My new Robo's - need advice on housing

julie020 · 05-16-2018, 12:10 AM

Hi
I haven't posted for a while but I have two new Robos (girls) Pua and Hehe (pronounced Heyhey). I bought them home 2 weeks ago in a kidney shape small plastic dome but had a large hamster heaven at home waiting for them.

I connected the dome to the hamster heaven (huge cage) and made sure there was two of everything (wheels, beds, food bowls, water bottles, sand baths etc)

My mistake was not taking the dome away, now one hamster (Pua) lives in the hamster heaven and Hehe won't go into that part and stays in the tiny dome alone. I have not heard fighting but some fast scurrying around.

My questions:

Do you think they will forget each other if they don't mingle?

Should I move Hehe's house into the big cage and remove the connecting dome?

I'm worried about the smaller one living alone in the tiny dome (Hehe). Pua has all the toys and I can only fit a wheel and bed in the small dome (plus water and food)

Thanks for reading my dilemma and for any advice you can give.

cypher · 05-16-2018, 12:31 AM

It's hard to say without observing them but it sounds as though Pua is most likely preventing Hehe from using the larger area of the hamster heaven or some bullying has been going on & she is too nervous to go into the HH.
It is also just possible that Hehe is the more nervous of the two & is scared by the large space of the HH, it's not that big a cage really but if there is a lot of open space & not enough substrate then it can be an intimidating space for a nervous ham.
It would probably be best for both of them to just separate them now & give Hehe a better cage of her own with lots of substrate & hideouts (things like cardboard tubes, egg boxes, cork tubes or tunnels, coconuts all work well) & a good deep layer of substrate so she can settle in without feeling so nervous.

julie020 · 05-16-2018, 11:21 PM

Thanks for your reply cypher, I think you may be right! I feel really sorry for Hehe she looks terrified. Last night I accidentally scared her enough to run into the big cage but she was frantic and so frightened. Pua looks confident and is checking everything out but not Hehe.

I have another cage that I'm going to attach to Hehe's dome, I set it up last night but will attach it tonight once I've added some toys. I'm not going to separate the dome from the big cage just yet, I want to be sure they're not friends as there's no fighting that I can hear.

Thanks once again.

cypher · 05-16-2018, 11:35 PM

That must have been very stressful for poor little Hehe bless her, I hope she's ok, do take care as stress can make hams ill.
I think adding yet another cage to your current set up could be a bit risky as you are creating more potential territories which is what you want to avoid most with pairs.
Obviously it's your choice & only you can observe your hams behaviour to see what's actually going on but it sounds as though it's time to give Hehe a break from the stress & a nice home of her own.

julie020 · 05-17-2018, 02:31 AM

Yes, she was cypher! We were both stressed, I was only changing her water bottle.

I completely understand what you're saying about the territory issue. I will re-think this through. I really want to do the right thing and I'm still thinking she is just afraid of the big space in the big cage as they don't seem to fight.

I'm thinking of getting a night camera to see exactly what they're up to at night as I hardly ever see them awake. It could be she goes in the big cage every night and plays with her sister and I just don't see it, and it's just me and my presence she's afraid of?

Thanks for your advice cypher, I will think it through!

cypher · 05-17-2018, 10:28 AM

That's a good idea to use the camera, at least then you'll have a clearer idea of what they both get up to & if they are interacting with each other.

Pebbles82 · 05-17-2018, 10:46 AM

I think I would keep them in separate cages now. One has already separated herself, effectively, by staying in the dome, and the other has claimed the main HH cage for herself. Any kind of changes are also stressful so I would just keep them in separate cages now. Agree with cypher that adding any other cage just increases territorial behaviour as it is a "separate" area accessed by a tube.