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Old 10-03-2019, 07:50 AM   #1
Gaoo
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Question I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Hello everyone

Suddenly it seems like I'm taking my friend's roborovskis home with me (since his parents thing that the hamsters are in fault for the rats that are on the building, I know, makes no sense, but finally I'm taking them out of there, they're being treated as a toy).

My friend has kept them together since he got them as babies. No one knows if they are both males or both females (since they have been together for so long I think they're both the same sex) and they aren't tamed at all (more than that, they fear humans) so I don't know how easy will be to sex them.

I know robos can live in pairs or groups but I've heard that's very hard.
Shall I separate them? I'm getting them a new cage anyway (the one my friend is giving me is tiny)
Also, I already have a dwarf campbell (my cute not-that-baby-anymore Verdandi) so I now more that the basics of hamster keeping but, any tip specific to roborovskis?
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Old 10-03-2019, 02:58 PM   #2
Ria P
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Default Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Well done you for rescuing two Robos and giving them a good home!

Someone more experienced will come up with tips no doubt.

I have an adopted Robo myself but don't know much about them yet so am learning too.
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Old 10-04-2019, 01:11 AM   #3
AmityvilleHams
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Default Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Definitely separate them, they'll both need their own properly sized cage. Hamsters of any species do far better housed on their own as in the wild they don't really exhibit true social behavior as much as they sometimes will stay together in mixed sex combinations for breeding purposes and as such two males or two females or even group housing can be incredibly stressful for them. It's quite different comparing them to a species like guinea pigs or rats where social housing is beneficial and a necessity, while with hamsters of any species they often do end up fighting and can cause serious harm to each other(along with chronic stress and other issues).
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Old 10-04-2019, 03:56 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

I think this is a difficult one. It is very common for pairs to end up falling out and fighting and needing separsting. A change of environment might trigger this or they might settle. The cautious option would be as Amity says - to just house them separately now. And if one is looking smaller than the other I would say that is the right option as well because it suggests dominance and one getting more food than the other.

But if they have been living together happily with no issues then they might settle as a pair with the right kind of cage set up but would need careful observation. Slightest sign of fighting or biting or squabbling and things can turn nasty very quickly and one get killed or seriously injured.

If you’re not an experienced owner or know much about pairs as you say, then it could be a good idea to just house them separately now. If you were going to house them together the set up is really important to avoid fighting caused by territorial behaviours. So no levels and 2 or 3 of everything. Eg houses, wheels, water bottles, food bowls (scatter feeding may be better than food bowls). Houses need at least 2 or 3 entrances - so if one tries to block the other one it can get out. Even toys and tunnels need careful selection. A tube or tunnel needs to big enough that both can fit inside.

All this means s cage needs to be large enough to fit all these items but not so large that there is too much space which is also considered a risk to causing territorial behaviour. So something between 70 and 90 Cm long probably and 40 to 50 Cm deep.

Do you know how old they are? Fallouts often occur when their hormones kick in when they are a few months old but some people have successfull kept aboair together for life. There are varying opinions. Some Robo breeders are in favour of them being in pairs or groups. In Germany they believe that dwarf hamsters and robos should never be in pairs or groups.

Assume they are already together at the moment. Do they seem ok? If they are in a really small cage and you’re Thinking of separating them you would need two cages about 70 x 40Cm or more (eg a Duna multy).
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Old 10-04-2019, 04:45 AM   #5
Gaoo
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Default Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
I think this is a difficult one. It is very common for pairs to end up falling out and fighting and needing separsting. A change of environment might trigger this or they might settle. The cautious option would be as Amity says - to just house them separately now. And if one is looking smaller than the other I would say that is the right option as well because it suggests dominance and one getting more food than the other.

But if they have been living together happily with no issues then they might settle as a pair with the right kind of cage set up but would need careful observation. Slightest sign of fighting or biting or squabbling and things can turn nasty very quickly and one get killed or seriously injured.

If you’re not an experienced owner or know much about pairs as you say, then it could be a good idea to just house them separately now. If you were going to house them together the set up is really important to avoid fighting caused by territorial behaviours. So no levels and 2 or 3 of everything. Eg houses, wheels, water bottles, food bowls (scatter feeding may be better than food bowls). Houses need at least 2 or 3 entrances - so if one tries to block the other one it can get out. Even toys and tunnels need careful selection. A tube or tunnel needs to big enough that both can fit inside.

All this means s cage needs to be large enough to fit all these items but not so large that there is too much space which is also considered a risk to causing territorial behaviour. So something between 70 and 90 Cm long probably and 40 to 50 Cm deep.

Do you know how old they are? Fallouts often occur when their hormones kick in when they are a few months old but some people have successfull kept aboair together for life. There are varying opinions. Some Robo breeders are in favour of them being in pairs or groups. In Germany they believe that dwarf hamsters and robos should never be in pairs or groups.

Assume they are already together at the moment. Do they seem ok? If they are in a really small cage and you’re Thinking of separating them you would need two cages about 70 x 40Cm or more (eg a Duna multy).
I think I'm separating them then.

One is a bit smaller than the other.
My friend says that they don't fight but then he says that wounds appear "magically". Also the cage they were is tiny, with just one hide, one wheel, one water bottle, one food bowl and one tiny baby toy. Ah, and two levels.

Since I got them (yesterday night and now its lunch time) I've seen them fight (not too seriously) for food scattered on the floor.

They have a little more than a year.

I think I'm going to put one on the travel cage I have for my other hamster (wich is really tiny, but he's just going to stay there a couple of days) until I het the new cages.
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Old 10-06-2019, 11:27 AM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Good move - it definitely sounds like they need separating. Do you have anything like a plastic storage bin you could use as a temporary cage? As long as the sides are high enough then the hamster wouldn't be able to get out and you could leave the lid off for ventilation for now. Something like the Ikea Samla bins. Which country are you in? The 78cm ikea Samla bin makes a good bin cage and is quite cheap to buy.

If you do have to keep one in the pet carrier for a day or so you will probably need to let him or her out quite a bit - eg in a playpen area or the dry bathtub - to have plenty of out of cage time as they could go a bit frantic in a small pet carrier. If you can make a temporary cage, out of a bin, that would be better.
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Old 10-08-2019, 03:14 AM   #7
Gaoo
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Smile Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Yes, I've already separated them.
He/she just stayed in the travel cage for a few hours. I wanted to make a big combo with two Samblas and an Ivar and make my tortoise terrarium there too but I couldn't go to Ikea (I can't drive) so I just bought two plastic bins (same size, just not from Ikea).
The lil one that was on the travel cage is now on one of that bins and the other one is still on the old cage cuz all this happened when I had almost no bedding at home.
Today I'm going to buy everything.
The shelves will have to wait cuz I have to DIY them bt the cages will be ready today.
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Old 10-08-2019, 03:51 AM   #8
Pebbles82
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Default Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Sounds good . Cardboard is always good for improvised enrichment! A tissue box for a cosy hide, egg boxes with a hole cut in, toilet roll and kitchen roll inner tubes, loads of torn up plain white toilet paper for nesting. The hammy will be fine with all that until you can get a platform sorted. They need somewhere to retreat to with overhead cover. A small shoe box with a hole cut for a door can be a good hide as well.
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Old 10-08-2019, 06:00 AM   #9
Gaoo
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Default Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Yessss I also cleaned some hides and toys from the hammie that I already had but I think I explained myself wrong, I didn't mean shelves for the 'inside' of the cage but shelves where I'm going to place the cages so they don't occupy so much space.
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Old 10-08-2019, 07:05 AM   #10
Pebbles82
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Default Re: I'm rescuing two roborovskis, tips?

Oh ok . With bin cages you can stack them on top of each other If there is plenty of ventilation in the sides. I was also looking at shelves recently and one idea that occurred that is cheap (although possibly tricky) is to just stack bricks on top of each other and put a piece of wood, cut to size, over the top. People used to do that to fit old belfast kitchen sinks. Pile up a couple of rows of bricks and sit the sink on top so it was the right height to the work tops.

Tricky in that not many people have bricks available! Ivar shelves sound more attractive.
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roborovskis, taking, friend, sex, easy, heard, groups, humans, robos, fear, live, pairs, separate, verdandi, not-that-baby-anymore, cute, campbell, basics, hamster, specific, tip, keeping, dwarf, hard, cage

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