully solving my having to buy them
I know live crickets are okay - do you know if locusts and roaches (both suitably small) would be? I have tanks of dubia and discoid roaches as feeders, and there are lots of tinsy ones.
They work out at (dry matter, gut loaded both):
Roaches: 17.39% fat, 91.71% protein, 8.37% fibre
Mealworms: 33.42% fat, 53.42% protein, 4.47% fibre (for comparison).

I know there are concerns regarding freeze dried roaches in hedgehogs getting compaction of the gut due to the drying process removing enzymes. That and live mealworms are gut-loadable and enriching, and all sorts of other buzzwords

Bodhi has a mix of a few types of cat kibble, she gets:
Advanced Nutrition Adult Food with Chicken
Purely Adult Complete 40% Chicken (the Pets At Home brand)
Royal Canin Indoor 27
James Wellbeloved Adult Turkey & Rice
Go Cat Complete Indoor Cat With Chicken, Vegetables & Garden Greens
- since they cannot have onion or anything spicy either, I'm sure adding an packet of one of those to my shopping basket for robos shouldn't be too hard! It is all ~30% protein, and 10-15% fat if that helps

Fantastic info regarding piece sizes as well! It is one of those things that gets overlooked so much when looking into new animals - that is, amounts, frequency and piece size. I can chop peanut size lumps easily - hog food needs to be pretty much small as you can go without mashing because they don't have paws to grab, or teeth that grow back if they tried to bite lumps off and snapped one. Peanut-size will be a doddle!

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

Ahh see now your making me want hedgehogs
I have never tried feeding my robos cockroaches or locusts but I cant see it causing them any harm as they would be eating similar things in the wild. I would love to try feeding mine live crickets but they would either be too scared or too lazy to catch it XD "Why hunt the food when we get it in a dish" would be their excuse

Those cats kibbles sound fine too

[kiania]

My hoglet:



I won't show the baby photos, don't want to offer too much cute at any one time

But for comparison (ie reason hogs are 'bad'), my estimate for two robos (set ups only, no animals) is now at £133. For Bodhi, my estimate was £1200 (not including misc buys, her lamp, or the CHEs I've got to purchase by the end of the month at £25 per shade, £30 per thermostat - two of them, plus the bulbs, blargle!). And they live about the same livespan as hamsters (3-4 years). Not that I'd swap her for anything in the world, but dear lord are they costly!

I am used to offering live food on the end of tweezers (my breeder's hogs weren't fast enough to catch locusts - Bodhi has grown up with them, so can hunt anything, bless her socks!).

Think I have food covered now

So, food (daily and weekly snacks), nesting material, cage, substrate, housing. Think I'm golden. I also managed to find the websites of two robo breeders of a hog-friend who shows Syrians. It might just be coming together nicely now Gives me three or four months to save up, find a space in the flat to put them, and convince the OH that they've been there for yeeeears. His fault though - he spotted them in a Petco while we were in the US and decided they were cute enough to drag me over to see. I blame him entirely.

I do feel like there is something I've forgotten though.

[kiania]

Oh, I know what I remembered.

Toenail trimming - is this something that robos require? Is it often? Do people do it themselves, or utilise the vet?

I'm used to doing Bodhi's, but while she's fairly unwilling, she is at least big enough to grab a foot of easily.

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

Awwww I soooo want a hog now!!!!!! >.< Ive spend just over £1000 on all my hamster and I have only owned them a year! :L

As for claw trimming it is so simple! Catch the robo, hold it firmly but not too tight and turn it 'belly up' in your hand with its feet sticking out of your fingers. Most robos will stay still when you hold them belly up, then you just cut their claws with normal baby nail clippers. I do it once every 2 weeks because their claws all seem to grow so fast. You just need to cut them so that they are not hanging over their paws so about 2mm of white before the quick (pink bit)

[Nikorusama]

Well hello kiania nice to see you on here

[kiania]

For hogs, you want Faye Sanders at TiggyHogs.com | UK Recommended Breeder of African Pygmy Hedgehogs . Best breeder - not only does she produce class A hoglets (all of which are entirely handlable), but I visited her to meet her hogs on a sort of taster session to see if I liked/wanted one (all breeders of all species should totally do this!), visited for the day when my hoglet was conceived, and visited for a whole day once a week for the 8 weeks between birth and taking Bodhi home. And for those that can't visit (or during the weeks anyway, for me!), you get two updates on mum, then the litter, and your chosen hoglet once you choose, with photos and commentary! Like most recommended hog breeders, she also includes 24/7 support if there are any problems for the life of the hog, and unlike some, free holiday care! In short, her customer service was fab, and her breeding ethics (ie having a waiting list and not breeding unless she has enough people on the list to home a full litter) are also noteworthy (especially in the cut-throat hog world it seems ). They are very very cute. A total time-suck though, as they need about an hour of cuddling every day.


Hence why robos seemed to fit my bill. Gentle taming over time, but no big handling requirements - I like the idea of a 90% watching pet, with two of them playing with each other. That and little balls of fluffy cuteness? Pah, who could possibly say no? That would be madness!

Claw trimming sounds simple. I use baby nail clippers with Bodhi (the ol' snag-a-leg and hang-on-until-all-nails-are-shorter method every couple of weeks), so robos sound like a doddle. With hogs, some of them are so grumpy that owners can't trim their nails - so they get taken to the vets. Not only the great expense, but vets require (99.9% of the time) that the hog gets knocked out - few of them have died due to this. I am totally prepared to learn to trim nails if it solves the trauma and potential for tragedy like that!

Either way, I can spend a nice afternoon every two weeks pissing off the mammals of the house by doing nail trimming. See how many take offense and chomp on me! A challenge I feel!

Next question!
Breeders...are there any that are recommended (per ce)? I had Oak Farm and Wessex Hamstery both mentioned to me.
Around the time I'm looking at acquiring them, I'd be able to visit Reading (and surrounding), Guildford (and surrounding), as well as between Reading and Northampton (on route) and Reading and Sheffield (on route). In short, the show this Sunday is terribly badly organised for me...move it to January! I tease...I'm going along to look at robos (and stalls!) for a few hours, but it is somewhat poor timing regarding collection of hammies, since it is 12 minutes drive away from me!

Still got to decide on colours really - honestly, I'm more concerned about proper breeding, good quality hams with bright eyes and a perky disposition...but I do love the pied colouration. We'll see on that - I shall have preferences on colours, but it is not going to replace health or temperment!

[kiania]

Originally Posted by Nikorusama

Well hello kiania nice to see you on here

Been here a few months - I was asking about cages in the spring. Now I'm down to 3 months of saving, acquiring bits of cage, and serious research Fingers crossed, of course!

[MzWiz0915]

Omg I'm in love with your Hedgehog! I want one so badly but they're really really uncommon here and most agencies discourage breeding them. Generally you have to wait for an adoption to turn up

Some robo's want your love and attention too- my Astrid is a total snuggler and will curl up and sleep on me for hours while I write papers...and Pica loves attention, but hates being held (she's very fickle)