Dusty the Robo dwarf hamster.

Oh my goodness :) He is so excited and not scared at all is he? He knows to expect treats! It's lovely seeing a Robo whizzing again. I guess you have to be careful with the front door in case he tries to jump out! On the other hand it looks like it might be quite easy to to get him out or jumping into a taxi to try some out of cage time at some point - if you have a playpen or can section of a safe area of the room. Just thinking he might not try to nibble fingers out of the cage.
 
Just thought I'd share a couple of videos of my last robo out in a play area :) This is just him running around, but at other times I'd have a smaller box on it's side in there, with a bit of bedding and some food, and when he walked into it, I'd tip it back on his back. And use it as a handling box where I could scoop him up and let him run through my tunnelled hands, so he got used to being handled. I'd just do that for 2 or 3 minutes then let him climb out over my hand. Once they get used to being handled, they feel secure about hands and that might stop him nipping. You could maybe where gloves at first just in case.

He looks very different from Dusty due to colour :-)


It was better with a blanket down.

He got to really love using the flying saucer in the playpen and had great fun with it. He would also pester at the door to come out again once he'd had playpen time.

 
Maz, thanks for sharing your videos of your Robo! So cute. I didn't know you could use anything fabric with hamsters. I thought they would chew it and choke on fibers from cloth. Maybe is it ok temporarily like you have in the playpen. I loved watching those videos!!
 
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Yes I have to be careful when the door is open that he doesn't try to run to my hand for a treat. That is why I don't just open that door all the way. I have one hand holding the door open just enough to get my hand down into the cage. I also have to be careful that I don't pinch a paw in the door when I close it up.

I have a 20 gallon tank (I know it isn't big like your big cardboard box in your videos) but I might try using it as a playpen just to give Dusty a change from his cage. But he seems to really love his cage set up.

Thanks so much for your advice in how to set up a hamster cage. I really had no idea how different hamster's needs are from gerbils. And how the commercial hamster cages are mostly all wrong for hamsters. I am enjoying Dusty more than I thought I would. :)
 
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You're right, fabric isn't safe for them, but in a temporary playpen area, with observation it's ok :) Dusty has a lovely cage and set up and I'm sure he's very happy in there :-) The out of cage time idea, is partly for taming (they behave differently out of their territory than in it) and partly just for a change of scene/taste of freedom. The first time they can find it quite scary but get used to it after that and even enjoy it. But he seems to be doing fine taking food from you.

I normally use a proper playpen - at that time I didn't have one available and did have an extremely large cardboard box so decided not to throw it out straight away! I think an area bigger than a 20 gallon tank would be better though, if he did have some out of cage time. Generally a playpen is an area bigger than the existing cage.
 
Right I agree! A large play pen is best. But right now he is happy. My issue is we have two cats that are in and out of the house and two dogs that mostly stay in. If I do a playpen for Dusty I would shut the dogs and cats outside. Next issue I have is the only place I have to set up the playpen would be on the floor just outside his cage. And while it was up it would be in the way of walking paths through our house. We are in a small house. :) We have a corner fireplace we never use in the living area. If I could get rid of that....it would give us more room in our living area. But that is one expensive job. So I make do. :)

And that 20 gallon tank I have I use for a temporary cage when I clean out a cage. I did the gerbil cage today and the gerbils seemed to be ok in that 20 gallon while I made up their clean cage that takes hours to do. But they were not stressed at all.
 
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All important points! Sorry I forgot you had other pets, and yes it sounds tricky blocking off a throughway. 😊
 
Dusty came up on my hand three times tonight as I was giving him treats. After the treats were gone is gently nipped me a couple times but I just told him no and put him gently down. Here is a video of one of those times. I think this is good progress. He runs so fast I am afraid to try to "hold him" longer and I don't want him to fall off my hand and get frightened of that.

 
That's amazing progress! Something I never achieved inside the actual cage :) Dusty is very cute. I really love those flower sprays - they add a splash of colour. He has a lovely enriched home there. He didn't seem to phased about you lifting your hand and moving him but I know what you mean, if you did that for too long at first, he may feel out of control. I wonder if he would walk from hand to hand now.
 
He might do the hand to hand thing if I had seeds in my other hand too. I will try that soon if I can remember....LOL! I am going to get better sprays for him. These ones were not very good....very old and falling apart.
 
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They look very nice :-) Maybe he would do the hand to hand thing anyway, without any food in the other hand. Or do you think he would just ignore the other hand?
 
Or he may start biting, I just don't know. I don't want him to feel trapped or afraid and start nipping a lot.
 
Good point. It's often a next stage of taming to put one hand next to the other and see if they walk across, but I guess you'll just need to feel you're way through things when it feels right. It's amazing progress whether it goes beyond that or not.

My last robo was very timid (the one before that was even more so!). I got to a point where he would edge forwards to take a treat from my fingers - get very close, bravely, and then panic and retreat again. He never did take food from my hand.
 
Awww that is too bad. I guess Dusty is a bit braver. It is nice to get to see him and interact with him when I am awake.
I don't think he has a sleep routine. I have seen him out at all times of the day. Some days he isn't out at all when I am
awake. It helps that my cameras in the cage give me an alert when they detect movement, but only when I am home. The
camera I cannot get to see when I am not home because it is a home wifi camera.
 
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I sometimes think it might be their very fast metabolism and maybe they just nap and go and nap and go all the time, rather than have longer periods of sleep or activity :-)
 
Another video of Dusty out today. He is so cute running always in high gear from place to place. I got some good videos of him and here is one where he is taking treats from my hand and gets onto my hand and I pick him up and move him over near his water bottle at the very top of the video where you can barely see it. I put him down and leave my hand there to see if he will get back onto it with no treats on it. He did! and I moved him over to his cork digging dish where I had put some of his food. He didn't seem to mind the ride at all. I didn't think to try the hand to hand thing yet. :)

 
That is wonderful! I am so impressed - he actually let you carry you in his hand and then hopped back onto it. Amazing progress. And no nips? He's looking healthy and gorgeous :-)
 
Two hands this time!!! He really knows my hands mean seeds for his horde! LOL! He sees my hands near the cage wall and he comes running up to them.

 
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