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This is the story of our first Roborovski hamster, Nugget, who became much loved by OH and I. He was adopted from an unexpected litter (common story - someone bought a pair of male robos from a pet shop, one turned out to be female, and they had babies).
He had been handled so much before I got him - people trying to sex him and umpteen vet visits, that he was always terrified of hands. And would literally run and hide behind his wheel, flat against the bars, if you put a hand in his cage. But we developed a relationship through the bars and he would sit for long conversations and look at you, as long as you didn't put your hand in his cage. He used to come out a lot during the day to see what was going on and would tell you if anything wasn't right in the cage. He LOVED his flying saucer (he had a wheel as well). I didn't have him out of the cage that often as was unused to robos and didn't want to scare him. One time I found he had a lump. Unfortunately it was a bit of a large area to operate on so we carried on until he started to go downhill a bit. He never did get sick exactly. He carried his lump around with him, still used his wheel, was on metacam and I adapted his cage so he could walk easily - he had hemp mat on top of substrate so it was all level. He still seemed to eat well. He got very thin looking though and started chewing at his lump and that's when the vet said - Metacam isn't enough now. OH was quite shocked when we took him to the vet for a check and they recommended not taking him home again. But we accepted it was time for him.
Anyway. He was much missed and a real little trooper. As he got older and less mobile he was easier to get out of the cage as he had a favourite hide he would hop into and by then had learned to trust me. He still didn't like hands, but you could pick him up and he wouldn't wriggle.
So he was about 18 months when he got the lumps and lived another few months. I had thought Robos were much longer lived - but I guess it all comes down to breeding and genetics - partly anyway.
So here is Nugget. He very much was confident in his own cage and kept an eye on things. The first photo is when he arrived - a tiny baby. One of him out of the cage when he discovered the flying saucer. The last one - his final cage set up with hemp mat and I added a fleece double layer hammock - he was past chewing anything by this stage and never had been a chewer. It was just over his house door so made it nice and dark as he left his house. He used to grab his blueberry or other treat and sit between the layers of the hammock in cosy private to eat it.
.
He had been handled so much before I got him - people trying to sex him and umpteen vet visits, that he was always terrified of hands. And would literally run and hide behind his wheel, flat against the bars, if you put a hand in his cage. But we developed a relationship through the bars and he would sit for long conversations and look at you, as long as you didn't put your hand in his cage. He used to come out a lot during the day to see what was going on and would tell you if anything wasn't right in the cage. He LOVED his flying saucer (he had a wheel as well). I didn't have him out of the cage that often as was unused to robos and didn't want to scare him. One time I found he had a lump. Unfortunately it was a bit of a large area to operate on so we carried on until he started to go downhill a bit. He never did get sick exactly. He carried his lump around with him, still used his wheel, was on metacam and I adapted his cage so he could walk easily - he had hemp mat on top of substrate so it was all level. He still seemed to eat well. He got very thin looking though and started chewing at his lump and that's when the vet said - Metacam isn't enough now. OH was quite shocked when we took him to the vet for a check and they recommended not taking him home again. But we accepted it was time for him.
Anyway. He was much missed and a real little trooper. As he got older and less mobile he was easier to get out of the cage as he had a favourite hide he would hop into and by then had learned to trust me. He still didn't like hands, but you could pick him up and he wouldn't wriggle.
So he was about 18 months when he got the lumps and lived another few months. I had thought Robos were much longer lived - but I guess it all comes down to breeding and genetics - partly anyway.
So here is Nugget. He very much was confident in his own cage and kept an eye on things. The first photo is when he arrived - a tiny baby. One of him out of the cage when he discovered the flying saucer. The last one - his final cage set up with hemp mat and I added a fleece double layer hammock - he was past chewing anything by this stage and never had been a chewer. It was just over his house door so made it nice and dark as he left his house. He used to grab his blueberry or other treat and sit between the layers of the hammock in cosy private to eat it.
.
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