Robirovski hamster?

[3amEternal]

DD would like another hamster, our much loved Syrian died a couple of years ago. She is 11 and will need to keep them in her room as we now have cats. Syrians are noisy so I'd like a smaller species. What are Roborovskis like, or Chinese hamsters? Didn't want a Russian as they are cross bred and prone to diabetes. Our Syrian had a massive hamster heaven cage, can the smaller breeds do ok in a Duna fun or similar? I understand the cage bars need to be narrower. Thanks!

[bruffin]

Robot are gorgeous, we had two.
But they are not very easy to handle. They are incredibly fast and have kamikaze instincts and will dive bomb the floor.
But they are very entertaining to watch. The are also escape artist as they can squeeze themselves and can get through wire cages, so you need huge dunas cages.
Our two who were sisters ended up fighting so we had to separate them after 9 months.
They are lovely little hamsters,but not for cuddling etc

[bruffin]

I would say no to dunas fun as the will get through the wire. The normal dunas is with the only wires I'm the lid. Our local pet shop said they had tried every type of cage and the dunas were the only ones they couldn't get out of.

[bruffin]

Sorry should say
The normal dunas is OK,as the only wires are in the lid

They truly are little houdinis

[3amEternal]

Thanks. Will avoid wires!

[Soubriquet]

I think they are brilliant to watch but not so good to handle

Too small and wriggly for hand ability

Plus you so need to keep them in a group instead of on its own like the Syrian

[bruffin]

Robos are known to fight (ours did and drew blood) and looking round Internet it's not uncommon.

[PickAChew]

They're sweet but rubbish pets for kids as they're not tame and they're very fast.

[expatinscotland]

They're just wee furballs. Get another Syrian. Syrians are awesome.

[PickAChew]

And yes, we had a group of sisters who got on wonderfully until we found one mauled to death, one day. (and checking they are all sisters is flipping hard work!)

[PickAChew]

Just saw that you mentioned chinese hamsters - they're not so friendly, either. The best we've had have been male Russian Dwarves. Most are anyone's for a sunflower seed or piece of cucumber. The females can be rather feisty, though.

[jwww]

Nothing wrong with Russian hamsters at all unless you're getting from a bad breeder, robos are too fast for kids they're not handleable :)

[poisonedbypen]

The Russians we had were so lovely & friendly

[Thebookswereherfriends]

I got a rob from pets at home as I felt sorry for it - it was on their needs to be homed list. I had a quite large wire cage with a fairly deep bottom. Robbie had a lot of toys and climbing stuff and never tried to escape from the cage, but I had to put the cage in a large box to clean it out as I could never catch the damn thing. They are very fast! Not a pet for kids, but like pp said they are entertaining to watch.

[3amEternal]

Thanks all. Hmm not sure now...

[booellesmum]

Not had roborovski or Chinese.
Had nearly 30 Russians at one point - pet shop hadn't sexed properly! They are lovely but most of them fought and had to be separated. We have stuck with Syrians for the last 5/6 years as they are so much easier and better to handle.

[Ineverpromisedyouarosegarden]

We had a Syrian who died and then we got a Robo. They just aren't as much fun. You can't really tame them and they don't interact in the same way at all. I still find it quite noisy at night too.

We have ours in a converted Ikea detolf. Google ikea detolf hack to see.

[CharminglyGawky]

Russians are amazing and if you go to a proper breeder and not p@h then you won't get a hybrid. There is a national hamster club council thing which has a list of breeders if you contact them. I've always wanted a winter White Russian.

I was going to do that for my last hammy but saw there was a hamster show 20mins away that weekend and they sell hams there so we went there. It was a bit of an odd experience to be honest but I got the most amazing ham, no taming needed like you have to with pet shop hams as they simply aren't handled until they are sold whereas hams from good breeders are happy friendly little guys.

[PatMullins]

Not good for kids IMO, one of ours killed the other.

[Ineverpromisedyouarosegarden]

Ikea hack cage here

[jwww]

My Russian is from pets at home and she's lovely and social but I would recommend a male over a female as females come into heat once a week and can be a little grump on that day! Same as robos they're OK in groups but if they fight you'll need to delegate them as they will literally eat each other, which is bad another for an adult to see let alone a child!

I would get a large wire cage rather than a plastic one for ventilation reasons but also they really enjoy climbing on the bars. Just make sure it's suitable for dwarf hamsters.

[bruffin]

Our little robos, they were very cute.

[Fraggleyourock]

My goodness they're cute!!

[Fraggleyourock]

My goodness they're cute!!

[StarryIllusion]

Robos aren't much for cuddling. They are hilarious little clowns and will have you in stitches but they don't do sitting still and snuggling. More of one to watch than handle. Chinese are so friendly, they never bite. They are the ones who crawl up sleeves and into pockets. I've had two and never been bitten by either but they are painfully shy and take literally months to tame. A year isn't abnormal and they can actually be frightened to death so she would need to be very patient with touching. They won't stay in her room long though. Hamsters are noisy at night and I always hear parents talking about getting a hamster and putting it in their kids rooms and then within the first week they are downstairs because the kids are awake all night.

[StarryIllusion]

Also chinese are like syrians. Better off alone. They fight like crazy as adolescents.