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Dusty the Robo dwarf hamster.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dusty's Mom
  • Start date Start date
OK got some of Dusty's old bedding in the new cage.
Maz said:
That looks very well thought out :) It's up to you where you put things after you have the platforms are in place :) It can be handy to have a spare bridge not used straight away anyway as it's only when we see them using the cage we can see what they do and where an extra one might be needed. For example my robo ignored the ladder (long way round) and tried to just pull himself up onto a platform from near his water bottle (easy quick way) but couldn't quite make it so I had to add a little bridge there. It's better to add something extra later, than to move something that's already in there as they can get a bit stressy about things being moved when they've got used to them.

I can't wait to see everything else in it :)
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This is it so far. I have not been able to use the cork as I need to get it cut for safety reasons. The pieces of grape vine I got has a lot of small poky ends so I turned those down into the bedding. I still need to fill the one bowl with cork granules when it come today. His water and food dish will go on the top of his house. And I still have to add the flower sprays I have. I thought I had enough bedding for this tank...LOL! I had 100L of new bedding and it wasn't enough. I had about 20L of another paper bedding I used as well, still not enough. But with bedding from Dusty's current cage I think it is OK. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
And good point about the bridges. Seeing if I need them later. :)

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Dusty's Mom said:
OK got some of Dusty's old bedding in the new cage.

This is it so far. I have not been able to use the cork as I need to get it cut for safety reasons. The pieces of grape vine I got has a lot of small poky ends so I turned those down into the bedding. I still need to fill the one bowl with cork granules when it come today. His water and food dish will go on the top of his house. And I still have to add the flower sprays I have. I thought I had enough bedding for this tank...LOL! I had 100L of new bedding and it wasn't enough. I had about 20L of another paper bedding I used as well, still not enough. But with bedding from Dusty's current cage I think it is OK. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
And good point about the bridges. Seeing if I need them later. :)

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It looks great. I'd be a bit concerned about the tunnel front left with the holes in. A robo might get their head stuck in one of the holes. If the branches have any sharp or poky bits, it could be an idea to sand those bits a bit, as if Dusty digs under the bedding he could still come across the poky bits.

Are you going to use the three way tunnel? :-) I think that would be nice for him too.
 
If pokey bits are a bit of an issue on just one branch, maybe you could just use the other one and swap the other one for the three way tunnel? Just a thought. Although actually the three way tunnel might fit under one of the branches anyway.

Dusty will be so happy with your set up!
 
Maz said:
If pokey bits are a bit of an issue on just one branch, maybe you could just use the other one and swap the other one for the three way tunnel? Just a thought. Although actually the three way tunnel might fit under one of the branches anyway.

Dusty will be so happy with your set up!
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I turned that branch around so the pokey bits are used to support it on the house and sand bath dish. I feel better about it now. Here is a photo of changes I made. I took out the Cholla wood in the front left corner and replaced it with a toilet paper tube. I also found another hide to use so I moved the strawberry hide and put the seagrass hut in the back left corner. I added a food dish too. And the tunnel is under the bedding under the wheel. :) Would you have put the tunnel on top of the bedding? Maybe it is the gerbil keeper in me that thought it should have been buried. LOL!
I think I need a bit more bedding around the sand bath so he can get in and out better.

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That looks great. You look to have quite a lot of bedding already:-) It's an option to have the three way tunnel buried, although it might be pee'd in if it presents as a convenient underground toilet maybe. How about if that front bridge is moved so that it's access to the sand bath - ie part in the sand bath and part out. An easy way to get in and out as bedding can compress over time. Although I can see there is something underneath it. Then maybe the seagrass tunnel could go where the bridge currently is - if it would fit? What is in the dish on the left? Is that another sand bath?
 
Maz said:
That looks great. You look to have quite a lot of bedding already:) It's an option to have the three way tunnel buried, although it might be pee'd in if it presents as a convenient underground toilet maybe. How about if that front bridge is moved so that it's access to the sand bath - ie part in the sand bath and part out. An easy way to get in and out as bedding can compress over time. Although I can see there is something underneath it. Then maybe the seagrass tunnel could go where the bridge currently is - if it would fit? What is in the dish on the left? Is that another sand bath?
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The three way tunnel is buried and I am not going to dig it out. That would mean starting all over, it is a very large tunnel and it barely fit going under the platforms. :) I didn't know it was guinea pig size. It is fine if it gets peed on. (y) The left dish is for the cork granules I am getting later today. That bridge I thought about putting in the sand bath but then it would leave about 1 inch space of sand for him to use. Also the one side would be almost straight up and down. I don't know if he could crawl up it. I don't think that bridge will stay there anyway. That is where the cork log is suppose to go when I get it cut next week. I got one of Dusty's hides he wasn't using right now and put it in the new cage. With his maze house he has 6 hides in this cage. :) This is the last hide to go in. So far I like it.
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I like it too. I didn't realise the three way tunnel was so big :-) I'm sure Dusty will like the underground tunnel. I think Dusty will love all of it and you have thought of all the access points etc. Maybe the experience of setting up gerbil cages :-) It looks very nice and busy - plenty of things at floor level. I can't wait to see him explore it :)
 
Maz said:
I like it too. I didn't realise the three way tunnel was so big :) I'm sure Dusty will like the underground tunnel. I think Dusty will love all of it and you have thought of all the access points etc. Maybe the experience of setting up gerbil cages :) It looks very nice and busy - plenty of things at floor level. I can't wait to see him explore it :)
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Thank you so much, I can't wait either. Now one last (probably not) question, I have a vacuum pack of flower sprays to add to the cage. What do I do to the if anything to make sure there are no bugs in it? Do I freeze it? And I really don't know what you mean by 'access points' LOL! Please explain. Thanks.
 
Freezing for a week is usually recommended but some places say 48 hours. That's a slight issue if you need them earlier than that!
 
Maz said:
Freezing for a week is usually recommended but some places say 48 hours. That's a slight issue if you need them earlier than that!
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Thanks, I don't need them any certain time. I can add them later with the cork logs
 
We introduced Dusty to his new home last night after he was awake. He was timid of the new surroundings but slowly came out to do a bit of exploring. I have three videos I was to show you so I will add one video per post here. When Dusty was first put into the new cage we let him out onto the top of the maze house where his food and water are located so he knew where they were. He almost immediately went down the top hole in the house. Then he came to the front door area and looked around only sticking his head out then going back in and finally digging down under the bedding just inside the front door of the house. Later he came our a bit and these videos are of those times he came out for a minute or two. This video is public so I hope you can see it right away.

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This next video is of Dusty in the three way tube I buried under a platform. He found his way here rather quickly, within 5 minutes of him being in his new home. It is his window to our world. He seemed to enjoy watching us.
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This last video is of him coming to the front of the cage as we are sitting there watching him. As if to say, thanks for the new home! LOL!

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He loves it! He doesn't look nervous at all, but more curious. That three way tunnel works really well :-) I didn't realise it was up against the front of the cage. I think he'll be eating out of your hand in no time (literally).
 
Maz said:
He loves it! He doesn't look nervous at all, but more curious. That three way tunnel works really well :) I didn't realise it was up against the front of the cage. I think he'll be eating out of your hand in no time (literally).
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Thanks so much. The tunnel is actually open on the side of the cage, but it is nice to be able to see him sometimes. He didn't look nervous to me either. He seems to be a 'friendly' Robo maybe? I hope so. We will give him a few days to explore and get used to everything. I can't wait to see him use the wheel.
 
He did seem quite friendly when he accepted your hand last time. I hope he becomes tame enough to eat from a hand as your grandson would like that. When he's settled in you could see if he'd walk into a "taxi" for some playpen time. You could sit in the playpen and let him run over you then :) Well maybe you couldn't because I can't any more either! I just sit next to it and lean my arm in - but your grandson could :-)
 
Maz said:
He did seem quite friendly when he accepted your hand last time. I hope he becomes tame enough to eat from a hand as your grandson would like that. When he's settled in you could see if he'd walk into a "taxi" for some playpen time. You could sit in the playpen and let him run over you then :) Well maybe you couldn't because I can't any more either! I just sit next to it and lean my arm in - but your grandson could :)
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That is a good idea about the playpen, and you are right, I couldn't get in it. LOL! If it was up on a table I could put my arm in. :) I think Dusty is building his dream tunneling system right now as I haven't seen him all day except for a small movement of some bedding a while ago. I am looking into a camera to stick to the underside of the lid so I can see the whole cage area at night to see what he gets up to.
 
Update on Dusty: We hadn't seem much of Dusty over these last few days since he first got his new home. But we have seen him in a tunnel for a few seconds a few times. But today, 6 days after he first went into his new cage he was out and exploring a bit at around 10:20 am today. He was out for a good 15 to 20 minutes. I have gradually added a few things to his cage. I added the sprays (which I am not too happy with) and a nanny camera. And today I spread foraging 'stuff' all around the top of the bedding and near his food dish (which I probably will get rid of and just spread food for foraging). I took lots of videos of him exploring. In my opinion they are not good to share as this was the time the rest of the family were in the kitchen cooking and going back and forth through the living room and there was a lot of noise and talking and reflections on the cage panels in the videos. It didn't seem to bother Dusty. He just did his hamster thing. LOL! I did decide on one video to add. Just turn down your sound if you like. :)

He explored only about 1/3 of his cage surface this morning. He came up the front 'under bedding' ladder to the surface. He crawled through the cork bowl and the coco peat dish. He went into the hide in the coco peat and the little Strawberry hide in the back corner. He stopped to munch on several things along the way. It has been 6 days he has been in his new home. I think he is going to love it.

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