The Little Adventures of Kitten's Pet Hamster

[iKitten]

Yes, Iâ??m that weird that Iâ??m going to make an entire journal for my very first pet!

General Info
Name: Remi [From Repo Men]
Age: Should be about 4 months
Gender: Male
Species: Roborovski Dwarf Hamster
Size: A little under 2 inches

If anyone has any advice for dwarf hamsters, please feel free to advise me or direct me to them.
Iâ??m still doing plenty research when I can on the Robo Dwarfs to take good care of him ^^​

 

[iKitten]

Log 1 - New Home(s)

â?ª Log 1 â?ª​

New Home(s)​

On the very day of my breakup, my (former) BF decided that heâ??d treat me to a pet to help me get my mind off of things. We still talk every so often, as weâ??re friends, so it wasnâ??t that awkward for us to go to the pet store together after emotional things. He got me the Robo Dwarf Hamster and everything that it needed (cage, bedding, food, etc). Over the span of a few days though, we had to go back and forth to switch cages twice. The first one had large clips to keep the cage together, but the bars around the clips were pulled apart just slightly further than the other bars.

The Robo Dwarf Hamster reaches about 2 inches at max and they basically donâ??t walk, they run. Needless to say, since he was able to escape (I caught him quickly but received a scratch for scaring him), we had to return that one and tried a second cage. That one failed as well, so we decided to get an aquarium, which meant we had to buy the wheel, water bottle, hiding house, and food bowl separately. Total, we spent about $90 tops, buying everything that the hamster needs for the next few months.

So far, Remi seems to be very active, though he does take lots of naps. Hamsters are nocturnal, but it appears that Remiâ??s broken out of the habit for the most part. He takes a few hours naps, wakes up for a few hours to eat, run freakishly fast on the wheel, explore, and then goes back to bed. Heâ??s learned where the water bottle is, but I donâ??t think heâ??s learned how to get at it at a better angle. Rather than go at it from the front, he â??sneaksâ? up to it from behind, gives the tip a few rapid licks, and then retreats back to â??safetyâ?, before repeating the process until heâ??s rehydrated. Surprisingly, heâ??s taken well to the multiple changes in environment/location and still has the urge to explore, explore, explore.

Heâ??s adorable to watch and Iâ??ve enjoyed watching him actively race around the room in his toy ball while I did homework for far more time than I probably should have spent watching him. Took some pictures to document him for fun, but since theyâ??re from my phone (convenient and no flash/sound to scare him), theyâ??re fuzzy.

Remi in the First Cage:

Remi in the Second Cage:

Remi in the Ball:

Remi in a Box:

Remi in the Tank:

 

[Vanity Evolved]

Yay, cute hamsters <3

 

[DareToDream]

Awww, he's so cute. A couple of things to keep in mind - keep a weight on whatever top you're using for the tank. Mine learned how to climb his water bottle and would push the top off his tank. I finally had to weight it down with a dictionary. Also, they love chewing on the cardboard tubes that come in toilet paper rolls. You can also cut down wrapping paper tubes.

 

[iKitten]

Log 2 - Log... Literally

â?ª Log 2 â?ª​

Log. . . Literally​

My sister came home with a chewable log/home for Remi~! Horray! Heâ??s appears to have taken to the thing rather well <3

And yes, he IS adorable! >w<

That is good advice, DTD O.O I have a lid and all, with a bottle of shampoo weighing it down. Heâ??s only 2 inches big though, if that, so he canâ??t reach beyond the water bottleâ??s â??neckâ?â??Iâ??m not too worried about him climbing out. Still, I think Iâ??ll put a bit more weight on top just for safe of mind >.>;

Remi in his Log:

 

[DareToDream]

Yea, always better to be safe than sorry. Mine was a terror though - I seriously think he was warped in the head a little. He would take his water bottle and bang it against the side of the cage constantly. Just to irritate me, I swear! And he bit hard when captured after his escape attempts. Oh, and the cardboard tubes are good because they use the shavings as part of their nest...which can help cut down on how much you have to put in his cage.

 

[iKitten]

Dâ??= My gosh! Was he a teddy and big? Sounds scary to hear at night.

Remiâ??s way too small to do that, since the water bottle is literally 5 times his size XD But yes, safe is the best way to go, especially since the neighbors keep feeding this stray cat around our apartment areaâ?¦ if Remi got loose, he might end up outside and eaten T_T

 

[DareToDream]

Lol - no, he was a normal sized hamster. He was just psychotic I think. Seriously, like totally looped in the head.

 

[iKitten]

Log 3 - Youtube'd

â?ª Log 3 â?ª​

Youtube'd​

Decided to play a bit with the crappy camera on my phone and recorded two mini clips of him o3o Gosh, I should do homework rather than waste time doing this D':

In the first clip, if you turn it up high enough, you'll hear viet music >.>;
In the second clip, my sister decides to start talking at the end D'=

Remi on Youtube:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRzbbNJVek0[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJj2o9K3Law[/youtube]

 

[iKitten]

Log 4 - Addiction?

â?ª Log 4 â?ª​

Addiction?​

Over the last few days, Iâ??ve noted that Remiâ??s been running on his wheel often. Read up that Robos, even the dwarf ones, can run up to 9 hours (25 miles or something) per night. . . so yeah, I guess it makes sense he needs to get his exercise in some way or form. However, Iâ??m worried that heâ??ll get sores on his feet or something, as he has done little else than run whenever heâ??s awake O_Oâ?? He does eat and drink in between small breaks, so Iâ??m wondering if heâ??s just addicted to his wheel.

Should I be concerned? D'=

 

[DareToDream]

Nope, don't be worried. It's normal. It's not like he has much else to do anyway. Just be glad he's doing it during the day and not at night. Those wheels make an awful racket in the dead of night (the metal ones at least).

 

[iKitten]

Log 5 - Tumble

â?ª Log 5 â?ª​

Tumble​

Not a whole lot has changed or happenedâ??then again, how much can happen with the little guy, yeah? I cleaned out his tank a few days ago, so I had to place him in his ball. While I had placed barriers around the area and closed the door, my sister left the room and ended up leaving the door wide open. I donâ??t know how it happened, but next thing I hear is a small â??thump thud thud thud thud thumpâ?.

D8

It was a scary moment indeed, and I nearly tripped running down the stairs to check if Remi was all right. Luckily enough, he was completely uninjured and was already trying to explore the new area that was the living room. Heâ??s really small, so it had been advised that a fall like that could have killed him through physical or heart attack means. . . luckily, it seems Remi is made of tougher stuff and survived like a war-hero.

Other than that, heâ??s been running, eating, drinking, and Iâ??m pretty sure he masturbates while heâ??s supposed to be â??sleepingâ?. Gosh, thatâ??s odd to think of, but he keeps licking that area, and calling up petsmart, they said that heâ??s just â??sensitizingâ? himself Dâ??= -Kitten is traumatized-

Plus, heâ??s getting just a tad bit better with my hand coming into the tank and more comfortable with me petting the underside of his chin and nose now. Heâ??s even left his wheel randomly to explore the new toilet paper tubes I place in ^-^ Iâ??m thinking about investing into a critter carrying cage that I can attach the plastic tubes to. Itâ??d be fun for him to wander and explore.

Sadly, no pics for this log, since my phoneâ??s dead~ next time, next time <3

 

[iKitten]

Log 6 - Woof Woof?

â?ª Log 6 â?ª​

Woof Woof?​

Well, I've been looking here and there for what I can and cannot feed him, so I've been experimenting with what he likes and whatnots. Remi appears to nibble a bit on the tiny bit of banana, but he seems to hate coconut. Strangely, he's a big fan of dog biscuits (the one I have for him has low sugar and focuses on fruits and vegetables).

Any time I leave a tiny crumb (I can't leave any more than half a fingernail size or it'll be too much for him), he instantly goes to find it wherever I buried it, and holds it in his mouth to wander around with. It never takes more than a few minutes before he starts chewing on it and finishing it off.

Who knows, maybe Remi likes to pretend he's a dog? >_>;

Either way, he's adorable. But I think he might be either gaining lots of muscles from all that fun on the wheel, or he's getting fat. I think it might be just fur, but I wouldn't be too surprise if he got fat and lazy. While Robos have lots of energy, he has no other hamster with him to compare himself to and so he might feel no need to exercise and keep himself as keen. Well, let's hope Remi doesn't fall down the evolutionary tree rather than climb up~ <3

 

[Trouble]

Aww... He's adorable! <3

I don't have a lot of experience with hamsters, personally. I've had mice, rats, and voles though, and most rodents have similar needs. Some foods that my rodents love are:

Fresh broccoli
Mashed potatoes (a little watered down)
Cheerios (I've never seen a rodent turn down cheerios)
Rice Krispies
Vanilla yogurt (Go for the organic kind with live-cultures in it; it's very healthy for rodents and they love it)
Apple (but not the seeds! Those are bad)
Carrots
Dog biscuits (It sounds like the ones he's already enjoying so much are perfect)
Popcorn (without butter and salt! Also great treats for birds)

Just avoid chocolate, avocado, raw potatoes, raw rhubarb (and leaves), garlic, onion, anything that's particularly strong tasting, really.

Another thing that's important to avoid with rodents is pine/cedar bedding. Both of these are excellent at absorbing odor, but are full of oils that are bad for tiny rodent lungs. Aspen shavings are much better.