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It's a gorgeous photo of Dusty! I hope you'll be entering the next photo comp in a few days time! You are reminding me how wonderful it is to have a robo 
They do things like that - they'll sit and listen while you talk and interact in a non verbal way. And yes they come to the cage door and you wonder if they'll decide to whizz out of it! My last Robo, Pip, actually did that once. I had a giant cushion on the floor in front of his cage just in case. I saw what looked like a tissue on the floor and it was Pip who had run a bit too fast past the door when I opened it and fell out - he wasn't hurt as he landed on the cushion and I was lucky he walked into a tube so I got him back easily!
I remember the closing the door thing when they come close to it!
As for the finger nipping - he is probably just testing to see if it's something edible, seeing as your hand had food on it. Was it a hard nip and did it draw blood?
They do things like that - they'll sit and listen while you talk and interact in a non verbal way. And yes they come to the cage door and you wonder if they'll decide to whizz out of it! My last Robo, Pip, actually did that once. I had a giant cushion on the floor in front of his cage just in case. I saw what looked like a tissue on the floor and it was Pip who had run a bit too fast past the door when I opened it and fell out - he wasn't hurt as he landed on the cushion and I was lucky he walked into a tube so I got him back easily!I remember the closing the door thing when they come close to it!
As for the finger nipping - he is probably just testing to see if it's something edible, seeing as your hand had food on it. Was it a hard nip and did it draw blood?
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Dusty's Mom
I don't know what you mean "is it the same when he is out"....he is never out of his cage. I have not gotten to a place where I can get him out without stressing him out. And I don't have a place to 'have him out' safely.
Not keen on my hand in the cage sounds reasonable since he is not afraid and goes ahead and takes the treats. Wonder if he will eventually know the hand isn't going to stay in his territory for very long and it is ok to just take the treats.
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Dusty's Mom
No it was not hard, just a nip, not a bite. And just one today. But like I said once the treats were gone I removed my hand so he wouldn't nip it anymore.It's a gorgeous photo of Dusty! I hope you'll be entering the next photo comp in a few days time! You are reminding me how wonderful it is to have a robo
I remember the closing the door thing when they come close to it!
As for the finger nipping - he is probably just testing to see if it's something edible, seeing as your hand had food on it. Was it a hard nip and did it draw blood?
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Dusty's Mom
I wondered if my in cage camera caught me and him at his cage door. It did a little in the upper right hand corner of this video. Sorry I do not know why there are all the flashes of bright light. But I think you can still make it out.
Hi Dusty's mum, apologies I forgot he was still so young and therefore didn't realise he was not coming out of the cage for free roam time. As mentioned I don't have any experience with Robo's, so could be very different to Syrian's. I know our little hamster took so long to be comfortable with us putting our hands in the cage (presumably in case we messed with anything), but was so much more relaxed and sociable with us when she came out.
I'm sure I'm sure he will come out in time.
I'm sure I'm sure he will come out in time.
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Robos can enjoy playpen time It takes a while sometimes though as they are not as easy to get to walk into a taxi sometimes but it looks like progress is being made. He looks so cute at the cage door! I'd put a big cushion on the floor just in case! My last Robo would be "I want to come out - no I don't it's scary, yes I do, no I don't" 
Sometimes he'd dither for ages before finally running off or walking into the taxi. Once out, he enjoyed being in a playpen with a saucer and some hidey places. He was scared the first time, but then he got a taste of freedom.
The nip doesn't sound that abnormal. I think he was just testing to see if the finger was a bit of food or not. Tino does that too but stops short of trying to actually nip to test. If he does it again just say a firm no. They do get to know the word no!
It takes a while sometimes though as they are not as easy to get to walk into a taxi sometimes but it looks like progress is being made. He looks so cute at the cage door! I'd put a big cushion on the floor just in case! My last Robo would be "I want to come out - no I don't it's scary, yes I do, no I don't" Sometimes he'd dither for ages before finally running off or walking into the taxi. Once out, he enjoyed being in a playpen with a saucer and some hidey places. He was scared the first time, but then he got a taste of freedom.The nip doesn't sound that abnormal. I think he was just testing to see if the finger was a bit of food or not. Tino does that too but stops short of trying to actually nip to test. If he does it again just say a firm no. They do get to know the word no!
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Just to let you know that this month’s photo comp is open 
www.thehamsterforum.com
Photo Competition May/June
This month's competition is for a favourite photo of your hamster, or one of your hamsters :) Looking forward to seeing lots of lovely hammy photos :) Competition rules: Only one entry per member It needs to be your own photograph All members can enter The competition runs until 14th June
www.thehamsterforum.com
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Dusty's Mom
Thanks, Maz, I entered a pic of Dusty.
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Dusty's Mom
Here is a short video of Dusty just now after he took about 10 seeds from my fingers one at a time. I have learned to hold the large seed (pumpkin or sunflower) between my thumb and pointer finger so he bites the seed and not my finger. I think he bites my fingers to get rid of the strange creature in his territory. When he sees me open the cage door to get treats he readily comes up to my hand and quickly grabs the seed. I have to take my hand away immediately after he snatches the seed or he comes up to my finger to bite them. He bit my grandchild the other day because after the seed was gone they didn't remove their hand and Dusty bit and drew blood a little.
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Dusty's Mom
I hope this is ok to mention. I found hamster food that is specially for dwarf hamsters and Dusty loves it. I found it on Amazon.
The brand is Bunny Nature made in Germany. I am so glad I found it. Dusty was not eating the pellets in regular hamster food and I was looking for a food with no pellets and I found these.
The brand is Bunny Nature made in Germany. I am so glad I found it. Dusty was not eating the pellets in regular hamster food and I was looking for a food with no pellets and I found these.
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The Bunny Dream food is great - Uve always used that for Robos Like a lot of mixes it is slightly low on protein so supplementing the protein with fresh extras would be needed. You could use nuts as a treat once or twice a week along with something like chopped hard boiled egg or freeze dried chicken bites (they sell them for cats and they’re just 100% chicken), or dried insects etc.
Maybe just twice a week would be fine.
I’m sorry to hear he bites fingers and bit your grandchild. It’s really unusual for Robos to bite at all. As you say, he maybe doesn’t like a hand in his cage.
I know they’re difficult to tempt into a taxi for out of cage time in a playpen but that could be the way forwards perhaps. Hamsters do tend to behave differently out of the cage than in their territory. But it would need to be a secure playpen.
If he’s out then possibly he’d walk into a mug or tube with some food in. I used a contraption in my cafe with my last hamster - a kind of plastic pod with a tube attached as my Robo would shoot out of a tube too fast when he saw my hand move - before I managed to get my hand over the end. With the contraption he would go down the tube into the pod and I only had one end of the tube to cover and could get my hand over the end because it was further for him to run to get to the end of the tube! He liked the pod and got used to having it as a taxi and woukd go into it again in the playpen when he’d had enough and wanted to go home.
Like a lot of mixes it is slightly low on protein so supplementing the protein with fresh extras would be needed. You could use nuts as a treat once or twice a week along with something like chopped hard boiled egg or freeze dried chicken bites (they sell them for cats and they’re just 100% chicken), or dried insects etc.Maybe just twice a week would be fine.
I’m sorry to hear he bites fingers and bit your grandchild. It’s really unusual for Robos to bite at all. As you say, he maybe doesn’t like a hand in his cage.
I know they’re difficult to tempt into a taxi for out of cage time in a playpen but that could be the way forwards perhaps. Hamsters do tend to behave differently out of the cage than in their territory. But it would need to be a secure playpen.
If he’s out then possibly he’d walk into a mug or tube with some food in. I used a contraption in my cafe with my last hamster - a kind of plastic pod with a tube attached as my Robo would shoot out of a tube too fast when he saw my hand move - before I managed to get my hand over the end. With the contraption he would go down the tube into the pod and I only had one end of the tube to cover and could get my hand over the end because it was further for him to run to get to the end of the tube! He liked the pod and got used to having it as a taxi and woukd go into it again in the playpen when he’d had enough and wanted to go home.
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Robos have quite a high level of insects in their diet. They possibly use their whiskers to assess food rather than sight, and might be using a quick grab technique on your fingers, designed to subdue insects, spiders and similar before they can retaliate or escape. Difficult to say what their motives are though. The hamster taxi 
is a good ruse. You sound like you are good at judging Dusty's intentions!
is a good ruse. You sound like you are good at judging Dusty's intentions!
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Dusty's Mom
Thanks, Maz and Socks Mom, I really have no idea why he is biting and not just smelling fingers. I guessed it was territorial, or it may be the smell of our fingers. I really don't know. But when he noticed the door opening he comes running up to it. I think he expects treats. I hope he will eventually stop finger biting and learn the hand means treats and is not a threat. I will say he is out more during the day than I expected a hamster to be. He seems to really enjoy his home. My cage camera catches a lot of his activity.
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Dusty's Mom
Thanks, Tulsi, they won't feed Dusty anymore but they still like to watch him.
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Dusty's Mom
My latest video of Dusty. I am hand feeding him and he is doing so well. Sorry about my hand getting in the way and when he goes out of the picture. I try to lure him back with seeds to get better shots of him taking the seeds from my fingers. He doesn't seem to be afraid of my hand at all. At the end my hand is in the way for a little bit and that is when I put a few small seeds in my hand and let him crawl up on my hand to get the seeds and he didn't bite me at all. I am so proud of him.
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Dusty's Mom
In this video I think you can see Dusty is learning me at the cage and my hand means treats and he wants them! He really doesn't seem afraid of my hand at all.