Adopotions Oopsie

[crabby]

Well,

Kane and Able were ment to be guys... so when I saw a male up for adoption I just had to help him out!

Introductions, though awkward seemed to go ok and so 'Geoff' was added to the mix.

Two days later, I heard some squeeks and turned the light on to find Geoff had rather an unhealthy infatuation with Kane, my white faced robo.

No physically damaged so I left it until the next day to sex them. This was when I found out that Kane and Able were actually girls!! :O

My housemate was happy to take Geoff off my hands (as I can't part with my lovely girls), but couldn't afford a cage until he was paid... which happened to be a week after the fateful sexing.

So my question is... How likely is it that Kane and Able are up the duff? And if they are, do they need to be seperated for the birth? And can I keep some of their progeny?

Space isn't an issue as I have a Duna Fun Maxi as of two days ago (review to follow).

crabby

[souffle]

If they are like other dwarf species then robo mums will share the care of the babies so no need to separate them. It is highly possible if you saw them mate that they are pregnant. You should treat them as if they were and feed plenty protein and nutritious food. You could keep some of the girls with mums as long as there is plenty space and try introducing the boys to dad. Hope it all goes well.

[crabby]

Protein food?

I thought robo's got ill with too much water in their food so what is suitable apart from nuts?

crabby

[head2head]

Plain cooked chicken, porridge, bread soaked in a bit of milk...that sort of thing.

I'm sure there's loads more, but thats all I can think of off the top of my head!

[crabby]

I thought robo's were basically vegitarian? And they are so small so should I only give them access to it for a short time?

crabby

[Tammy22]

Hi Crabby,

welcome to the forum hope you like it here - it's nice to have a new Robo owner on here

I have been reading through a few of your posts and am a bit confused as to how many you have - not sure if you have three or 4?

Anyway, regardless of how many you have, you first need to sex all of them correctly and make sure they are all in single sex groups / pairs.

From my experience with breeding in colonies, i have rarely seen them work out well - so if i was you i would separate any females, which have been in contact with a male, into cages of their own.

Robos are very social, and it is not usually a very good idea to keep them singularly, but i have noticed in the past that two pregnant females will usually fight, and all of the babies usually end up in the dominant females nest - sometimes the dominant female will keep the other female away from the nest and sometimes even attack her so that she is unable to feed her own babies - very sad, and usually rare, but i have see it happen, which is one of the reasons i tend not to breed in colonies anymore.

I think it would be much safer if the females were kept on their own for the next 21 to 25 days, just to make sure they are not pregnant - if they are not pregnant then you can reintroduce them to each other, if they are pregnant then you can let them rear their young in peace and then decide how many babies you are going to keep and split them into same sex pairs or groups - or try different combinations if you need to etc. and reintroduce them to each other if you want to.

While you dont know if any of them are pregnant or not, it will not hurt to feed them high protein food, as everyone else has said.

Roborovskis are not strictly vegetarian - they love meal worms, live or dried, they love well cooked chicken, scrambled egg, boiled egg etc. they also love porridge, baby food, and you can also give them small amounts of fresh fruit and veg - just watch them carefully for signs of upset tummys - then stop feeding immediately.

Don't worry about how much food you give them, they will rarely over feed as long as they have access to a wheel and plenty of toys to keep them active - they will store alot of the food away, so just be careful it doesnt start to go bad - just check their store daily to keep it safe for them.

Good Luck with your Robos.

Tammy x

[souffle]

Thank you Tammy. As I have no experience with robos I am pleased you could put me right Campbell and WW seem to be able to raise their babies together if they have always been together. I am sure if you follow the advice given it will all work out well.

[Tammy22]

That's ok Souffle

i didnt mean to contradict you, some people may find that their Robos don't have any problems bringing up litters together, but i thought it best to be on the safe side - at least then no stress will be caused if they did start fighting and they would have to be disturbed to remove one female and her litter (and there would be all the problems of trying to see which babies belonged to each mother )



Kind Regards,

Tammy x

[crabby]

Thanks brilliant information guys Got some chicken in the oven right now!

Would it be best to split the cage in two so they still know each other for the next few weeks?

crabby

[Tammy22]

Hi Crabby,

they will love that

I think putting them in a split cage could be a good idea, but you would have to make sure of a few things first.

To be honest, i have never had two mothers and their litters side by side in a split cage together, but, i am guessing there wouldnt be any problems, seeing as they would be used to each other being there - so i dont think they would get stressed at the birth (s) and while they were nursing.

It really is a difficult one for me to answer as i don't have any experience with it at all - you will definately need to make sure that the mesh is small enough to prevent the babies from crawling through to the other side, and, of course, both sides need to be big enough for a mother and her litter of 1 - 8 pups

It is definately not essential for them to be in a split cage, it is very rare to have problems with introductions - so that shouldnt be a problem.

Maybe wait to see if anyone else has any other info or advice

Sorry i cant be of more help, i suppose it is up to you really

Tammy x