wheel accident

Question
Dear Tammy,

Please can you give me some advice. This morning I checked on my two roborovskis as usual and found one of them crushed underneath her solid plastic wheel. They were both alive and well when I checked them the night before.

I followed all the advice I could find when buying a cage and made sure to get that specific type of wheel as they can get trapped in wire ones. Is this a common accident? I feel that I'm to blame for getting that type of wheel. I don't know exactly what happened and I don't know what to do with my remaining robo. Do I need to buy another one to keep her company? Should I get rid of the wheel and just exercise her in the ball?

Thank you,
Kate

Answer
Hi Kate,

i'm really sorry to hear about your loss.

Please dont blame yourself, i am sure it is nothing you have done.

When you mean crushed does that mean you could see that the body had been squashed?  Was there much room underneath the wheel between the floor?

I dont think it is possible for the hamster to become squashed - maybe they were fighting and the hamster was hurt? and crawled up beneath the wheel?

I am sorry i cant be much help but maybe you could higher the wheel a bit so the hamsters can get underneath it without touching it?

You can keep the other Robo on her own but she may get lonely so just keep an eye on her to make sure she is not pining.

If you do decide to get a new hamster to keep her company then make sure you introduce them in a clean cage with no toys just two piles of food (no dishes) and two water bottles.

If they do get on then you can slowly introduce new toys and two wheels and maybe eventually put all of the food in one place or one bowl.

Please keep me posted about what you decide to do.

Regards,

Tammy