Sand bath substrates

Emma · 03-18-2005, 04:46 AM

I was just wondering what people use in their hamster's sand/dust baths? At the moment mine have what was labelled chinchilla dust, but seemed not as fine and less dusty than other chinchilla dust. I've had trouble finding chinchilla sand locally, I know problems have been reported about dust being too dusty and causing respiratory problems.

Anyway thought it'd be a nice subject for a thread.....debate away!

ETA: oh, and what container do you use? Mine have large (500ml pasta sauce) jars on their sides. Alfie has had his all the time so far and seems to enjoy it and use it sensibly. The robos only get theirs when I let them play in the bathtub with masses of toys, 2-4 times a week. If I leave it in their cage permanently it is quickly emptied all over the place.

Emma x

amnerisryn · 03-18-2005, 06:26 AM

I use dust simply because it was the only thing available at the time at PETsMART and my local pet store didn't look all that um...sanitized? I've been wanting to switch over to sand so I've been keeping an eye out for it because Tinky doesn't quite know what to do with the dust and mainly will use it as a potty and poke his head out and look at me expectantly when he's through. Plus I worry about it getting in his eyes and/or his inhalation of it because it's so fine. Thanks to my pseudo-family contact at PETsMART I was told they're getting some Chinchilla bath sand in soon so I'll switch to it. Tinky uses a Super Pet Ceramic Bath House. When I clean his cage I'll put it in his little 'mobile home' (his transport cage) while I'm letting his cage air dry.

SnuggleHam · 03-18-2005, 07:05 AM

Iv not had any cases where my hamster or rodent developed respiratory problems due to chinchilla dust or powder simply because I use Chinchilla sand. When I heard hamster owners stressing to avoid using dust or powder I listened. It’s not something that I was the tamper with and have my little fuzz balls getting sick because I chose to be careless and not heed the warnings.

So its Chinchilla sand for my two Roborovskis, gerbil and Syrian. My Robo's have their sand bath in a small ceramic bowl, its all they really need and there is enough room in there for them to roll around if they like.

My gerbil and Syrian both have a shallow plastic cat food bowl that I fill with chinchilla dust. So they have enough room to dig and roll around in it. I don’t see the point in buying those silly ceramic dust bath houses. They look to confine like they would be hard to really roll in.

So yep I voted for Chinchilla Sand.

Emma · 03-18-2005, 09:27 AM

I forgot to vote

I put chinchilla dust, as that's what it's labelled as, but it seems more like chinchilla sand to me. V.confusing!

SnuggleHam · 03-18-2005, 09:48 AM

Here in the US we have both, they offer chinchilla sand and they also offer a product called chinchillas dust, they are not the same thing as far as I know.

Emma · 03-18-2005, 10:39 AM

I think this is a case of the pet shop just labelling it dust anyway. It isn't like the other chinchilla dust I've seen, which is more like, well, dust! This is grittier, like sand. It doesn't send up any dust when they wriggle in it.

Coco1 · 03-18-2005, 01:30 PM

Candace, how much does your Syrian use the dust bath? I know the dwarfs love the stuff but have had mixed opinions regarding the Syrians. I am going to try it with Nibbles at some point, I eat plenty of pasta and go through those pasta sauce jars like Emma does quite a bit so I'll most likely use one of those when I do!

SnuggleHam · 03-18-2005, 01:41 PM

I think that so far Gerald has just stepped in it and maybe dug around a bit. I know he’s been in it because of little hamster prints but I haven’t seen him roll in.

The dwarfs like it and dig in it and use it as a potty as well. But I haven’t actually seen them roll around, but then hams are nocturnal and I’m asleep. :P

The only one Iv seen roll in their sand bath is Orlando my gerbil. But all the same I like to add the sand bath, is something different for them. Incase they ever do want to roll in it its there..

Coco1 · 03-18-2005, 02:43 PM

Good to know. I will be adding one in time like I said so it will be fun to see what happens when the time comes! Thanks

**babyboos** · 03-18-2005, 04:05 PM

All of my hamsters have sand bath/potties in their enclosures, and the Syrians definitely all use theirs. It is so cute watching them wake up go for a scratch and a roll before coming to say hello. One of my new mum's has her sand in an empty mansize tissues box as this is high sided to stop the little ones getting in and the sand gets kept inside when she birls around. When the babies get near three weeks old they get a shallow dish in the corner of the enclosure and mum shows them how to use it, only they are not very coordinated and tend to roll out a lot looking confused

My dwarves have a constant supply of sand, and the larger groups have two baths. I would encourage everyone to have sand always available in the enclosure. Incidently for the Syrians I am mixing the sand with special small animal litter balls currently and they love it, and I have been keeping a close eye and none seem to want to pouch it thankfully. I use wooden pelleted cat litter in the corner of all my enclosures and this gives a nice firm surface for the baths/potties.

Please, please, please do NOT use chinchilla fine dust, clay, chalk or kaolin based litters in your baths/potties. I say bath/potties because they will use them for both, even if you do give them two! Square sided coffee jars are good as they don't roll around as easily as larger pasta jars, although I have used both as necessary.