Hi all
Last week, my three girls got me a tiny present, or rather, a huge present in a tiny package.
Meet Gilbert
Gilbert is a robo and around 4 months old. He has most likely been rehomed twice before he ended up here where he will stay for the rest of his days.
Gil was bought together with his brother for 2 twin girls, sadly, his family didnt know that water bowls could be dangerous and his brother drowned a few days after.
Unfortunately, it didn't take long before the two girls got impatient with him not being tame and not wanting to be handled.
When my daughter picked him up, the family told her with a smile about how he had been dropped a few times and how hard he was to catch - almost as if they didn't understand that the hamster was scared and could have been hurt by it. He had even been flinged out of one of the kids' sleeve and landed on the floor.
He was lucky though, the family realized that it was a mistake to get a robo hamster and decided to try to sell it on a site much like gumtree. A family showed interest but decided against it, when they did their research and found out, that a robo was quite difficult to tame, and in most cases very skittish.
My daughters contacted the family and asked if he was still for sale, which he was, they would even drive him 1 hour drive to our city, as long as the hamster got a nice home. They also told my daughter, that it was close to last call, as Gil was supposed to be put down the week after. So it looks like he most likely, arrived at his new home, the day he was supposed to be put down
When Gil was handed over, the conditions of his cage were pretty bad. I'll just add some pictures to give you guys an idea. To me it looks like he hasnt had his cage cleaned during the month they have owned him. And I'm kinda wondering if they ever changed his water.
Anyway... He was taken straight to the vet for a check up to make sure he was okay. Not only because of what the cage looked like, but also because of the stories about him being dropped... more than once, I wanted to make sure that he was okay.
At the vet there was a tiny surprise as well. The robo was sold as a female, however, ''she'' turned out to be a ''he'' :P
I had actually had a pretty awful day that day. I had a toothache that could kill and had to go to the dentist to have a tooth pulled out. But, when I got home, I was surprised with a visit by my 2. daughter and a hamstercage in my living room. After being speechless about the present, I was first stunned, then annoyed by how his cage looked, it wasnt clean at all, I quicky prepared his new home and popped him in there. Because his old cage smelled terrible, I decided only to move his house and throw out the rest.
Because I didn't know what to call my new hamster, my girls desided to call him 'Frank' (for fun) until something else had been decided. After watching "Frank" for some days, I finally decided a name.
"Frank" got the name Gilbert, in daily speak he is going to be called Gil. At least by me
The reason behind his name, is that he looked so happy and satisfied in his new cage. He really looked full of joy and "Gil" means joy.
Already the first evening he was out and about in his new cage. Running in his new wheel, laying down in it, over and over again. Trying out his sandbath (he didn't have one in his old cage) and even resting for a bit in that too!
He has been checking out the rest of the cage too, running through the different tubes and he seems very pleased - but there's no doubt that his wheel and his sandbath are the two things that he loves the most.
He has had a few days to settle in and seems quite comfortable with his surroundings. We had his first taming session today, but he was in no way impressed by being placed in a small playpen with a few things and my hand in there. But as he doesn't have a problem with me, having my hand in his cage, all though he didn't want to take any treat from it, he remained calm running in his wheel, taking a sandbath, but ignoring my hand. I expected him to be way more nervous. As he is taking it very well so far, having my hand in his cage, I think that will be the way forward, I will start with that and see how he progresses.
Btw, anyone know the name of the color he has on his back? I believe he is a white faced Robo, am I correct in this?
Meet Gilbert
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