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Old 05-06-2015, 07:49 AM   #1
Robodwarfs18
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Default A few quick questions :)

Hi, so I have a few questions about different things and I would really appreciate it if some body would take time to answer them. Thanks!

• What treats or food brands do robos or just dwarves like and what do you recommend?

• Is Carefresh a good brand of substrate? Reviews?

• Can I just switch bedding straight away? What should I do? (Switching from sawdust to Carefresh)

• Are wire playpens okay for dwarf hamsters or can they fit through the bars?

I need all the help I can get and once again, I'm grateful for all answers. Thank you!
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Old 05-06-2015, 07:59 AM   #2
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

I think it was your post where I answered the question about food but forgot about treats, a good variety of fresh veg is always a big favourite with all of mine, I don't give them bought treats as not all but a lot of them tend to be junk food for hams really & dwarf hams love seeds so mine get small black sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds in the shell & a mix of other seeds including hemp, linseed & millet. They also get a monkey nut or small piece of other nut once in a while, antos dog chews & a bit of bonio. Millet sprays are good too but they can go a bit overboard with them so it's best to break a little off at a time for them.
Personally I don't like carefresh very much my favourites for substrate are Fitch or hemp.
I would switch substrate gradually, it wouldn't hurt to do it all at once but probably better to mix the old & the new so your ham can adjust.
I've got a couple of wire playpens from zooplus & they are great for dwarfs, they can't get through the bars & my hybrids can't climb out, a robo wouldn't be able to either, I do have to watch my Chinese closely though!
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Old 05-06-2015, 08:00 AM   #3
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

- I fed my dwarves JR dwarf food on Zooplus before, but at the moment, mine are on Harry Hamster, the same as my Syrians. For treats, millet is a great treat, and mealworms. Personally I like keeping treats for my hamsters natural, so bits of veggies and fruits too

- I find carefresh very expensive. The natural one, in my experience, was also dusty and it had an odd smell. I wouldn't use it again. Right now I am using fitch instead.

- You can switch bedding straight away. Just do it on the next cage clean, as you usually would.

- I don't like the wire playpens you can get for hamsters, they always seem quite flimsy and I know that Syrians at least can climb out of them. As a better playpen alternative, look for a ball pit that is being sold for a small child. On occasion I just put a towel at the bottom of my bath and let the hamsters have a run in there instead.
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Old 05-06-2015, 08:13 AM   #4
Robodwarfs18
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
I think it was your post where I answered the question about food but forgot about treats, a good variety of fresh veg is always a big favourite with all of mine, I don't give them bought treats as not all but a lot of them tend to be junk food for hams really & dwarf hams love seeds so mine get small black sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds in the shell & a mix of other seeds including hemp, linseed & millet. They also get a monkey nut or small piece of other nut once in a while, antos dog chews & a bit of bonio. Millet sprays are good too but they can go a bit overboard with them so it's best to break a little off at a time for them.
Personally I don't like carefresh very much my favourites for substrate are Fitch or hemp.
I would switch substrate gradually, it wouldn't hurt to do it all at once but probably better to mix the old & the new so your ham can adjust.
I've got a couple of wire playpens from zooplus & they are great for dwarfs, they can't get through the bars & my hybrids can't climb out, a robo wouldn't be able to either, I do have to watch my Chinese closely though!
Thank you so so so much for all your help on both threads. Yes I've noticed that the only food they take out of their muesli is the sweet corn and sunflower seeds so I think I will try out different seeds like pumpkin seeds. I have given them fruit before like strawberries etc and I'm going to try kiwi and maybe some veg. Thank you also for your review on Carefresh, it's really made me think. I'm going to just buy Carefresh and see how it goes and I'll gradually add it in. And finally with the play pens. I was really only worried because when I got my hammies, the lady in the pet store said to not get a wired cage because they could fit through the bars no matter how thin they were but then again, some pet stores DO give our false information sometimes or they get confused but now that I've heard it from someone else, I'm definitely going to buy it. Once again thank you for all the answers!
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Old 05-06-2015, 08:17 AM   #5
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by SinNyx View Post
- I fed my dwarves JR dwarf food on Zooplus before, but at the moment, mine are on Harry Hamster, the same as my Syrians. For treats, millet is a great treat, and mealworms. Personally I like keeping treats for my hamsters natural, so bits of veggies and fruits too

- I find carefresh very expensive. The natural one, in my experience, was also dusty and it had an odd smell. I wouldn't use it again. Right now I am using fitch instead.

- You can switch bedding straight away. Just do it on the next cage clean, as you usually would.

- I don't like the wire playpens you can get for hamsters, they always seem quite flimsy and I know that Syrians at least can climb out of them. As a better playpen alternative, look for a ball pit that is being sold for a small child. On occasion I just put a towel at the bottom of my bath and let the hamsters have a run in there instead.
Thank you for your well written answer a lot of people recommend millets and mealworms so I'm going to try them out! Thank you x
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:29 PM   #6
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robodwarfs18 View Post
Thank you so so so much for all your help on both threads. Yes I've noticed that the only food they take out of their muesli is the sweet corn and sunflower seeds so I think I will try out different seeds like pumpkin seeds. I have given them fruit before like strawberries etc and I'm going to try kiwi and maybe some veg. Thank you also for your review on Carefresh, it's really made me think. I'm going to just buy Carefresh and see how it goes and I'll gradually add it in. And finally with the play pens. I was really only worried because when I got my hammies, the lady in the pet store said to not get a wired cage because they could fit through the bars no matter how thin they were but then again, some pet stores DO give our false information sometimes or they get confused but now that I've heard it from someone else, I'm definitely going to buy it. Once again thank you for all the answers!
Hi Robodwarfs - not much to add to what SinNyx and cypher have said; I add sesame seeds to my mix, both black and the ususal "white/yellow" sesame seeds, along with linseeds (both colours again). Like cypher mentioned, mine too love hemp seed, I mix this with the sesame seeds and add it separately to the rest of the dry mix.

I've not tried Fitch but will do when I have new cages for 3 of my five hamsters but until then I do use carefresh for my robo and I like it. She loves to dig in it and in fact has only had her nest on the carefresh, rather than use any of the hidey holes in the tank.

Be careful giving too much fruit to hybrid dwarf hamsters (not robos though) as they are sugary and that needs to be avoided as much as possible for hybrids. Vegetables are certainly the healthier option. Broccoli is a firm favourite as is cucumber, which I put in the cage every night in case there is ever an issue with the water bottle, then the cucumber will provide hydration.

I also use a wire playpen, which is almost permanently set up on the floor. I don't have Syrians, so climbing out of it isn't an issue, although one of mine is quite an adventurous youngster still, so I don't have anything that she can climb on close to the wire frame. None of mine have ever been able to even attempt to squeeze through the bars, even my youngest when she was just 5 weeks old. I also have a large, shallow plastic box (the underbed storage type) that I sometimes use as a playpen if the floor space isn't available. It's not as large but it's better than not having playtime. I haven't had either of my robos in any of the playpens, they are just too quick and very skittish and I wouldn't want to frighten them if I struggled to catch them again after playtime.

(I wrote this hours ago but didn't get a chance to hit submit, then I got busy away from the computer - whoops!)
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Old 05-06-2015, 06:46 PM   #7
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

Can't add more on the food and treats but a good ex-pen for Robos and some hybrids is a children wading pool the sides are smooth and little robos can't climb out. I wouldn't leave any Hybrids in a pool unattended as they can jump and may be able to reach the top of the sides and climb out. If your good at DIY stuff you could make a very nice playpen out of coraplast board which can be found at most sign shops for a very good price. To make the sides you would score the board on all sides and bend to shape a box. Use duct tape to tape the sides up. If you would like the Play Pen to collapse for easier storage you can use sticky back Velcro strips and velcro the sides up and when done using it simple unvelcro and fold it flat for easier storage.
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Old 05-06-2015, 10:58 PM   #8
cypher
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

I'd agree with Artisans about the fruit, you don't need to worry about the sugar content with robos as you do with hybrids & Chinese but all fruits are fairly acidic & their digestive systems aren't really made to deal with much of that so veg is better, they all seem to have different tastes so just experiment with lots of different veg, there's a safe food list in the wiki section you can check if you're unsure about anything.
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Old 05-07-2015, 01:12 AM   #9
Robodwarfs18
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Artisans_uk View Post
Hi Robodwarfs - not much to add to what SinNyx and cypher have said; I add sesame seeds to my mix, both black and the ususal "white/yellow" sesame seeds, along with linseeds (both colours again). Like cypher mentioned, mine too love hemp seed, I mix this with the sesame seeds and add it separately to the rest of the dry mix.

I've not tried Fitch but will do when I have new cages for 3 of my five hamsters but until then I do use carefresh for my robo and I like it. She loves to dig in it and in fact has only had her nest on the carefresh, rather than use any of the hidey holes in the tank.

Be careful giving too much fruit to hybrid dwarf hamsters (not robos though) as they are sugary and that needs to be avoided as much as possible for hybrids. Vegetables are certainly the healthier option. Broccoli is a firm favourite as is cucumber, which I put in the cage every night in case there is ever an issue with the water bottle, then the cucumber will provide hydration.

I also use a wire playpen, which is almost permanently set up on the floor. I don't have Syrians, so climbing out of it isn't an issue, although one of mine is quite an adventurous youngster still, so I don't have anything that she can climb on close to the wire frame. None of mine have ever been able to even attempt to squeeze through the bars, even my youngest when she was just 5 weeks old. I also have a large, shallow plastic box (the underbed storage type) that I sometimes use as a playpen if the floor space isn't available. It's not as large but it's better than not having playtime. I haven't had either of my robos in any of the playpens, they are just too quick and very skittish and I wouldn't want to frighten them if I struggled to catch them again after playtime.

(I wrote this hours ago but didn't get a chance to hit submit, then I got busy away from the computer - whoops!)
Thank you so so much for answering! I'm going to go for Carefresh now, thanks. Also I currently use an under-bed kind of storage box for my hamster's playpen

Thanks again x
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Old 05-07-2015, 01:13 AM   #10
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Default Re: A few quick questions :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
I'd agree with Artisans about the fruit, you don't need to worry about the sugar content with robos as you do with hybrids & Chinese but all fruits are fairly acidic & their digestive systems aren't really made to deal with much of that so veg is better, they all seem to have different tastes so just experiment with lots of different veg, there's a safe food list in the wiki section you can check if you're unsure about anything.
Thanks for the ideas! x
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