May/June Monthly thread - My former Robos

[Maz]

I haven't done the monthly thread for a while so thought I'd do the next one Rather than do it about our current hamsters this time, I thought I'd do it about our previous Robos

Day 1

Nugget was our first Robo. This was quite a few years ago now, when the minimum cage size was about 80 x 50. I bought a tank (Kerry Terrarium) even though I preferred barred cages, as I thought it would be easier for a robo (but found it wasn't even though it looked nice). The Kerry Terrarium was actually only about 75 x 45 but seen as acceptable at the time. However I found it a bit on the small side straight away (and changed his cage later as neither he nor I got on with it!).

Nugget came from an accidental litter - someone advertising to rehome the litter. Usual story, they had bought a pair of "boy" robos from a pet shop and one turned out to be a girl.

This was the cage he was in when I collected him.



And in the pet carrier after I brought him home



And his first set up in the Kerry Terrarium. As you can see it is not really big enough - I realised that quite quickly. The egg box hammock was there as a bit of protection to hang over the cheese wedge thing as it was hard and pointy. Although he did like climbing in it from the platform it was next to. But not very often.

 

[Maz]

Day 2

So while he enjoyed his set up in the Kerry Terrarium, it was a bit of a nightmare as the grid top lid slid sideways and made an awful noise when it did. This scared Nugget every time - he didn't like the noise, and neither did I. Plus my hand would loom down from above which also scared him. I found the size frustrating with top access only as you couldn't get your arm in at much of an angle. It was probably the size that was the issue generally, but I was also used to front access. After a while I decided it just wasn't working for either Nugget or me. Even though it looked nice and was lovely to watch him through the glass, the interaction just wasn't there as he didn't like the noise and it was harder to manage generally.

Now I did have an 80 x 50 Savic Mickey 2XL which has narrow 7mm bar spacing. I thought it maybe wouldn't be much bigger but did have front access. Couldn't quite decide. He was so fast and zoomy and active I really wanted him to have a 100cm cage. Bearing in mind an 80 x 50 cage was seen as quite large 7 years ago and people unfortunately kept robos in smaller cages than that. There was the Barney cage but that was a bit tall and has difficult access as well for a shy robo. So there wasn't an ideal solution - not that many cage options 7 years ago. After seeing the Mickey 2XL next to the Kerry it was clear that the barred top section was significantly bigger and so I could fit a lot more in at substrate level, and have front access. So I decided to move him.

Before moving him he had a couple of play experiences in the Mickey 2 XL as a transition. Just with some bedding and a flying saucer, a hide and a vine branch. He loved it! He was so happy and kept coming to the front door and looking at me - which was nice.

Again bear in mind this was some years ago when 6" of bedding was seen as good and flying saucers were fairly standard for robos as an additional wheel (he did have an upright wheel as well). And I do think, for playpen time, robos enjoy a flying saucer.

Comparison - the Mickey 2XL was a bit bigger and more accessible



Nugget trying out the Mickey 2XL. This is my favourite photo of him - when he discovered the coconut hut. It definitely got the seal of approval - more space and no noisy top part.



With a bit more space, I got him a robo sized rodipet multiroom house as well - which he moved straight into and really liked. He had two nests. One in the multiroom house, and one under a cork bark piece in front of his wheel. If I cleaned the house end of the cage he'd move to the wheel nest (it was a lovely cosy burrow with the cork bark piece as roof). When I eventually cleaned the other end of the cage, he'd move back to the house.

He settled into the Mickey 2XL straight away and the big front door made a huge difference. He was very much a "hands off" hamster but he would come to the front door and sit for chats and was very interactive that way (he also had out of cage time and it was easy for him to get out into something). He was an afternoon and night hamster so would often be out in the afternoon having a good look at what was going on and sitting for a long chat with me - with various expressions. He was quite communicative as would go over to something and look at me if it wasn't right (a ramp had come adrift once and he showed me).

Of course as soon as he was in the cage I wished it was 100cm cage! But couldn't find one low enough and with 7mm bar spacing that was safe for a robo. This was before the Savic Plaza was available.

It didn't look as glamorous as his tank set up but he was happier and I was happier! Here he is on top of his multiroom house



I did manage to fit quite a lot of bedding in as well (almost 8") as the bedding didn't fall out of the narrow bars



And on his beloved wheel

 

[Maz]

A short video clip of Nugget exploring the Mickey 2XL (set up as a play cage) before he moved in. He was a confident little hamster as long as you didn't try and hold him! Although he did eventually get a little bit hand tame.

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[Socks' Mum]

What a sweet little hammy! He certainly made full use of every item in his cage and loved running around. I should think foraging would provide a Robo with a lot of interest and activity Was he keen on sprays?

 

[Maz]

Sprays weren't invented 7 years ago! Not in the Uk anyway - I think some people in Germany had started using them but it was early days there even and wasn't really known about. Sprays only really became a thing about 3 years ago

However he did love his whimzee!

 

[Maz]

Day 3

Nugget's first time in a taming bin. He hid mostly and was shy but we did get some eye to eye contact






And a little collage




He was our first robo and didn't get a lot of out of cage time as he never did get fully hand tamed. For all he was very sweet and happy to sit for long chats, he was also very fearful and would literally run and squish himself flat behind the wheel between the wheel and the bars if a hand came in the cage.

He had had a lot of vet visits as a baby before he came to me (the owner needed help sexing them) and I think he had a fear of being touched or handled. However he seemed very happy, was out in his cage in the afternoons and keeping an eye on everyone and everything and really did communicate and interact - at a safe distance!

One year we had a big Christmas tree and the only place to put it, partially went in front of a space in front of his cage. He was very curious about that and came out a lot looking at it! Not sure if it was curiosity or more "hey what's that doing there blocking my view". He interacted with all the family and was such fun to watch.

He was in the playpen one time when he was about 18 months old and I had just started being able to handle him a bit - and I noticed he had a small lump underneath. After a vet visit it was decided not to operate as it covered quite an area of his little body.

So he carried on with a lump hanging down that got bigger, but didn't seem to stop him leaping around or running on his wheel, He was on metacam. And it only seemed to bother him if it rubbed against something.

Latterly though it did get larger and hang down (a loose lump) and that was affecting him being able to walk/balance. Again discussed with vet and he was doing fine, still active and eating, so I adapted his cage set up so he could walk around on the level.

He loved to dig a tunnel between his two nests, so I wanted to keep reasonably deep bedding, but the surface was too uneven for him to walk on. So I cut hemp mat to go on top of the bedding to provide a level surface for him to walk on and cut out shapes so it fitted around things. His sand bath was sunken so he could walk straight into it without catching his lump on the lip, His wheel was at hemp mat level so easy to get in and out of and there was a sloping hemp mat "ramp" down to his house entrance and also up to his house roof. So it was a very disabled-friendly set up! He still had a saucer as well as a wheel and loved to use both so that was sunken as well so easy access.

As he was older by then and didn't chew fabric (and less likely to in old age) I also put a low hanging fuzzbutts two tier hammock in - this did two things - one it made a kind of dark roof area over his house entrance and 2) it was at the level of his house roof so he could just walk into it. He loved it and would sit in there and take his blueberry or some snacks in there to eat them (it was always full of bits of food).

I left a few gaps in the hemp mat near the wheel area and behind it, so if he wanted to dig and burrow, he could still find some substrate to do it in, but he didn't bother. And got quite speedy again once he had a flat surface to run around on.

By then he would also happily walk into a snooze cube to be lifted out of the cage.

 

[Maz]

Here he is as a little old man










For vet visits he used to walk into his snooze cube from the cage and I'd put the snooze cube in the pet carrier, and also take a low height RUB bin with hemp mat on the bottom, his saucer and some food to put in the bin. Then at the vets I'd put the rub bin on the vet table, add the saucer and food and lift the snooze cube straight out of the pet carrier and into the RUB bin. From there he could just walk out of the snooze cube and run around in the rub bin. The reason for this was a) he used to get so incredibly stressed at being handled by a vet b) to stop him running off the vet table! c) it meant the vet could get a good look at him while he was running around and see how his walking was.

I did feel a bit nervous and embarrased at asking to put a plastic bin on the vet table but the vet was fine with it even she thought it a bit odd. But I explained that it meant she could see him running around and he doesn't like being handled - especially by strangers.

 

[Steve]

Oh he was gorgeous, and sounded like a lovely little guy.

 

[Tulsi]

Love the rub box idea for vet examinations. Much less stressful all round.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Utterly gorgeous little hamster. He had a lovely life in the centre of your family and must have found everything so fascinating. It is wonderful that he had a great rapport with everyone and, although nervous, interacted with everyone in his own extremely charming way

 

[hamster lover 123]

These photos of Nugget are so sweet, it sounds like he was very well cared for and enjoyed living with you

 

[Maz]

Thank you Tulsi, Socks Mum and hamster lover 123 I loved his little face My OH really fell for Nugget - which was a big surprise. He stole our hearts And was very much part of the family.

 

[Maz]

Day 4

Pip was our second Robo. Some of you will remember him He was the teeniest tiniest robo I had ever seen and not only tiny but sort of thin and sleek as well. He didn't even look like a robo when he arrived. But something else entirely! He came from a rescue so maybe he had had a few changes and not thrived very well.

At the time, 80 x 50 cages were still the minimum size still and I still had the Mickdey 2XL, but I mentioned I had a savic plaza as well and Happy Hamsters were dead keen for me to use the Plaza for Pip. I of course wanted him to have a 100cm cage but was a little concerned about the height and the bar spacing. They weren't concerned about the bar spacing as he was already in a cage with 1cm bar spacing. The Plaza bar spacing is maybe 8.5mm so I went with that.

It's hard to believe this was only about three and a half years ago, but 80 x 50 was still seen as the minimum size along with 6" bedding. A lot of people used 100cm cages (and had done for years) but the 100cm recommended minimum hadn't yet become official - and neither had deep bedding (or rather not deeper than 6" anyway).

But to resolve the height of the Plaza for Pip, I put cardboard inside the bars and 10" of bedding - primarily to reduce the effective internal height, but robos like digging anyway.

So Pip went straight into the Plaza. Despite having 10" of bedding it still seemed a bit tall for a tiny robo and I was slightly concerned he might feasibly get up to the roof so I used a very large fuzzbutts hammock right at the top. Bearing in mind fabric in hamster cages is not a good idea in case it's chewed but this was literally tied to the top roof bars with no access to it. The idea being it would make it a bit darker underneath (in case he was nervous) and also that if he did happen to get to the roof (by climbing the bars above the shelf) and fall, he would land in the hammock.

So it was a precaution. There was still a gap between the edge of the hammock and the house roof so I made an egg box hammock to cover the gap.

He was not going to be able to reach or access either of these - they were just there to prevent potential falls. Wrong!

Pip was very athletic! He had a little shelf at the back above his house and he would jump from there into the egg box hammock then pull himself up into the large fleece hammock!

I found this out from watching nightcam videos. Shock horror!

However he didn't chew and was never a chewer really, so I decided it was ok if he accessed the fleece hammock. And boy did he love it up there. And he had his speedy routes - from house roof to small shelf, into the egg box - up into the fleece hammock (lots of sitting and snacking up there) and then he'd climb out the other end onto his main shelf (the hammock overlapped his main shelf).

He was a real zoomer as well and it was lovely watching him zoom up and down the ramp to the shelf.

So not the most glamorous of cage set ups and not as intended, but he was very happy in there.

This was Pip when he arrived




And this was his cage set up for most of his life. You can see the fleece fuzzbutts hammock is right at the roof of the cage - how would a tiny robo get up there?! You can also see the egg box hammcok which was quite close to the small shelf at the back. So from the shelf - into the egg box. And the hammock is STILL quite high above that. But he just stood up and pulled the edge down with his paws!

Still no Sprays Socks Mum They became popular and recommended about 6 months after I got Pip .............they were just not really heard of or available. But he did have the usual treats and chews.








He really loved running around in there and zooming through the tube connecting the small shelves and zooming up the ladder.

This is how he got into the hammock - robos can jump very athletically! The other end of the hammock overlapped the shelf and he'd just plop out onto the shelf.

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[Socks' Mum]

Cheeky little adventurer You accidentally created the perfect climbing frame. But he was safe and happy and loved his hammock