Roborovski hamsters are the smallest type of hamster, even among other Dwarf-type hamsters. As such, they are very popular among many hamster owners. Roborovski hamsters are adorable, sociable and fairly easy to care for. However, there are a few notable differences between Roborovski hamsters and some other hamster species. To provide the best possible care for your Roborovski hamster, it’s important that you are well-informed about this unique hamster species. Here is some general information about Roborovski hamsters.
HOUSING
Roborovski hamsters are very small, growing to be about the same length as a human thumb (approximately 4.5 cm) when they are adults. Since Roborovski hamsters are so small, they may be difficult to contain in some conventional cages. In reality, many wire hamster cages are not suitable for holding Roborovski hamsters. It’s usually best to keep a Roborovski hamster in a glass aquarium, or in a wire cage that has extremely small openings in between wires. Due to their instinctual desire to dig, it’s best if you use thick bedding in your Roborovski hamster’s cage.
HISTORY
The Roborovski hamster was first noted as being discovered in 1894, by a man named Vsevolod Roborovski. In the 1960′s, Roborovski Hamsters were imported into London, in order to be shown at the London Zoo. It wasn’t until 1998 that Roborovski hamsters were first imported into the United States of America. Roborovski hamsters are now also very common as pets in South Korea, Israel, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
IN THE WILD
Roborovski hamsters are technically classified as being a “Near Threatened” species in the wild. They are native to the Gobi Desert, as well as sections of northern China and the Mongolian desert. Roborovski hamsters are desert-dwellers, being able to efficiently conserve any water that they consume. Roborovski hamsters live in burrows, which may extend from 60 to 200 cm under the ground. A surprising fact about Roborovski hamsters is that they are not herbivores, they commonly consume insects and some types of meat in the wild. This classifies the Roborovski hamster as an omnivore.
BREEDING
Roborovski hamsters are frequent breeders, and may even produce litters in captivity if not separated. If a male and female Roborovski hamster are kept in a cage together, a pregnancy will often occur after around five weeks. The gestation period for a pregnant female Roborovski hamster may be from 20 to 30 days. After this time, a female will give birth to from 4 to 6 hamster pups.
32 Responses to “Roborovski Hamsters Care”
I have a male robo and I’ve had him for about six months. My former dwarf was a winter wife and she loved to be held. My robo doesn’t like people at all. We handle him almost every day but I think he’d prefer we didn’t handle him at all.
He doesn’t bite though, and he seems to have slowed down a bit when he runs from me.
Someone asked about cleaning the cage. Although they run fast, theyre actually pretty easy to catch as long as youre not scared of their speed. I put mine in a big Tupperware container with a lid. It’s really big and he’s only in there for about 2 minutes so there is no danger of him not being able to breathe while I clean his cage.
I give him a LOT of bedding as he loves to dig tunnels and he stays underground most of the time during the day and then comes out to play at night. His FAVORITE thing is when I refill his food bowl! He likes fresh food every day and will come running out as soon as I take his bowl out and fill it with fresh food. I give him Kaytee Fiesta and he loves it!
I had remove his wheel as he was going in there and peeing and then sleeping in it. Gross. He has a tiny igloo to sleep in though. Theyre really cute little critters but they aren’t nearly as friendly as Siberian dwarfs.
i purchased two robo male hamsters 4 weeks ago, when i first got them they would chase each other around the cage at first i thought it was just them playing however this was not the case. One ended up biting the other and leaving a horrible lump like wound. i was told male robo’s were perfect together and i would not have any problems. when i complained about being assured there would be no fighting i was told that no one can say one sex doesn’t fight. think carefully about picking the sexes of these hamsters and do be prepared to have to buy another cage.
Hi,
I’m getting a robo hamster but I’m not sure what cage etc to get it as I don’t have a massive amount of money to spend on it.
I also want to know if it would be lonely by itself, whether a second one is needed or if it will be okay by itself.
Thanks
Hello i wanna get a female and a male Robo Dwarf Hamsters but not sure if its okey please help.
i have robo hamster hair falling i went to vet , still hair falling what i can do.
I have two robo girls hamster.they keep fighting every night I hear their cute squiks. But I worry that they might hurt themselves but is this normal for two girl hamster ? Please reply
Hello there. I have only had my robos for a few days now, but I’m very concerned about cleaning their cage. I have 2, and they are (of course) very fast! I love the little critters to pieces but I fear I won’t be able to catch them to clean them out at all! Does anyone have any tips? How do other people clean their robos?? Anything will help! Thankyou
For the first few weeks I used their hamster ball to get them out. Hold it either in the cage or in the opening, and in about five minutes they should be curious enough to get inside.
If the hamster ball doesn’t fit inside and is just too inconvenient, I also have found that a toilet paper tube helps. They will climb inside (especially if you rub a yogurt treat on the inside), giving you a chance to take them out. Just be sure to block both sides with your hands. (I use the toilet paper tube as a habitat, and they like it better than the nice one they had)
Put them in a box or a bucket while you clean. This can also give you a chance to socialize your hamsters after cleaning is done.
Once they get used to your smell, they’ll be less afraid. I have found that my two don’t even run that fast from me anymore and I can take them out with my hands.
Socialization should be done for about ten minutes a day (once they’ve been home for about three) so they can get used to being held.
It is completely normal 4 your hamster 2 feel uncomfortable around you. They don’t HATE you, they R just scared of you because it is instinctive 4 them 2 B scared of you . Just stick your hand in the cage and let them sniff U and nibble on U(It usually doesn’t hurt) They’re kinda like little dogs!!!
Yeah they are scared and you would be to if a giant 10 times your size tried to grab you
Hi my name is Alexis. I bought a female robo hamster about a month ago. She doesn’t like me for some reason. I try to hold her, and she just runs from me.
I’m super nice to her too. I never held her yet!! I don’t think I’ll ever buy one again..
hi my name is juan and i bought 2 female robo hamsters. i have them then about a week now. but i was cleaning out their cage and i put them in a 10 gallon tank while i cleaned. but then i started hearing sqeeling and they where fighting and one started bleeding. i don’t know why they got in a fight. they are sisters i think and when i finished cleaning the cage i put them back in and they started fighting again after awhile. what can i do to make them get along?
I bought one Robo hamster on Tuesday and named her Precious. I read up on Robo hamsters and it said they love company and its okay to get a second one if from the same store and cage. I bought my second one today(Wednesday) and when they got put into the cage they fought a little
Now they are curled up in the corner sleeping with each other but will still fight a little every now and then.
I was wondering if this is normal for two FEMALE Robo hamsters to fight a little at first and get better, or will it only get worse?
There is plenty of food in the cage, a small tube section for them to go into, a little apple for them to sleep in, one wheel, and one water spout. Will this be efficent? Or should i put them in a bigger cage with two of each item?
it’s normal so don’t worry in the wild they would fight for everything so even if there’s a bunch of everything they’ll fight over it.
I had 2 robos who were boys but they kept fighting so i had to give them away i got two girls and they got along just fine so yes you can keep two girls together boys will always be fighting
i got two boys and they are going well together maybe it was just a coincidence, you might-ve bought them from either to separete cages or the just hate each other, pepples and popcorn are like brothers.
Hamsters are best kept by themselves as male and female will fight almost continuously, and the male’s testes will be chewed up. Many laboratories use a bucket technique to breed them get a large plastic bucket and place the male in the bucket then in a few minutes, place the female in the bucket. If the female is receptive, they will mate within a few minutes. If they mate, place female in a large cage the male can be housed in a smaller cage. The gestation period is quite short 13-14 days on the average the females do not show much weight increase. It is best not to disturb the female with babies as you may frighten her and she would eat the babies. Once the young are feeding on their own about 3-4 weeks, they can be separated from the mother and she can be re-bred in a few more days. Keep young females together and young males together. A rountine should be used from cleaning the cage, changing water, etc as animals adapt to a routine rather than random schedules. Hamsters are all the same, so a teddy bear is simply a long-haired variety of the common hamster. Hamsters were first discovered in 1948 in Israel and became popular as pets. The wild hamster is a golden brown but now there are black, whites,tans, or even mixed colors. One company used to offer a large reward for the first person to bred a Panda hamster.
im getting a robo in a couple of days i just want to know if it is alright to get them in pair or not and what one fight more both boys or both girls
Hiya,
roborovski dwarf hamsters (robos) are the most social hamsters. I would still recommend buying hamsters from the same litter and having no more than 4, as over 4 you need bigger cages, which means more expensive and your hamsters MAY fight. I’m no expert though.
People say that male robos are more friendly then female hamsters and from my own experience i disagree with this statement, and so did the worker in Pets At Home, who said it was an old wives tale. Previously i had two male robos who lived a very short life (nothing to do with them being male, just a genetic disorder) and they were incredibly lovely and were so happy to be alive.
It has been 2 years and i have just got 2 female hamsters, and i have not noticed a difference between males and females as of yet. Every hamsters has different personalities, though. None of my robos have ever bit me, robos rarely do anyway. I have long nails and thumper (one of my female hamsters) only nibbles on them, and she does this in a way of asking for treats. *Hamsters may also nibble you if you smell like food, as they have very bad eye sight*
So i think it really doesn’t matter on which gender robos you get, as, from my experience, they are exactly the same. All hamsters do have different personalities though, and robo bites dont hurt anyway.
Hope this helped
Emma
yeah emma is right as long as they’re from the same litter it’s fine and if they are not then it’s still probably fine,they don’t usally fight……
Well I have 2 robos, both girls. I’ve had em about 5-6 months. Phyllip, i had first and she is still terrified of being handled and runs to sections of the cage that a hand can’t go. Lillith loves being handled and was never really scared at all.
A pair of robos in one cage are hilarious fun to watch. Phyl will play around as long as I don’t make my presence known, and Lil always seems to know when someone is near the cage, because she rushes to the cage opening demanding to be held.
They also do some fairly crazy things from time to time. Their wheel is attached to the back of the cage, and Lil loves sleeping curled between the cage and her wheel. Also, their original cage was all wire, and Lil used to climb around the roof of her cage, fall down to the bedding below, climb back up the side and repeat, for hours on end.
They are very social and have ‘talks’ at times. They also play follow the leader (the leader being Lil) constantly. They love running in their wheel together, and sometimes ‘argue’ about which direction to run. I imagine that i’m very lucky with the pair that I have, but I still struggle with taming Phyl.
Basically I’m saying that it is completely possible to have a Robo that is loving, if not demanding, but some are just very stubborn and take lots of time and effort. I spend at least 10 minutes a day with each of em. 10 minutes of me holding Lil or letting her run around my bed, and about 10 minutes of me trying to convince Phyl that it is okay for me to hold her, but she’s usually adamant against it.
Dana, I also have a robo and she would run away from be too, you just have to spend about10 minutes a day in a seperate container trying to hold her if you put your hand in there they are sure to try and test it out, only when the fully trust ou will they eat on your hand and let you pet them.
Hi I’m Dana Urayenza and I have been surprised by my dad with robovski hamsters and I want them to get use to me and when I tried to pet them they would be running away from my hands How can I get them to get them to stop being scared and letting them think that I’m harmless?
I think you should grab a treat and put it on your hand and smack yur lips and he/she might come.
I think you should put food like seeds on your hand and say their name lightly (it worked for me)p.s they are a shy hamster so they get scared easily
You dont want to feed your hamster too many treats though, especially whilst their young. I did use this method a couple of times though,
Just switch up the methods here and there as your hamster may get bored.
I have had four roborovski (robo) dwarf hamsters and from what you’ve told me, it seems like your hamsters are not very tame yet and need to gain trust with you. Here are a few ways to tame your hamsters to not be so afraid.
1) I use toilet paper for my robos bedding, this saves the cost of buying sawdust AND bedding, as im sure you/your parents buy toilet paper anyway. Take a new roll, to prevent bacteria and also so that your scent is the only sent on it, scruff it up and rub your hands on it before putting it into the cage (i put it into the house that my hamsters sleep in) this will help your hamsters to get used to your smell.
2) Put them into a tray (deep enough for them not to jump out of) and fill a bit of it with sawdust, put a bit of water and food in their just incase, and put your hamster in here, you can take a bit of sawdust from the hamsters cage that its used to the smell of and put it over your hand, you can either leave your hand their or chase (be careful not to scare) your hamster with your hand, do this for a short period of time and be patient as it does not happen overnight! do not, for the first week or so, get your hamster out every night.
after a while, if you see an improvement, treat your hamsters.Do not feed your hamster too many treats as this could harm them especially if they are young and do not move them in and out of the bin too much as it could cause stress and stress can lead to diseases like wet tail (uncommon in robos, though)
I have tried these methods and my hamsters let me stroke them freely, they particularly like being stroked behind the ears and on their belly!
Hope this helped!
they will like you if you first feed them from your hand,after a day or two they will climb onto your hand (let them get used to your smell and touch)then carefully lift your hand a little higher every day then they will like you!!!
i have a robo hamster and it aways sleeps inside the wheel,is this normal?
It’s normal as long as it doesn’t appear to actually be sick or anything. It just thinks the wheel is comfy.
If you haven’t already, get your hamster a little hide away house as it may feel more safe in this but it should be ok.
i agree they like to hide and if they are hiding in your house put some hamster food in a bucket and make stairs up to the top of the bucket (also put a little bedding in it)then wait an hour or two maybe over night (don’t open any doors for to long)then your hamster will try to get the food and will be stuck in the bucket.