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Old 02-29-2020, 05:38 AM   #1
Petite
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Default Two robos....?

I have just spoken to a pet shop on the mainland, who tell me I can keep two robos together. I know folk here are much more knowledgeable than many pet shop people, so wanted to check. I know most other hamsters can't be housed together, but I'm not sure if this applies to robos as well. Any advice, please?
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Old 02-29-2020, 05:44 AM   #2
souffle
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Default Re: Two robos....?

Robos are a species that are the most likely to stay together however you still need to be prepared for a fall out at any time with extra housing. Sometimes it works out and sometimes not.
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Old 02-29-2020, 07:44 AM   #3
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Default Re: Two robos....?

I wouldn't risk it. Any species can and often will fall out and that falling out can be absolutely horrifying if you don't catch it in time!

Ultimately, it is just so much better for their safety and overall wellbeing to be housed on their own regardless of species. This also makes things easier and less stressful for you since you won't have to constantly wonder whether or not your hamsters will be fighting and such! Also, even if there isn't obvious fighting there can still be stress going on or fights that you just don't witness so keep that in mind - you can never fully supervise pairs or groups.

I know a lot of pet shops give really bad advice so that wouldn't be where I'd be getting advice from. The forum will do you more good, and there are plenty others here who would agree with me on not housing any hamster species in any sort of social pairing or group!
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Old 02-29-2020, 01:31 PM   #4
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Default Re: Two robos....?

Yes they CAN go together but they may well fall out.

Not worth the risk imo. I had a pair who fought and were much happier once separated (the dominant one was less happy at first, the subserviant one was immediately happier).

I adopted a trio from gumtree and realised that the smallest one was being bullied. Eventually the other two fell out as well. Only kept singles since.

I love roborovskis, such fun little hamsters!
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Old 02-29-2020, 02:33 PM   #5
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Default Re: Two robos....?

It seems there are two and a half sides to the "can dwarf hamsters be housed together." However, everyone agrees that you should not house opposite genders together, especially if they are siblings.

Some people think that a dwarf hamster should definitely have a pal, but probably introduce them at a young age.
Others think they are totally solitary.
The knowledgable people on this post think you can try but be prepared in case it doesn't work out.

I had an idea for something in between "solitary" and "needs friends"... Maybe you could get two of the same gender, and always keep them in separate houses, but you could make supervised time for them to play together? And you could also play with them individually so each one thinks their special. That way they aren't alone but don't have to fight over space and their (inconceivable) infinite resources. And, if you're always watching when they are together, you will know everything that happens between them!

Could someone with more knowledge please state their thoughts about my idea? Thanks!
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Old 02-29-2020, 02:40 PM   #6
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Default Re: Two robos....?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestial View Post
I had an idea for something in between "solitary" and "needs friends"... Maybe you could get two of the same gender, and always keep them in separate houses, but you could make supervised time for them to play together?
Supervised playtime would be even worse unfortunately. Hamsters are quite territorial and would be even more likely to fight than those simply housed together - and probably with significantly worse results no matter how closely supervised!

They don't need companionship like some other small pets. Social housing as already mentioned frequently ends badly on some level, and can absolutely end up leading to death. At the very least it increases stress levels which makes the hamsters involved have a weakened immune system, so they're already going to be more prone to illness than singularly housed hamsters would be.
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Old 02-29-2020, 02:56 PM   #7
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Default Re: Two robos....?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams View Post
Supervised playtime would be even worse unfortunately. Hamsters are quite territorial and would be even more likely to fight than those simply housed together - and probably with significantly worse results no matter how closely supervised!

They don't need companionship like some other small pets. Social housing as already mentioned frequently ends badly on some level, and can absolutely end up leading to death. At the very least it increases stress levels which makes the hamsters involved have a weakened immune system, so they're already going to be more prone to illness than singularly housed hamsters would be.
Aww it's a shame that they would fight even more!
AmityvilleHams, thanks for taking a look at my idea!
I guess if you do want two dwarf hamsters, you could keep them totally separate and never let them realize the other exists?
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Old 02-29-2020, 03:21 PM   #8
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Default Re: Two robos....?

Many people do find pairs of dwarf hamsters need separating. A Robo breeder thinks they are a species who do like company and to live in pairs or trios. And as Souffle says they are the species most likely to do ok. It does need a lot of careful setting up to try and ensure they don’t fall out. Two or three of everything - wheels, houses with more than one entrance, water bottles. Better to scatter feed rather than bowls. No levels in the cage- that encourages territorial behaviour. Cage not too big not too small. Some people even say that taking them out of the cage separately even for a few minutes can cause one to become territorial about the cage so they need to be taken out at the same time.

As mentioned above you’d need to have a spare cage and be prepared to separate them if they start to fall out or one seems to be dominant and larger and the other one is a bit small.

There are people who have successfully kept a pair for life but it isn’t that common. I was going to adopt a pair of robos from a rescue before we got Moo - but they had to be separated before they were adopted - and Moo needed a home more than one of the robos.

If you want to get both and can put some effort into a careful set up then you could try it but you would need a spare cage in case they needed separating in a hurry.
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Old 03-01-2020, 07:50 AM   #9
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Default Re: Two robos....?

Many thanks for all the feedback - I'm convinced! If I end up going for a robo, I'll stick with one.
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Old 03-01-2020, 09:24 AM   #10
Ithuviel
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Default Re: Two robos....?

About keeping hamsters together let me give you a little story. I am now fostering a hybrid dwarfvfemale with 4 pup. The pups are now 15 days old. I can aready see that they will not get along in the long run. They sleep alone each hamster in his own little house and sometimes i see playfighting

Ofcourse... They are now robos, but they are dwarfs and even at a young age i can see that they like being alone.
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