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RainbowBrite
Thank you very much everybody. I feel much better about feeding veg now. 
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Just to show the difference between a white faced robo and a "normal" (agouti) robo
My first robo, Nugget was white faced (first photo). Pip is normal/agouti. They still have some white on their face but mainly just the eyebrows and markings, and a bit more brown in places. So you can see the difference when looking at rescue photos There is still quite a bit of white on the face of a "normal/agouti" robo and the brown line down the nose makes the white look like eyebrows.The white faced ones are apparently the ones that can get neurological issues (not all but some), and the agouti is a different colour to Orko - so this is just to show the difference if you wanted a different colour and I think it would be nice for you to have one that isn't at risk of health issues so hopefully they have a good long life
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RainbowBrite
Such beautiful little robos!
The rescue I was looking at have two female robos. I am a bit wary of adopting a female due to potential reproductive issues and me being a beginner. I guess I need to wait until I set up the cage and then see who is available.
The rescue I was looking at have two female robos. I am a bit wary of adopting a female due to potential reproductive issues and me being a beginner. I guess I need to wait until I set up the cage and then see who is available.
You can also often tell when a normal/agouti Robo carries a single white faced gene (the common form of the trait is recessive so they need two copies of the gene to have a white face) because the stripe down the middle of their face tends to be a bit lighter than the rest of their coat.
Like here:
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That's interesting Daisy . Was that your hamster? I find there can be some confusion about "white face" generally as there is a white faced husky which is a colour, and a white faced normal hamster which is a gene (I think!). Is the husky gene that's recessive and the normal white faced gene that's dominant? I need to check!
. Was that your hamster? I find there can be some confusion about "white face" generally as there is a white faced husky which is a colour, and a white faced normal hamster which is a gene (I think!). Is the husky gene that's recessive and the normal white faced gene that's dominant? I need to check!
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RainbowBrite
Do you know which colouring Orko had? All the robos look so similar to me. Maybe due to my bad eye sight!That's interesting Daisy
I think it's just the lighting in that photo as she (Pumpkin) was an agouti/normal. I think Orko looks to have been an agouti too.
All hamster colours are controlled by different genes. Sometimes a term can refer both to a particular colour and a gene, for example "agouti" is shorthand for a specific colour in Robo and dwarf hamsters but it can also refer to the gene which controls whether a hamster has a white/lighter underside and coloured back, or is the same colour all over.
Interesting about the white face potentially indicating neuro issues. Niko had a completely white face and he was abnormally calm and social for a robo, I always wondered if there was something not quite 100%. He may have been completely fine but it's always been at the back of my mind.
Orko looks normal to me too, reminds me of your Pip, Maz..
Orko looks normal to me too, reminds me of your Pip, Maz..
Genes that cause areas of white are commonly associated with neurological and other issues in many animals. It's complex but the mechanisms that cause less pigmentation to develop in the skin/fur can cross over into affecting the function of other organs, usually the vestibular and digestive systems. Usually it's the case that just one gene causes only cosmetic changes (e.g white spotting) and sometimes minor health issues, but if an animal has two genes they can have very severe problems.
In horses there are lethal white foals - born completely white with undeveloped digestive systems. In dogs there's double merle which causes deafness and blindness. In gerbils there are extreme whites who suffer from deafness and neurological impairments and "rumpblacks" which are born with fatal defects in their digestive tracts. In Syrian hamsters there are the eyeless whites. And many other examples in other species.
In humans there is Waardenburg syndrome which can cause a white forelock in the hair, white skin patches, deafness and sometimes digestive tract defects.
There are also theories about animals with areas of white possibly being tamer or calmer but nothing conclusive.
In horses there are lethal white foals - born completely white with undeveloped digestive systems. In dogs there's double merle which causes deafness and blindness. In gerbils there are extreme whites who suffer from deafness and neurological impairments and "rumpblacks" which are born with fatal defects in their digestive tracts. In Syrian hamsters there are the eyeless whites. And many other examples in other species.
In humans there is Waardenburg syndrome which can cause a white forelock in the hair, white skin patches, deafness and sometimes digestive tract defects.
There are also theories about animals with areas of white possibly being tamer or calmer but nothing conclusive.
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RainbowBrite
That is very interesting. Two guinea pigs that carry a roan gene are meant to create babies which are lethal whites. You can usually tell if a piggy has the roan gene by patchs of white fur.
M
Member ID2
I keep things simple and rescue whoever needs help but have noticed the different colourings in the many Robos i've had living here.
Finley is a sandy colour and Bernard has a white face but have no idea what their colourings are called.
New boy Laurence looks like an agouti.
Finley is a sandy colour and Bernard has a white face but have no idea what their colourings are called.
New boy Laurence looks like an agouti.
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That is very interesting Daisy - I was aware the white gene aspect occured in other animals but didn't know the details. I think with the white faced robos, some can develop the neurological issues (usually noticeable from very young but not always) and others don't. But it is specific to their colouring. And it will be genetics. It doesn't mean all white faced robos will have neurological issues, but it is related to the white faced gene as Daisy says. I don't think that's the same with the Husky colouring as they are a different colouring altogether and having a white face is part of that. It's only the normal/agouti hamsters with the white face. It comes back to the breeding again.
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I know you're not keen on breeding discussions Beryl, but there was a very good Robo breeder some years ago (I don't think she's around any more as her website closed down). And they were quite committed to breeding out the neurological aspects of the white faced gene so each subsequent litter was clear of the neurological issue, and each of those litters when they had litters, wouldn't pass it on either - which is possible. So all future offspring were born healthy and wouldn't develop neurological issues. I don't know the details of how that worked, but it does come down to breeding practices sometimes, and as we know, factory breeders don't seem to care about that kind of thing.
It's a shame her website is gone as there were some really useful pages and information about everything to do with Roborovski hamsters.
It's a shame her website is gone as there were some really useful pages and information about everything to do with Roborovski hamsters.
I find the Wayback Machine really helpful for looking up defunct websites. It archives websites so they can be viewed even once taken down. I'm not sure if you are referring to Oak Farm Rabbits and Roborovskis but I did look up that website earlier if it's helpful: https://web.archive.org/web/20180109094743/http://www.oakfarmrabbitsandrodents.co.uk/home.html
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RainbowBrite
The article says robo are very sensitive to heat. That is interesting as I have not noticed this. I have noticed when there is hot weather they seem to cope a little better then expected. I am just going by Orko and members robos on this forum.