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Old 03-27-2017, 05:54 AM   #1
EmilyMay
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Join Date: Oct 2016
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Default Robo Questions!

Hi everybody!

Apologies for the following essay!
I have a few questions re my Roborvski Dwarfs. Okay so just as a disclaimer, pleaseeeee don't jump down my throat telling me to separate my hamsters, please read all the information given. I am experienced with hamsters, I just wanted to see what other hammy owners thought. So I have to 2 rescue Robos. Marco and Harley. Marco joined the family around August time, he was believed to be around 3 months old. Harley (originally Isla- thanks pets at home for sexing wrong) joined the family in November again around 3 months old. Both boys live next door to each other. They live in large cages with bars where part of the cages touch (was worried about them getting lonely- so thought they could 'communicate') During the past month or so Marco has started to develop the spinning disorder, generally caused by a Genetic Neurological disorder. He spins all the time (except when sleeping or distracted by food) I have tried everything to help him but to no avail. Back when we still believed Isla (Harley) was a girl we tried mixing the hammies, so they were acquainted before planning on breeding from Isla a few months down the line. I did the whole introducing them slowly process and let them play in a large hamster play pen with all the necessary bits and pieces. Two of everything, things with their own scent and different, tried to keep everything on one level, with no where they could hide/fight or feel trapped etc. They had a few meetings which went well, before realizing Isla (Harley) was actually male. Marco has always been a bit of wildcard, I used to describe him as semi feral because of how much he hated human contact and how scared of people he was. We believe he was sold and then brought back due to his behavior and not enjoying to be held/cuddled (again he is a robo and they are very quick) Anyway, Harley on the other hand is incredibly laid back (although in the past few weeks he has apparead to become a little nippy and grumpy when handled during the day) He loves to sleep. He is usually only awake for a few hours a night and sleeps for hours on end, always has (dont blame him, I like my sleep too) Marco and Harley are different characters but I see potential for them to be buddies. As we speak I have them in the playpen together again (first time since relaising harley was male) and they have been getting on well, with a few disputes, but obviously that was to be expected. They have done a lot of running around together and playing, and are trying to settle down together now but Marco is a fidget arse! Im watching them like a hawk and observing all the behavior they are displaying. There has been very little squeaking, although marco will squeak if i do so much as touch him, so thats nothing unusual. Since Marco has been in with Harley (been a few hours now) he hasn't spun once, or displayed any of the unusual obsessive behaviour. My thoughts behind it all were maybe Harley would relax marco down and help him, by giving him that distraction and companionship. Im gonna wait it out and make a decision on whether I think they will be good cage mates or not based on all I know about hamsters and animal behaviour in general but I was just wondering what you guys think? I know without knowing the hamsters yourself makes it harder for you to have an opinion but yeah, any thoughts would be much appreciated. I am an experienced hamster owner and would NEVER do anything I thought would put them in danger and/or stress or upset them.

Thank you so much for taking time to read this,
Hugs,
Emily May x
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Old 03-27-2017, 10:40 AM   #2
chesca_27
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Default Re: Robo Questions!

Hi!

Normally, I would strongly advise to not bond hamsters, but you do seem fairly confident and knowledgeable with pairs.

If you can really provide a suitable environment for the two of them and if it really does seem to be helping the neurological problems, then I would give it a try. Start with a very simple set up, nothing extravagant, with a house each, bottle each, bowl each, sand bath each etc and just monitor them for arguments. Avoid changing the set up too much and NEVER put levels in. We normally recommend a cage on the smaller side, to give less space to become territorial over.

Please keep us updated, as this is a very interesting topic.

Good luck!
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Old 04-13-2017, 09:40 AM   #3
Carla Gordon and Derrick
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Default Re: Robo Questions!

Wow I didn't know this could have an effect on neurological problems. Definitely keep us updated on the progress!

We separated our two to be on the safe side and have since reintroduced them in the play pen but they still live separately. You do sound more knowledgeable on the topic though, and only you can know the hammies to read their stress signs.

My only worry would be leaving them in together overnight or when you're not there in case anything happened or playing got nasty?
That's just my overly protective and concerned hamstermum brain though x
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