6 replies to this topic

[dustyham]

Something I see said a lot is that robos aren’t good hamsters for first-time owners, or “beginners”. As someone who has a robo as my first hamster, this really annoys me! So this is my rant about roborovskis.    *I apologize for it’s length, and I seriously don’t expect anyone to read this whole thing*

 

Something lots of people like to support this statement with is the fact that roborovskis are a small species, growing to be only a couple inches long. I think this is a pointless fact, as the size of a hamster really has nothing to do with whether you can handle a species or not. Sure they may be able to escape easier than a syrian would, but all hamsters are different! For example my robo, while very speedy inside his enclosure, is quite tame outside of his enclosure during free-roam or interaction times. As long as you’re paying attention to your hamster, and not distracted with something else, you likely will not have to worry about them escaping a playpen or enclosed room.

 

Another point people make is them being fast! While robos are very speedy, I think that this makes them so much more entertaining! I love watching my hamster run around at lightning speeds! Once again we touch on the whole “escaping during free-roam” topic. As stated earlier, as long as you’re paying attention, them getting lost shouldn’t be an issue!

 

I’ve heard so many people say that syrian hamsters are the “perfect beginner hamster” but I definitely disagree.

*As mentioned before, my first and only hamster (so far) is a roborovski. Therefore I have no hands-on experience with syrians, or any other species. So lots of this is based off of other people’s stories and experiences.*

While syrians are large, and usually not very fast, they’re still not ideal “starter hamsters”. People like to brand them as “cuddly, friendly and non-aggressive hamsters” when this can be the exact opposite. Each hamster has its own personality and preferences, therefore there is no one-size-fits-all description of a species. Hamsters in general are not usually very cuddly, and some reject human interaction all together. I view hamsters as more of a “look don’t touch” kind of pet. (Obviously you can still handle your hamsters, and free-roam time is always nice, but if you expect your hamster to cuddle up with you like a dog, you will likely be disappointed.)

Syrian hamsters being larger can also have its downsides, especially when it comes to cage, and wheel size! A large, syrian hamster will need a much bigger wheel than a smaller, dwarf hamster to run comfortably. Let’s use a cage with 1000sq inches of floor space as an example here, if you take two cages of this size, and house in one a Syrian, and in one a dwarf, the Syrian being larger will view the cage as much smaller than it is, resulting in possible stress. Whereas the dwarf hamster only being a couple inches long, will see the cage as much bigger! Do you see what I’m getting at here? Does this make sense? I don’t know   
Syrians, especially females, have a reputation for being hard to please. Even in massive cages, with tons of enrichment, they can still be stressed/bored. This tends to be less of a problem in dwarf hamsters.

 

Another common saying used against robos for first-time owners is aggression.

While it is true that robos can be aggressive, so can any other species of hamster! (Including Syrians.) Aggression in hamsters usually stems from a bad previous experience with humans. As most of you probably know, pet stores source their animals from pet mills, which do not treat their animals well. So if your hamster came from a pet store, there is a high chance they could be aggressive. A well-bred robo should have a lovely temperament, as should any other well-bred hamster. Pet mills breed for quantity > quality, so no thought is put into temperament.

 

To wrap this all up, I 100% believe that if you want to have a robo for your first hamster, you should go for it! They’re not as difficult as people think. I was never actually planning on getting a robo, because of all of the bad things I’ve heard about them, but I ended up with one anyways! The bad things I heard could not have been more wrong. It’s all about your preferences in temperament + looks, and what you think you could handle!
Anyways, feel free to reply with your take on this subject. *If you read this to the end, thank you, but I don’t know how you did it, LOL!   *

- Dustyham   

[thatrobohammy]

Something I see said a lot is that robos aren’t good hamsters for first-time owners, or “beginners”. As someone who has a robo as my first hamster, this really annoys me! So this is my rant about roborovskis.    *I apologize for it’s length, and I seriously don’t expect anyone to read this whole thing*

 

Something lots of people like to support this statement with is the fact that roborovskis are a small species, growing to be only a couple inches long. I think this is a pointless fact, as the size of a hamster really has nothing to do with whether you can handle a species or not. Sure they may be able to escape easier than a syrian would, but all hamsters are different! For example my robo, while very speedy inside his enclosure, is quite tame outside of his enclosure during free-roam or interaction times. As long as you’re paying attention to your hamster, and not distracted with something else, you likely will not have to worry about them escaping a playpen or enclosed room.

 

Another point people make is them being fast! While robos are very speedy, I think that this makes them so much more entertaining! I love watching my hamster run around at lightning speeds! Once again we touch on the whole “escaping during free-roam” topic. As stated earlier, as long as you’re paying attention, them getting lost shouldn’t be an issue!

 

I’ve heard so many people say that syrian hamsters are the “perfect beginner hamster” but I definitely disagree.

*As mentioned before, my first and only hamster (so far) is a roborovski. Therefore I have no hands-on experience with syrians, or any other species. So lots of this is based off of other people’s stories and experiences.*

While syrians are large, and usually not very fast, they’re still not ideal “starter hamsters”. People like to brand them as “cuddly, friendly and non-aggressive hamsters” when this can be the exact opposite. Each hamster has its own personality and preferences, therefore there is no one-size-fits-all description of a species. Hamsters in general are not usually very cuddly, and some reject human interaction all together. I view hamsters as more of a “look don’t touch” kind of pet. (Obviously you can still handle your hamsters, and free-roam time is always nice, but if you expect your hamster to cuddle up with you like a dog, you will likely be disappointed.)

Syrian hamsters being larger can also have its downsides, especially when it comes to cage, and wheel size! A large, syrian hamster will need a much bigger wheel than a smaller, dwarf hamster to run comfortably. Let’s use a cage with 1000sq inches of floor space as an example here, if you take two cages of this size, and house in one a Syrian, and in one a dwarf, the Syrian being larger will view the cage as much smaller than it is, resulting in possible stress. Whereas the dwarf hamster only being a couple inches long, will see the cage as much bigger! Do you see what I’m getting at here? Does this make sense? I don’t know   
Syrians, especially females, have a reputation for being hard to please. Even in massive cages, with tons of enrichment, they can still be stressed/bored. This tends to be less of a problem in dwarf hamsters.

 

Another common saying used against robos for first-time owners is aggression.

While it is true that robos can be aggressive, so can any other species of hamster! (Including Syrians.) Aggression in hamsters usually stems from a bad previous experience with humans. As most of you probably know, pet stores source their animals from pet mills, which do not treat their animals well. So if your hamster came from a pet store, there is a high chance they could be aggressive. A well-bred robo should have a lovely temperament, as should any other well-bred hamster. Pet mills breed for quantity > quality, so no thought is put into temperament.

 

To wrap this all up, I 100% believe that if you want to have a robo for your first hamster, you should go for it! They’re not as difficult as people think. I was never actually planning on getting a robo, because of all of the bad things I’ve heard about them, but I ended up with one anyways! The bad things I heard could not have been more wrong. It’s all about your preferences in temperament + looks, and what you think you could handle!
Anyways, feel free to reply with your take on this subject. *If you read this to the end, thank you, but I don’t know how you did it, LOL!   *

- Dustyham   

 

I 100%  agree with you, I was not planning on getting a robo either but I took the risk and ended up with the sweetest little guy ever. I just believe that robos may not be the best for children. If you are a responsible adult/teen then I would say yeah go for it but if you are under 13 then I would not really recommend a robo.  

[daisy~]

I think it's more about expectations than difficulty really. Robos are very easy pets. Given the correct spacious setup they require very little maintenance. There's no reason a person shouldn't have one as their first hamster if it's a Robo they want. However if they're after a hamster they can handle and interact with, they're probably going to find a Robo challenging, because shyness and skittishness is a feature of the species.

The characterisation of Robos as "difficult" seems to be based on the fact that it's difficult to get one to act like the stereotypical friendly hamster. However it's like judging cats on their ability to fetch a stick. They're cats, fetching sticks doesn't really come naturally to them. That isn't to say there won't be the odd exception, but you will have a difficult time if you get a cat and want it to act like a dog.

[Lillias]

I've had multiples of each of the dwarf species, and hands-down I'd say robos are the hardest. I think they teleport. However, any hamster can be your first hamster if you do your research and accept that hamsters will be hamsters and robos will be robos.

 

Making a foldable solid-wall playpen that takes up the entire free space of my room was the best thing I ever did for the robos. One of them legit wanted to live feral under my bookcases and simply couldn't be trusted free-roaming. The playpen gave her space without trapping me in my room for hours while she ran around under all the furniture, taunting me from inaccessible places. She also refused to be held, but if I sat very still in the playpen, she'd climb over me eventually.

 

My robos had very little aggression. I'm sure there are aggressive robos out there, but it's not a trait I associate with the species. When it comes to "fight or flight" instinct, I think robos are more likely to choose flight.

 

Daisy, I can never get dogs to play fetch. It's either "If you wanted it, why did you throw it?" or "You threw it away; it's mine now."

[HamsterLover246]

I think robos can probably make amazing "beginner hamster", but the size can be a challenge. For example, it will be much harder for a young child, like 10 yo, to have a super fast and small hamster.
Im not saying no robos can be handled at all, i just think the size can make it harder to catch if it runs out of your hands, or to pick up in the enclosure.
Of course, if youve done research, I'm sure they can be amazing!
I just think that with younger children, or someone who really wants a hamster that is calm, and super easy to handle, it's important to say this often can't work. But that is the case with all breeds of hamsters.
Of course, expectations are the most important. If you expect your robo to be well tamed in a week, like most syrians from breeders, you are not going to be happy when you find out that is not. If you know its going to take a lot of time and effort, that's great!
I understand what people mean when they say syrians are beginner hamsters. I'm not saying that I agree, but the size makes it easier in my opinion. They also can be more calm, which I think can make things easier.

[HamsterLover246]

I do agree with you saying that hamsters are more pets to watch than to cuddle with. Hamsters are probably the animal i enjoy the most watching just running around in the enclosure 😂

[xanderxue]

To play devil's advocate for a moment, as many have alluded to or flat out stated, the reputation for Robos as bad beginners stems from the very true fact that they're just the least handleable from a pure activity perspective. And yes, there's individual-level factors, but while anything is possible, a lot of advice guides are generalizations that are meant to give prospective keepers the best likely fit, and if one is looking for a cuddly pocket pet, I would agree in steering them away from Robos.

 

Having said that, I definitely agree with the sentiment that this is odd as just a blanket statement. I largely agree that hamsters are kind of more of a look-and-see companion, perhaps one might say more for introverts, and in that regard, Robos are perhaps the BEST hamster given their insane activity (in retrospect, my son may have appreciated Robos more than the WWs I got). And if a child doesn't actually have interest in handling their small animal (but still really wants one to just observe), then Robos offer a guilt-free option (I think they absolutely do not mind being left alone, though perhaps that can be said about a lot of the animals we keep captive). Plus, I find them to be the most social, so you get the added benefit of more easily keeping multiples for even more visual entertainment.

 

Also, I have no idea where this reputation for aggression comes from. Back in my day (waving my fist in the air yelling at the kids to get off my lawn), Robos were viewed as the friendliest in terms of biting. And I'll say, my personal experience completely is consistent with this. Perhaps captive individuals have evolved to be more aggressive, which would be a shame, but at least back then, I had absolutely zero fear of getting bitten, and was not even remotely close to being bitten by one. As a result, I actually ended up handling my Robos the most. It was said Robos just didn't have the instinct to bite due to their small size and thus being a pointless defense, and instead they would always just try to find a way to escape and run. This behavior, if still intact, makes them excellent for children, and allows them to practice petting and taming to a further degree than any other hamster species (except perhaps the Chinese, I can't really comment as they are the one species with which I don't have any experience), under proper supervision of course. Even if they happen to be more bitey than previous generations, I'd imagine it's by far the least painful among hamster species. Additionally, the greater tolerance for handling mistakes (as far as giving painful bites is concerned), coupled with more difficulty overall to actually tame them, makes for a great lesson for kids. As for Syrians, while they may have a reputation for being more child friendly, I think the pet store variants are very hit and miss, they can perhaps be less consistent in behavior (i.e. moodier), and if they do happen to bite, it's potentially much more painful than any of the dwarf species (likely to break skin).

 

Personally, I'd still rank WWs as the best for kids, and as my topic on this subforum outlined, I don't think it's as impossible to find one as people would lead you to believe. Having said that, hybrids indeed exist, and mislabelings happen, so for those less familiar of the differences with Campbells, it can be perhaps a risk to try to get one. So if one doesn't want to take that chance, and handling is not a high priority, Robos would be my choice as best for kids, with Chinese being a good alternative if handling is more important (based on what I read at least, again, can't say from firsthand).