Suitable home for two robo's & play fighting

[Scrapyard_Dog]

Good morning everyone,

I've kepy Chinese dwarf hamsters for the past 4-5 years as individuals but have just taken the plunge and bought two robo's.

I currently have them in this cage:-



It has two levels in addition to a wheel and a few other toys.

Although its only been less than 24 hours I'm really nervous with them. They can sometimes come together and roll around a bit and one will chase the other. At the moment its all I can think of and am seriously considering returning them and maybe getting another chinese.

Please help, I had a crummy nights sleep last night worrying about them!

[cypher]

That cage really isn't suitable for a pair, you need everything on one level to prevent them getting territorial then you need two of everything, water bottles, wheels, houses (with multiple exits so one can't trapped by the other) & ideally you need to scatter feed so they can't fight over bowls.
You could make a bin cage or maybe use something like a Zoozone if you want to keep them together but even then you would need to keep a spare cage ready as they can fall out at any time even with all the best precautions.

[velma]

Everything Cypher said, basically. But it's not dreadful if you have to separate them & they won't get lonely. And robos are completely different to Chinese so a different experience. Not really hands on but very rewarding (also really really funny). For a tiny wee hamster, my hector has bags of personality.

[Shannonmcn]

I'm going to agree with cypher too, I think something like a zoozone 2 or even a Zoozone 1 would be much better for these little guys or a big samla bin (cheap, great to have as an emergency cage). There is a sweet spot for how much space pairs seem to do well in and atm that's a bit on the small side from what I've heard but you don't want to go too big either. And two wheels, only hideaways with two entrances, scatter feeding or separate bowls etc are all standard bits of advice.

Try not to worry too much about them fighting a little, a lot of pairs do end up falling out and all you can do is your best to make things as harmonious as possible, it's not a failure if they need to be separated. If you keep your eye on them, watch for fights which last longer than a few seconds, them sleeping separately or patches of missing fur then you will probably catch it before it goes too far. As soon as you see blood is when they absolutely must be split up but some fights for dominance are normal.

[Scrapyard_Dog]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I feel a lot better today about them. I have got a spare cage just in case of a disagreement and will look into doing a bin conversion. I guess its OK to move them into another cage setup after them being in the current one for a while? I'd hope to get one done within a couple of weeks.

I have also got them another wheel (one of the disc ones where they stand on top) and I was watching them for ages last night. they are definately great to watch spinning out of their wheel after running so quickly! I think even this new wheel has taken the pressure off a little as one can use one and not intrude on the other.

Sleeping wise, they are currently in bed together in the little room on the top level, I also slept well last night!

Cheers,

Rob

[Scrapyard_Dog]

Say I didnt want to go for the homemade tank, would this one be suitable for the both?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hagen-Zoozon.../dp/B002USE0JM

Thanks

Rob(o)

[cypher]

Good to hear you finally got some sleep!
The addition of the flying saucer should definitely help keep them happy.
The zoozone would be fine but I think you need to mesh the top with that as the bar spacing is too big.
Moving hams to a new cage is often a bit unsettling for them but it's worth it as the improvement should give you a better chance of keeping them together, you just have to try to make everything as familiar as possible when you move them so keep the old substrate & nesting material & use the same houses/toys etc & continue to keep a close eye on them as they settle in.

[Scrapyard_Dog]

Thanks Cypher. I'll probably return the spare cage to the shop and will look at the Zoo Zone one keeping the current one as the spare. Everything that could be moved would be although the wheel goes with the cage so I'd have to look at another saucer or something.

Mesh wise I take it I could get something from B&Q and just wrap it around the bars that come with the cage?

Cheers,

Rob

[racinghamster]

Hi Rob, congrats on your pair of robos. I agree with everything said so far and was about to suggest a Zoozone 1 (that`s a Zoozone 2 in your link) and is a much bigger cage. My personal feeling is the Zoozone 1 would be size-wise enough for a pair of robos and it wouldn`t be TOO big to allow them to form separate territories, but would still be large enough for them to zoom around in and have a pair of wheels etc....

Looking at it from a separation perspective also, the Zoozone 2 would be a very large cage for one robo! So if you went for a ZZ1 for the pair and they eventually fell out, you could just use your initial cage above and the ZZ1 for the other. I just feel that makes more sense, but if you really feel the ZZ2 is a bigger, better space for both, then I` not here to put you off. I`ve kept four robos myself. A pair (ended up separated) and then two single males. So it makes sense to look at what they require as single hamsters as well as pairs. Keeping the harmony, not doing full cage cleans and never separate them even while spot cleaning. x

[Scrapyard_Dog]

Thanks Racing,

Do you have a link perchance for the ZZ1 cage?

Thanks,

Rob