u/Salt_Ad_5578

Or am I just paranoid?

Or am I just paranoid?

Inspo pics! I'm already aware the last pic has blue fish gravel which is almost certainly unsafe, unless I'm wrong? Also confused about the use of moss and leaves. Ik pinecones and sprays are safe and healthy though.

Hello lovelies! So I've been around robo hamsters before and my brother currently has an appropriate Syrian hamster cage (it's the bowfront one that's like 6 inches shy of UK minimum sizes. Idk how large it is but like it's pretty big, and I believe it's 20 inches wide by 20 inches high (again don't know the exact length). He uses safe materials, includes sprays, and feeds a varied diet. He has different toys and different stilts for his stuff, a properly sized, large wheel, water bottle and stand, etc. He keeps his lights dimmed and doesn't handle him after work (when he's covered in asphalt bc he works an asphalt and crack filling job) because he understands he has a sensitive respiratory system, etc. He's pretty knowledgeable and I'm so proud of how he's grown.

Personally, I've loosely followed Victoria Rachel on YouTube for a few years, I've inconsistently taken a look at care guides, watched the occasional video, etc. The other day I looked at the wiki that's linked and read through the entire thing, even clicked a lot of the other links that go into further detail. A lot of my questions have been answered by them and I'm feeling fairly confident. I wasn't sure what they really are or how to/how often to clean their cages, I didn't know how much sand they needed or what the right type was, and I was super confused about the flat stones thing. Looking at everything answered a lot of my questions.

Now you guys. My current questions:

I don't have a lot of space but I have an area of my room where a 32x16x16 inch cage would definitely fit. Would this be ok for a robo hamster? I found a lot of good cages, some even with stands, that I think look rad and would probably work, I just don't know if the size is ok. I understand they're not the most handleable and tbh, I think that'd be fine. I can imagine sitting next to the cage with the soft glow of a salt lamp and reading in my chair with my feet up on the footstool... That'd be sick.

Alternatively, I have a space under my TV (which I don't use very often at all, especially since I watch Disney Plus and netflix on my phone and my remote is out of commission) and between the foot of my bed, which could comfortably house a 40 inch long (or slightly longer), 20 inch wide and 20 inch tall enclosure on a stand. I just don't know how comfortable the hammy would be with being at the foot of my bed. Not that I expect anything bad to come of it, but... I can imagine I might accidentally kick the stand on a rare occasion at night and the hammy would be subjected to my dog's nightly routine of up and down and up and down off and on the bed and early morning barkies, being like literally only 3 feet away.

So which is the better option?

My other question is really the biggest issue I'm facing though. Where the heck can I even get a robo hamster not from a pet store? I checked Adopt a Pet, Pet Finder, Craigslist, hoobly, the only small animal rescues I could find in my state, Facebook hamster groups and ones specific to my state... Nobody has any. The only listing I could find was a red-eye-white hammy named Yeti with a snowflake emoji next to his name (So I was thinking probably robo?) but his species was not identified in the description (which was cute tho).

I mean, if I went with the 40 inch cage I could probs get a Syrian but not if I went with the smaller one. Tbh I'm not even sure it'd work for one.

But I'm looking for any rehomings, rescues, or breeders of robo hamsters! I'd prefer them bc I'm so scared I'd accidentally hurt one and I think the robos are just darling and I love how speedi they are! I might use the cup/mug method for handling but maybe I would just have it as a look-only. If I got a female I'd name her Tinkerbell, if it were a boy I'd probably name him some other male Disney/Pixar name!

Also, any info on whether or not my inspo pics are actually ok for hamsters is appreciated. I really like these ones and I wanted to make a multi-tiered area with a large sand bath area!

I'm rereading these books for an Nth time and felt like drawing a RainWing. I feel like I seriously suck at drawing and rendering them so I wasn't sure, but I mostly like how this one came out luckily. Based on the metal bismuth.

I wasn't sure if this was gonna be an oc or not but lowk I headcanon that this dragon is NB and now I wanna name them so bad but I'm even worse at naming them than I am at drawing/rendering. I considered naming them Bismuth for a while but idk.

Also I hate how RainWings are said to have long, snake-like necks and most people just give them a shorter neck, which I think takes away a LOT of potential character. They look kinda mysterious/creepy with a longer neck, I think, which aids the "deep, old-growth, possibly ancient rainforest" vibes. I also wanted there to be something possibly spider-like and very fairy-tale about this one's appearance. I hope I was able to capture that!

Oh also, this one has a little friend! Look closely to see it!

This is about anxiety, isolation, and duality between what you want and what you can actually expect from yourself... It's also just one suggestion of this piece. Some people have taken it very literally, others spiritually, and yet others just see isolation within it. Some see depression or other mental health conditions, and some even see "chaos vs calm."

What do you see? Which do you prefer and why?

Lastly, analyze my work! What did I do right, what did I get wrong, which techniques do you see?

At least, I think it's a "she." I'm located in Northern Michigan and I love these little jumpers. I also tried to feed her a gnat whilst I had her but she wanted nothing to do with it 😅

I only had her a few hours to look at and take pics of, and I offered her a drink and a snack. I put her back exactly where I found her.

Pic #5 is my absolute favorite but for some reason it's scrambling them so it's not the first one. At least 1 other person needs to appreciate it so pls look at it, she looks so darling 😭

Lurkers who are parents/older siblings/people considering getting a Robofish vs real fish, or are considering getting fish but maybe you don't think you're ready.... This is for you.

My little bro is autistic and I used to have one of these toys as a kid, so I figured I'd share with him some of the same joy that later got me into keeping actual fish, shrimp, and aquatic plants.

This is the 3.5 gal tank I set up for a toy fish- yes you heard that, a literal toy fish! No your eyes don't deceive you!

Anyways, the thing just arrived here about an hour ago and I had some one-on-one playtime with him for a bit before taking this video, but anyways... Dang, this thing really brought a lot of joy today! He's all excited to play with it again when I get home from work tomorrow!

Also, I'm so happy my live plants are holding up to the play and the toy. I glued them to individual stones and buried the stone, leaving all roots/rhizomes exposed ofc! Even so, I was a little worried how they'd hold up, but luckily this thing does NOT get fast or forceful enough to even slightly move things!

Just be mindful if you have kids that might actually grab the plants too, then I'd use fake ones! My lil brother wouldn't even dream of messing with the live plants!

So, I have a weird little project I could use some advice on. When I was a kid, I had this little toy fish in a little fishbowl. My 11 yr old brother is autistic, and I was told no more live fish or shrimp (I had 2 shrimp tanks, a 20 gal betta tank, and a 36 gal bowfront with literally just a bristlenose pleco). So I decided to buy a 3 gallon tank and set up a "toy" tank for a robo toy fish and share this experience with my little brother, who I know would ADORE this type of thing! I told him about my purchase earlier after dinner and he was so excited! I know I made the right choice!

However, I do want some real plants mixed with fake plants, and truthfully I made a same-day delivery order from PetSmart earlier this evening (so it will all be here tomorrow bc I did it late in the day), including a 3-pack of easy epiphytes. I've already had every type included before, too.

Also, my previous attempts to work with stem plants and floaters all failed, so I'm sticking largely to epiphytes for this project bc it's intended to be a fun, low-effort, cheap little thing.

However, I was sorta hoping I could find some other hardy, low-tech plants that can thrive off slight neglect, a low-tech lifestyle, and low ferts, maybe just root tabs every couple months, liquid ferts, or something?

And if anyone has any tips to keep floaters alive that's also greatly appreciated! I intend to get a corral for them this time so they're not getting regularly dunked this time around, hoping that makes all the difference!

Oh, and the tank I got is a "kit" that comes with the tank, some cheap LEDs, a fish net, a thermometer, a filter, even a betta leaf. Obviously things like the thermometer and betta leaf aren't going to be useful for me bc my fish is a literal robot, but it comes with the kit. I'm planning to use the filter to keep the water moving for the plants and out of curiosity to see how the robo fish handles the flow, etc.

Because I'm using the filter that it comes with, is it worth cycling the tank for the plants' benefit? How would I keep parameters stable without additional ammonia generated by fish waste?

Any tips, insight, or anything else is helpful, thanks!

Also yes, I bought stupid stuff I thought he might like to see, I was trying to combine our interests and sort of appeal to a kid's tastes lol. My own tanks were always 100% natural with rock, wood, natural or white sand, and expensive (mostly epiphytic) plants.

I also want to get a few more small ornaments for the bottom of the tank as well, and eventually I sorta plan to get an air stone in here bc I think that'd be kinda cool.

Also, "styling" tips for this absolute monstrosity of a "fish" tank is MUCH appreciated. I don't think I can bring myself to call it aquascape. I legit have no idea how to nicely blend these two styles together (toy + naturalistic) 🤣🤣🤣

Thanks a bunch guys!

So, I have a weird little project I could use some advice on. When I was a kid, I had this little toy fish in a little fishbowl. My 11 yr old brother is autistic, and I was told no more live fish or shrimp (I had 2 shrimp tanks, a 20 gal betta tank, and a 36 gal bowfront with literally just a bristlenose pleco). So I decided to buy a 3 gallon tank and set up a "toy" tank for a robo toy fish and share this experience with my little brother, who I know would ADORE this type of thing! I told him about my purchase earlier after dinner and he was so excited! I know I made the right choice!

However, I do want some real plants mixed with fake plants, and truthfully I made a same-day delivery order from PetSmart earlier this evening (so it will all be here tomorrow bc I did it late in the day), including a 3-pack of easy epiphytes. I've already had every type included before, too.

Also, my previous attempts to work with stem plants and floaters all failed, so I'm sticking largely to epiphytes for this project bc it's intended to be a fun, low-effort, cheap little thing.

However, I was sorta hoping I could find some other hardy, low-tech plants that can thrive off slight neglect, a low-tech lifestyle, and low ferts, maybe just root tabs every couple months, liquid ferts, or something?

And if anyone has any tips to keep floaters alive that's also greatly appreciated! I intend to get a corral for them this time so they're not getting regularly dunked this time around, hoping that makes all the difference!

Oh, and the tank I got is a "kit" that comes with the tank, some cheap LEDs, a fish net, a thermometer, a filter, even a betta leaf. Obviously things like the thermometer and betta leaf aren't going to be useful for me bc my fish is a literal robot, but it comes with the kit. I'm planning to use the filter to keep the water moving for the plants and out of curiosity to see how the robo fish handles the flow, etc.

Because I'm using the filter that it comes with, is it worth cycling the tank for the plants' benefit? How would I keep parameters stable without additional ammonia generated by fish waste?

Any tips, insight, or anything else is helpful, thanks!

Also yes, I bought stupid stuff I thought he might like to see, I was trying to combine our interests and sort of appeal to a kid's tastes lol. My own tanks were always 100% natural with rock, wood, natural or white sand, and expensive (mostly epiphytic) plants.

I also want to get a few more small ornaments for the bottom of the tank as well, and eventually I sorta plan to get an air stone in here bc I think that'd be kinda cool.

Also, "styling" tips for this absolute monstrosity of a "fish" tank is MUCH appreciated. I don't think I can bring myself to call it aquascape. I legit have no idea how to nicely blend these two styles together (toy + naturalistic) 🤣🤣🤣

Thanks a bunch guys!