New robo hamster owner

[Engel]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Our Robo lives in a fish tank and i make bin cages. Deep substrate, a good wheel without a spindle and a wide running surface and sand are most important to a Robo because they are energetic, sand loving burrowers. Our Robo had a flying saucer wheel as an additional wheel but he didn't like it. He loves his upright wheel which sits in his sandpit. I use Ferplast guinea pig houses, minus the front panel, submerged into the substrate as supports for the sand/wheel combo and the ceramic mushroom. Heavy items need to be supported so the hamster can burrow underneath without anything falling on top of him.
I can't see how a wheel on the outside would work but i can't visualise it. I have connected bin cages with a tube to give my hybrid dwarf hamsters a larger habitat and they do use both cages so that would also be a possibility for your Robo.

I keep meaning to ask you Ria, where did you get the ceramic mushroom? It's adorable!

[Ria P]

I simply connected two bin cages with a straight Ferplast tube which is something you could consider if you want to create more space.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by Engel

I keep meaning to ask you Ria, where did you get the ceramic mushroom? It's adorable!

That was an Aldi bird feeder find from not last winter but the winter before.

A company called Wundapets sells these ceramic mushrooms.

[Bellasmama]

Originally Posted by Engel

Hello and congrats on your hammy. I love robos. They're amazing little creatures.

I use an upright wheel for mine. The 7" one from p@h.

Burrowing isn't a big deal and very enjoyable for them. I scatter feed mine. No bowl. So that can solve that issue.

I also don't use watch bottles. I use a water bowl but if she buries the food bowl that'll be difficult. Free standing bottle holder?

What size is the bin? You said that you're getting a bigger one? What dimensions? The minimum is 80x50cm unbroken continuous floor space rather than broken up in different sections.

Id recommend the zoozone 2. It's a guinea pig tank but just mesh the lid and voila. Perfect robo home

Her cage at the moment is 50x30cm, which i thought was the minimum? It was the largest bin we had available at the moment and was double the size of the bin she came in.
I did build her a free standing bottle holder, and it is working well, which solved the problem of the bottle falling off the side.
I have looked into scatter feeding, but am holding off until i get her on a better food (we bought regular hamster food that was being fed to her before she came to us not knowing dwarfs need a different diet, so i am doing a slow change)
I love that she burrows, and it is the reason we are sticking with bin cages rather than a "regular" cage because she throws her bedding as she digs lol

[sushi_78]

50x30cm is very small so I'd look into connecting a larger one soon. Connecting a new larger cage is much easier on the hamster than moving them to a larger one. Another complete cage change would be too soon I think when she's already moved cages once very recently. Here are a couple of good options:
https://www.diy.com/departments/form...2763185_BQ.prd
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Really-Usef...2078458&sr=8-1

Her previous bin must have been very small indeed so I'm sure she's loving the upgrade.

Just saw your question about getting a second Robo. It is too late to get another one to join your current one as if you do keep multiple Robos they should be littermates that haven't been separated, but even then, many end up falling out and it isn't really recommended to keep more than one. They do fine on their own.

[Ria P]

The rub 145l is cheaper from Wickes, sells for £30 or £35.

[Bellasmama]

Originally Posted by sushi_78

50x30cm is very small so I'd look into connecting a larger one soon. Connecting a new larger cage is much easier on the hamster than moving them to a larger one. Another complete cage change would be too soon I think when she's already moved cages once very recently. Here are a couple of good options:
https://www.diy.com/departments/form...2763185_BQ.prd
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Really-Usef...2078458&sr=8-1

Her previous bin must have been very small indeed so I'm sure she's loving the upgrade.

Just saw your question about getting a second Robo. It is too late to get another one to join your current one as if you do keep multiple Robos they should be littermates that haven't been separated, but even then, many end up falling out and it isn't really recommended to keep more than one. They do fine on their own.

Thanks, yes her previous bin was VERY small, and i plan on only using it to transport her to the vet if ever needed.
Ill have to look at a new place to keep her bin if i need to attach another bin. While the space she is in would accomodate abigger bin, i dont think it would fit another bin onto it...
Another option i could maybe have is a bigger bin on the bottom and use this one as a top bin??

[sushi_78]

Originally Posted by Bellasmama

Thanks, yes her previous bin was VERY small, and i plan on only using it to transport her to the vet if ever needed.
Ill have to look at a new place to keep her bin if i need to attach another bin. While the space she is in would accomodate abigger bin, i dont think it would fit another bin onto it...
Another option i could maybe have is a bigger bin on the bottom and use this one as a top bin??

Robos are quite bad climbers so any arrangement that involves vertical and steeply sloping tubes wouldn't work.

One large bin on its own would be fine, so you could give it a few weeks and then move her to a large bin, if you can't fit connected bins.

[Bellasmama]

Originally Posted by sushi_78

Robos are quite bad climbers so any arrangement that involves vertical and steeply sloping tubes wouldn't work.

One large bin on its own would be fine, so you could give it a few weeks and then move her to a large bin, if you can't fit connected bins.

Good to know about climbing �� thank you

[Bellasmama]

So she came out today, and seemed in a very social mood, so I put her hamster ball in the bin to see if she was interested and she climbed right in. I used it to transfer her to the playpen, and let her run around. While she did, I turned her house, and added a bunch of bedding, without disturbing any of her current burrowing. When she was showing signs of being done in the playpen, I put the ball back in, she climbed right back in, and I moved her back to her bin.

She stayed out and investigated, digging new burrows, and happily sniffed my hand, not running away when I adjusted her "window" so it was big enough for her to climb into, because she tried and almost got stuck, and I didn't want her to get stuck in the night and panic.

She was back to watching us through the bin, and not running when we went near the cage.
I'm thinking when I moved her into her new cage maybe I didn't giver her enough to tunnel into. Her first cage was small, but full and I accidentally put less in the new one (I didn't notice until she was put into it and I didn't want to disturb her again.

Hopefully this didn't backfire on me and make her more scared in the coming days, but she seemed much better today.