Nervous Robo

[Lee Van Cleef]

I adopted a Robo a couple of months ago (Barkevious) and have tried to really help him settle down in his new home but he just seems to get more and more nervous as time goes on. He's quite hyperactive when he is awake, but takes to hiding (underneath is see-saw) when he sees me near his cage. He used to have his bedding in a little plastic house but after a month he removed it all and took it to a corner of the cage and started nesting there. He also uses his wheel as a toilet when I've tried to get him out of the habit of doing but to no avail.

I'm really at a loss for what to do, as soon as he seems like he's warming to me, then the next day he suddenly reverts back to his old behaviour.

[Nikkigrace]

Hey
Barkevious is a very cool name!!
Some of the behaviour you describe is totally normal. Moving his bedding and making his own nest is just him making his cage his own nothing to worry about!

Using his wheel as a toilet, again something that hams do sometimes, especially robos!! Doeshe have a sand bath at all, as I found my pee in sand when it's there for them.

If he's running and hiding when you are around the cage, start by getting him used to your voice. Talk to him and he will hopefully get used to you being near his cage and your voice. That is the first step in getting him used to having you around

[_nod]

Yeah, my two female robos use their wheel or flying saucer as a toilet too, I tried to stop them at first, but couldn't. I'm just thankful that the wheel is easy to clean at least, saves me a fortune in fresh bedding ; )

You say you adopted him? Do you know anything about his past experiences?

[kyrilliondaemon]

All I can say is to be patient. Roborovskis are often nervous and they will settle with time... But that time can be quite a bit of time - one of my own robos (Whizz) made absolutely sure we learnt that very early on lol

[Nerys]

I've just adopted a Robo who is very, very frightened of everything. She is starting to calm down a little but it is taking a lot of time and patience. I've got her cage half covered with a blanket so she feels a little more secure and spend time each night just sitting by the cage and talking to her. Its very slow progress, but she now doesn't run away when she hears my voice and will sit and eat a little in front of me. I've also put lots of little hidey holes so she always has somewhere to hide if it all gets too much!

There are times then when she will sit in a corner shaking though, when she does this I just leave her alone to calm down. I hope this helps a little bit