Rescued Robo from a life of abuse.

[Tone]

Hi all, as you could guess I'm Tone and very recently rescued a Roborovski from an abusive home.

I'm in the process of building Shabah (it's new name) a nice new home because it's old one has taken a real beating. Wheel was smashed; it looks like it was shot as it was hit so hard that it's left an expanding hole though the plastic. Corners of the cage are cracked, straights are both cracked and have stress fractures and it also has paint abrasions from impacts against a wall..!!

I had a Hamster as a child but that was a long time ago where one only really had pet shops for information, looking around they haven't changed much

I've looked at a lot of videos by ErinsAnimals, ChocolateColors26 and
Joy Georgina. If there are other YouTube channels folk here can recommend, that would be cool.

Tone.

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi Tone and welcome to the forum.
Good on you for rescuing Shabah, look forward to seeing the new home once it's finished.
You've mentioned Shabah as 'it', do you know if its a boy or girl?

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to the forum.
Congrats on your new robo & well done for rescuing the poor thing, good to hear s/he?! has a nice home now.
I think you've probably found the best of the videos by the look of it but if you have any questions I'm sure someone here will be able to help.

[Tone]

I have no idea about Shabah's sex or age. Is there any way to tell from face or body shape?

[cypher]

I don't know about judging age but if you can get Shabah in a glass jar to have a look you might be able to figure out which sex with the help of this thread http://www.hamstercentral.com/commun...oborovski.html

[Pebbles82]

What a lucky little ham to have found you! As long as he/she has plenty of space in a good sized cage, lots of deep substrate/bedding for digging and tunneling, and some kind of hide or house, I think he/she will be very happy - then suggest looking at the vid on making toys out of toilet roll tubes (one of the Erin's ones I think).

[Tone]

Originally Posted by cypher

I don't know about judging age but if you can get Shabah in a glass jar to have a look you might be able to figure out which sex with the help of this thread http://www.hamstercentral.com/commun...oborovski.html

Thanks for the link; I might try in a week or so, I'm going to let Shabah settle in to its new habitat for a bit before I try anything.

Had a change of plan as I managed to pick up a 100x50x35 Zoozone for £55 new, I meshed the top and Shabah moved in during the evening. After a good explore, grabbed some food and went into it's new house filled with it's old bedding.

There's 4 hiding areas spread out so that if it feels the need there is somewhere close by to seek comfort. The substrate I added undulates between 3" to 5" fairly often as I thought Shabah might find it more interesting.

I can hear frequent sounds, food, litter tray and paper shredding so the change seems to have gone well All that's really needed now is a 6.5" wheel which I should get tomorrow and a few more toys for rotation to spice it up a bit.

I'll try and get some photos uploaded by the coming evening.

[Thin Lizzy]

Sounds like Shabah is settling in well.
Good to hear this as sometimes an abused hammie can take much longer to settle and adjust.
Good on you for giving her a new home.

[DrKMcK]

Hello Tone, and welcome to Hamster Central. I love how you've rescued this little furry. When I read how you are hearing "...frequent sounds, food, litter tray and paper shredding..." I had to smile. I could just picture it. I think this little hammy is going to be very happy with you. Good job.
If, when you do try to sex hammy in a glass jar, it isn't easy to tell, you can take a photo and post it. We'll try to help determine if hammy is a boy or girl. Keep in mind that some names will be okay for either sex, so maybe a name will pop up for you based on the little ones behavior. Love to see photos of the Rescued Robo. Hmmmm...wonder if Rescue would fit as a name?

[cypher]

Aww bless! It does sound as though Shabah is settling right in & has a lovely new home!
I think you're right to wait awhile with the sexing, there's no rush or need for any extra stress just now.