I don't like to judge a book by its cover...

... but when the book in question is entitled "How To Care For Your Roborovski Pet Dwarf Hamster" and has a picture of a cream banded Syrian on the front, it doesn't bode well!

I have been browsing Amazon looking at the various hamster books. I have two that I think are really good -- Hamsterlopaedia and the Dwarf Hamsters Pet Owner's Manual -- but I am definitely a bibliophile! I would love all good hamster books, but even reading through reviews on Amazon isn't enough. How do I know that all the good reviews on a book are by hamster-savvy people? I keep meaning to do reviews on the two I have, maybe this will give me the kick up the backside I need.

And so this post isn't all text, here's a video of Winter and Rocco. Rocco has now outgrown his dad and there have been a few scuffles for dominance, but Rocco is now four months old so in Robo adolescence (3-6 months), and I wasn't expecting complete peace from them!


(And apologies for the lack of blogging recently. Lets just leave it as Real Life Sucks.)

All change! Winter and Rocco's new cage

So, a while ago I changed Annie's cage, meaning that her old cage, the Ferplast Mary, ended up being put in the bottom of the wardrobe. I thought about selling it, but to be honest wasn't keen on the hassle. It just sat there, taking up space, forgotten about.

Recently, I had a thought. The Mary, at 80 by 50 centimetres, is larger than the zoozone the boys are in (72 by 46 centimetres). While it's not much difference in size, I figured it was a big difference when you're only a couple of centimetres long!

I had two worries. One was access -- while the zoozone has a large top door, the Mary has one small side door and one larger top door. The other was the bar spacing. However, I know many people who have successfully kept Roborovskis in cages with one centimetre bar spacing before, and tested it out with Rocco. He could not fit through the bars, and I decided more space for the hams beat any access concerns I had, so today I swapped them over.

Whole cage

I've tried to leave the layout as similar as possible to the one from the zoozone, although I did swap their wheels to eight inch wooden wheels rather than the flying saucers they had. Winter had started doing impressions of the Amazing Flying Robo off the saucers, which was concerning me. The eight inch wheels are larger than necessary, but there's more space for them to run together in an eight inch wheel than there is in a six inch one, the smaller size down in this particular wheel. (I coated them in plastikote, a waterproof child safe paint, so that they're easier to clean.)

Left side

Wheels on the right side

The rest of the right side

Usually I scatter feed, but because of the new JR Farm food I've received recently (eventually -- parcelforce were a pain in the backside about it, but that's another story), the boys have two bowls, one with their old mix and one with the JR Farm, to see which they prefer. The jury's out with these two, although Darla prefers the JR Farm.

As for the zoozone, well... Darla got it, so the last cage tour for him is out of date already, although I did try to keep the layout as similar as possible.

Darla's cage

Darla cage tour May 2013

I mentioned doing a cage tour of Darla's cage a while back now... so here it is!

Here it is. It is still the 62 litre Crystal storage box from Wilkinson's, external dimensions 79.5 by 39.5 cm, 25cm tall. On the left he has his little house which he stores his food in, a bendy bridge up to the roof, and his sand bath with a wicker teepee over it.

 In the middle he has his wooden swing thing and a tube leading under his platform. You can also see his T-shaped alfalfa tube.

Then we have his platform, made by the lovely woman who also let me adopt Winter and Rocco! It's made from an Ikea magazine rack, and there's a detailed thread about her making them over here on one of the hamster forums I go on. On the platform he has his flying saucer, a hedgehog shaped antos dog chew and a strawberry wooden chew. His T-shaped alfalfa log leads to his water bottle, and as you can see he likes sitting half in the log to drink.

He also nests under the platform.

And a bonus Darla pic!

Breakfast time!

D'awww

I know I promised cage tours, but this is much cuter!

Winter apparently doesn't mind being a pillow!

My gorgeous Robo boys

I took a couple of pictures and videos of the Robos this morning!

Darla was not co-operating!

I think this is Winter on the wheel and Rocco behind

Rocco in front and Winter under the cork

      

I need to do a cage tour for Darla too, as you can see he has a new platform in there! Today is clean-out day, so we shall see.

Winter and Rocco

So, I picked up these little guys today! I suppose that means it's intro time.

Roborovski squish!

Who?

Winter and Rocco

What?

They are both husky Roborovskis, and are a father-son pair. They are also technically brothers, as Winter's mother is also Rocco's. They are the result of an unexpected, unintended litter.

When?

I picked them up today 13th April 2013!

Why?

After commenting on the thread about the unexpected litter on a hamster forum I frequent, I ended up talking via PM to their owner. She offered to let me rehome a pup or two when they were older and I leapt at the chance. Since there was only one male pup and Winter did badly without company, I ended up taking the father-son pair.

Favourites?

• Toy: I have it on good authority that they love their flying saucers!
• Treat: Millet, apparently! Imaginative of them!
• Activity: Digging. Dear lord, these two know how to dig!

Rocco

Winter

My new boys!

I've been sitting on a little secret for a while!

Hamster squish!

This is Rocco (on top) and Winter, a son and father pair. A member of a certain hamster forum rescued a pair she thought was a mother and daughter, who she called Autumn and Winter, a gorgeous agouti and husky pair. However, they turned out to be mother and son! We ended up talking while their unexpected, unintended, pups were still young, and she agreed to let me have one or two, which I was so pleased about! I love husky Robos, they are gorgeous, and the litter was highly likely to contain a husky or two.

Little Rocco

The pups were the most awkward babies to sex, even an experienced Robo breeder was stumped! When pictures didn't help, the pups were actually taken to visit her, and she still wasn't sure. One was definitely male, and paired off with Winter at four weeks old. The other two were an awkward pair and stayed with mum for a bit longer.

Handsome Winter

Winter loved having a friend again, he did really badly alone, so when the other two pups turned out to be female, it was decided that I would take Winter and Rocco. I'm picking them up on 13th April, when Rocco will be seven weeks old, and I am really looking forward to finally meeting my two husky boys!

You can teach an old Robo new tricks!

I've had Darla since January 2012, and reckon he's nearly a year and a half old. He's never been the friendliest of chaps, and has always been the archetypal look-don't-touch Roborovski.

Recently, I've been looking for work, meaning that I've spent a lot of time at home. One of Darla's active times is mid morning, between eight and ten -- a time when I wouldn't be at home if I was working, but am while I am currently looking. This means that I have been able to interact a lot more with him than I have done previously. Normally, that means talking to him and letting him run around in his ball -- Darla has never been very confident in playpens, I think the enclosed nature of a hamster ball gives him a sense of security. However, because of the recent hamster diet issue I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I've been handling him a lot more, checking over him and making sure he is healthy.

Darla eating a grape. Because why not?

The upshot of this is that, for the first time ever, he has been calm enough while being handled for me to risk getting him out for just general interaction and "cuddles". Sunday morning, we had a good ten minutes of him running up and down my arm while I was sat on the sofa, something that I would never have risked a year ago. His age has probably played a part, as he has slowed down a bit, although he's still faster than Annie. It's lovely to be able to stroke him, let him walk over me, watch him sit in my palm and wash himself. It's an honour and a privilege, and I am so pleased that we have managed to get this far.

Hamster Species

One of my pet peeves is that time and time again I see people refer to the different types of hamster as hamster breeds, when in fact they are different species.

The difference between breeds and species? Well, think of it this way. There are many different breeds of dogs, from chihuahua to great dane, but they are all Canis familiaris, e.g. the domestic dog. There are five types of domesticated hamster, however, they are as different from each other as dogs and cats, or horses and snakes. The five species are:

• Mesocricetus auratus, the Syrian or Golden hamster
• Cricetulus griseus, the Chinese hamster
• Phodopus sungorus, the Winter White dwarf hamster
• Phodopus campbelli, the Campbell's dwarf hamster
• Phodopus roborovskii, the Roborovski dwarf hamster

Because these are all different species, not breeds, they can't be bred together. Two breeds of dog, for example the husky and the terrier, can breed and have adorable puppies. You can't breed, say, a Syrian and a Chinese hamster and expect to get something in between.

One exception to this is that hybrids between the Winter White and the Campbell's are possible. However, this is not because they are different breeds of the same species. Rather, it is because the two species are similar enough to mean that mating the two hamsters can produce young. It is similar to how a horse and a donkey can breed to produce a mule, or lions and tigers can breed to produce ligers.

This hybridisation would not happen in the wild, however, and there are many potential risks involved with hybrids as opposed to their non-hybridised counterparts, so I would never recommend breeding them.

Introducing Darla!

He does love his food!

In my last entry, I mentioned Darla. Well, in this one, I'm going to give you a full bio for him!

Who?

His Imperial Majesty Lord Darlaman Fuzzbum, aka Darla.

What?

He's an agouti Roborovski hamster.

When?

I got him on 17th January 2012. I've estimated his date of birth to be 17th October 2011

Where?

I aquired him from the adoption centre in a certain big green pet store.
       

Why?

As I said in a previous post, I had decided I wasn't going to get a Roborovski hamster. The only thing was, I saw him in the adoption centre, with a small boy and his family eyeing him up, and I couldn't let such a tiny cute thing go to live in the minuscule cage, to be roughly handled by that boy. I am so glad I did take him, because he has been a real joy to own. He's skittish and not really one to be handled, but I can't not love his little face!

Isn't he the cutest? (Maybe I am a bit biased!)

I started calling him Darla when I first got him, back when I thought he was a she. Of course, I discovered I was wrong a few months later, but by that time the name had stuck. I decided to extend it to Darlaman Fuzzbum instead. The "His Imperial Majesty" and the "Lord" parts came from my boyfriend, who for some reason thinks I spoil Darla. I have no idea where he gets that idea from!

Favourites?

• Toy: His wheel.
• Treat: Mealworms or millet.
• Time of day: The middle of the night!
• Activity: Running like a loon on his wheel.

Feel free to ask any questions!