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Old 10-31-2018, 05:34 AM   #1
ykirobo
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: London, UK
Posts: 24
Default new owner here and I need help.

Hello everyone.

I bought a female robo hamster on Friday. Her name is Yuki. I had ferrets, cats and dogs before but no hamsters so I am completely new to this. I have been reading a lot of stuff online but I don't know how reliable they are so I decided to sign up here and get help and advice from the pros!!

She is still shy as she adjusting at her new home.

I feed her Harry Hamster musli mix as it was what she was given at the pet shop. I know I will have to enhance her nutrition with fresh veggies too. I was wondering if I could mix it with Nature's Feast for Hamsters too? I also read online that dog's biscuits and dentastix is good for trimming her teeth is that true?

How often shall I clean her cage and shall I throw away what she hoards in her home? I have already cleaned her cage once as they told me that it needs to every 3 or 4 days or once a week but now I realize that their advice might be wrong.

I also saw that they were selling lavender and lemon scented woodshavings and I was wondering if those would be suitable for her?

I have a Ferplast Mini Duna cage I purchased from pets at home and I have replaced the wheel with a space disk as there is plenty of room in it. I have provided her with a couple of wooden toys too and I will be adding a few more today.

Any advice and recommendations will be more than helpful!! thank you!!
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Old 10-31-2018, 06:28 AM   #2
cypher
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Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

Welcome to HC & congrats on getting little Yuki

The most important thing is not to clean the cage except for spot cleaning pee (& you may be lucky to even find that with a robo!) for at least a few weeks, it's important as they really need to scent mark the cage to feel at home, safe & secure, they also find their way around mainly by scent.
When you do clean you only do what needs doing & depending on the size of her cage just do at most a third or half of the cage at any one time always mixing a little of the old substrate in with the new.
Avoid cleaning the nest unless it's been peed in & even then only remove what you really have to.
Leave the hoard, if it has any fresh food like veg in it you can remove it & put some fresh mix in it's place but otherwise leave it be, they tend to eat from the hoard & replace it themselves.

I would gradually switch her to a dwarf specific mix like Burgess dwarf hamster harvest which gives a good balanced nutrition but can get a little boring for them, the Bunny Dwarf HamsterDream Expert from Zooplus is a better mix really. Tiny hams need small seeds rather than the larger chunky bits you get in Harry Hamster.

On no account use scented wood shavings or anything scented like cleaners, disinfectant etc in the cage, they have very sensitive little noses!

The cage you have should be fine as a starter cage but it is small so you may want to think about a larger cage once she gains confidence but see how she goes for now.

Flying saucer type wheels are ok but better really as a second wheel for out of cage time, an upright wheel gives them a better running position & takes up much less room in the cage which you can then use for other things.

She will need a sand bath with chinchilla sand (not dust) the tiny friends farm brand is about the best, you can use any kind of container for it as long as it's big enough for her to dig & roll about in. Robos love their sand & it's important for keeping their coat in good condition.

Hope that helps a bit, if you have any more questions just ask.

ETA I forgot the bit about dog biscuits & dentastixs, with a good diet they don't actually need extra chews but most do enjoy whimzee dog chews, the small toothbrush would be ok for a robo, I wouldn't recommend using any other dog chews. Many dog biscuits are unsuitable & really aren't necessary although Pedigree Biscrok are ok in moderation, I do give my dwarf hams some occasionally no more than half a one every 3 or 4 weeks though.
For treats or extras try to go for natural things like millet sprays, flax seeds, sunflower & pumpkin seeds in the shell, a monkey nut once in a while & millet sprays are all good.
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Last edited by cypher; 10-31-2018 at 07:59 AM.
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Old 11-01-2018, 05:39 AM   #3
ykirobo
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: London, UK
Posts: 24
Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
Welcome to HC & congrats on getting little Yuki

The most important thing is not to clean the cage except for spot cleaning pee (& you may be lucky to even find that with a robo!) for at least a few weeks, it's important as they really need to scent mark the cage to feel at home, safe & secure, they also find their way around mainly by scent.
When you do clean you only do what needs doing & depending on the size of her cage just do at most a third or half of the cage at any one time always mixing a little of the old substrate in with the new.
Avoid cleaning the nest unless it's been peed in & even then only remove what you really have to.
Leave the hoard, if it has any fresh food like veg in it you can remove it & put some fresh mix in it's place but otherwise leave it be, they tend to eat from the hoard & replace it themselves.

I would gradually switch her to a dwarf specific mix like Burgess dwarf hamster harvest which gives a good balanced nutrition but can get a little boring for them, the Bunny Dwarf HamsterDream Expert from Zooplus is a better mix really. Tiny hams need small seeds rather than the larger chunky bits you get in Harry Hamster.

On no account use scented wood shavings or anything scented like cleaners, disinfectant etc in the cage, they have very sensitive little noses!

The cage you have should be fine as a starter cage but it is small so you may want to think about a larger cage once she gains confidence but see how she goes for now.

Flying saucer type wheels are ok but better really as a second wheel for out of cage time, an upright wheel gives them a better running position & takes up much less room in the cage which you can then use for other things.

She will need a sand bath with chinchilla sand (not dust) the tiny friends farm brand is about the best, you can use any kind of container for it as long as it's big enough for her to dig & roll about in. Robos love their sand & it's important for keeping their coat in good condition.

Hope that helps a bit, if you have any more questions just ask.

ETA I forgot the bit about dog biscuits & dentastixs, with a good diet they don't actually need extra chews but most do enjoy whimzee dog chews, the small toothbrush would be ok for a robo, I wouldn't recommend using any other dog chews. Many dog biscuits are unsuitable & really aren't necessary although Pedigree Biscrok are ok in moderation, I do give my dwarf hams some occasionally no more than half a one every 3 or 4 weeks though.
For treats or extras try to go for natural things like millet sprays, flax seeds, sunflower & pumpkin seeds in the shell, a monkey nut once in a while & millet sprays are all good.
Hello!!

I followed your advice and I got her the tiny friends chinchilla bathing sand and she loves it. I saw some poop and food on it though this morning so I don't know what she is using it for.

I will probably rearrange her cage in a couple of weeks to give her more space and toys to use and ran around.

I will be switching her nutrition to what you recommended and I also bought her Woodlands Twig Mix and the Vegetable Patch Mix.

One more question. Shall I give her a bit of food everyday or just fill her bowl and change it every 2 to 3 days? I have seen posts about people doing it daily or some every 3 days and Im a bit confused.

Thank you so much for your help!!
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Old 11-01-2018, 05:48 AM   #4
cypher
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Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

Good to hear she's enjoying her sand You'll find all sorts in there! They will often take food into the sand bath to eat it so you might find food, poo & pee are normal, you can scoop out any damp clumps if she does pee in there.

It doesn't really matter if you feed daily or every few days, most people tend to give enough for a few days, the bowl should never be empty though. They don't normally overeat so it's better to have more than she might need rather than less.
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Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri
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Old 11-01-2018, 08:54 PM   #5
Sasha04
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Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: California, USA
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Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

Hi and welcome to HC!
Cypher has given great advice!

The food cypher suggested is great. I would suggest giving putting the food in her bowl and waiting till she finish it, this prevents picky eating. You can also scatter feed. You give her food and just scatter it around the cage. This is a great stimulation and they have to work for there food.

What bedding do you use? Pine and Cedar bedding is not safe due to toxic acids and fenals. All unscented beddings are unsafe because like cypher said, hamsters have very sensitive noses. You are best going with paper based bedding or aspen. Kaytee Clean and Cozy is a great bedding (make sure unscented). Fitch is also a great bedding from what I have heard.
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Old 11-02-2018, 05:15 AM   #6
ykirobo
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: London, UK
Posts: 24
Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

Hello!!
I am using Carefresh Confetti one and Pets at Home Wood shavings for her bedding. It is what she was kept into at the shop. All of her bedding is unscented. I will take your advice and scatter food around her cage.

I saw her scratching her body and ears yesterday and I was wondering how I can check if she has any bugs as she is very scared and shy and I cant touch her? And in case she does have something what can I give her? I saw some sprays at the pet shop but would they get rid of the bugs?
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Old 11-02-2018, 06:01 AM   #7
cypher
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Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

What you're seeing is probably normal grooming, to begin with they do a lot of scent marking & that can lead to extra grooming so it's unlikely to be anything to worry about.
If she does keep scratching a lot then it's possible she may have an allergy to either the wood shavings or the carefresh, or both! That doesn't happen often though so just keep an eye on things for now.
They do sometimes get a problem with mites but if that happens you need to see a vet, never use anything you can buy in the pet shop without seeing a vet first as these treatments can be very harmful.
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Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri
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Old 11-08-2018, 06:53 AM   #8
ykirobo
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: London, UK
Posts: 24
Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

Hello again!!

Its been almost 2 weeks since I got Yuki and she doing great. She is still shy and hides most of the time she will see us but I think its better than it was before. I am trying to tame her by placing treats on my palm in order for her to get used to me.

I will be changing her cage a bit tomorrow and I will post a photo here. I realised that I need to add more of her bedding as she loves to dig around and I will probably upgrade to a bigger sand bath too.
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Old 11-28-2018, 04:17 AM   #9
ykirobo
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: London, UK
Posts: 24
Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
Welcome to HC & congrats on getting little Yuki

The most important thing is not to clean the cage except for spot cleaning pee (& you may be lucky to even find that with a robo!) for at least a few weeks, it's important as they really need to scent mark the cage to feel at home, safe & secure, they also find their way around mainly by scent.
When you do clean you only do what needs doing & depending on the size of her cage just do at most a third or half of the cage at any one time always mixing a little of the old substrate in with the new.
Avoid cleaning the nest unless it's been peed in & even then only remove what you really have to.
Leave the hoard, if it has any fresh food like veg in it you can remove it & put some fresh mix in it's place but otherwise leave it be, they tend to eat from the hoard & replace it themselves.

I would gradually switch her to a dwarf specific mix like Burgess dwarf hamster harvest which gives a good balanced nutrition but can get a little boring for them, the Bunny Dwarf HamsterDream Expert from Zooplus is a better mix really. Tiny hams need small seeds rather than the larger chunky bits you get in Harry Hamster.

On no account use scented wood shavings or anything scented like cleaners, disinfectant etc in the cage, they have very sensitive little noses!

The cage you have should be fine as a starter cage but it is small so you may want to think about a larger cage once she gains confidence but see how she goes for now.

Flying saucer type wheels are ok but better really as a second wheel for out of cage time, an upright wheel gives them a better running position & takes up much less room in the cage which you can then use for other things.

She will need a sand bath with chinchilla sand (not dust) the tiny friends farm brand is about the best, you can use any kind of container for it as long as it's big enough for her to dig & roll about in. Robos love their sand & it's important for keeping their coat in good condition.

Hope that helps a bit, if you have any more questions just ask.

ETA I forgot the bit about dog biscuits & dentastixs, with a good diet they don't actually need extra chews but most do enjoy whimzee dog chews, the small toothbrush would be ok for a robo, I wouldn't recommend using any other dog chews. Many dog biscuits are unsuitable & really aren't necessary although Pedigree Biscrok are ok in moderation, I do give my dwarf hams some occasionally no more than half a one every 3 or 4 weeks though.
For treats or extras try to go for natural things like millet sprays, flax seeds, sunflower & pumpkin seeds in the shell, a monkey nut once in a while & millet sprays are all good.
Hi how are you? I have Yuki for a month now and she is really friendly. I noticed that she doesnt like her food much. I am still on Tiny Friends hamster mix as I havent run put yet. I see that she prefer the small seeds that come with it and never touches the green and yellow spongy things that come with the food. I followed your advice and I ordered the Bunny brand from zooplus. Do you think I will have to introduce the food slowly and mix it with the remaining tiny friends food (from which I will remove those artificial things)? I have noticed that she is scratching a lot and I think it might be from the sawdust so I will be changing to kaytee cozy and clean natural bedding.
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Old 11-28-2018, 05:07 AM   #10
cypher
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Default Re: new owner here and I need help.

I would change the food fairly gradually so she has a chance to adjust, it's usually best to do it over a week or so beginning with just a little of the new food & slowly increasing the amount, even if she really takes to it straight away it's best to give their digestive system a little while to get used to it.
Hope the new substrate helps with the scratching, that might improve if she begins to eat better too.
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Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri
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