How should he be behaving in his sandbath?

[MeganAndMisty]

Hello everyone, how are you all? I hope you're all doing Ok I've had a lot of fun catching up on all of the threads.

This will probably sound really silly to you all but how should Bambi be acting in his sand? I don't know how to put it without sounding really stupid but I think he acts really weird... Previously I thought that he might be allergic to his sand since he had a bald patch but I took him to the vets and it was totally unrelated to his sand. When he's in his sand he looks like he bites his legs (not hard he doesn't leave marks or bleed) Is this just how he grooms himself? I've noticed my cats sometimes do this when they clean themselves so is it just the same for hamsters? Or should I take the sand back out of his cage? I'm sorry if this was hard to understand.

[Drago]

I have found that all my hamsters react differently to sand. Bambi is a Russian dwarf if I'm not mistaken? Dwarf hamsters tend to be much more interested in sand than Syrians and will roll all around. They will also dig about in it too as it is very natural for them. When he bites his legs, does he also groom overall? Personally, I'd think his leg biting is just normal grooming

[MeganAndMisty]

Originally Posted by Drago

I have found that all my hamsters react differently to sand. Bambi is a Russian dwarf if I'm not mistaken? Dwarf hamsters tend to be much more interested in sand than Syrians and will roll all around. They will also dig about in it too as it is very natural for them. When he bites his legs, does he also groom overall? Personally, I'd think his leg biting is just normal grooming

Yes Bambs is a Russian dwarf It does seem to be when he's grooming, I'm glad you said that you think that it's normal e does love to play in his sand. I was just worried about it irritating him.

[Drago]

Originally Posted by MeganAndMisty

Yes Bambs is a Russian dwarf It does seem to be when he's grooming, I'm glad you said that you think that it's normal e does love to play in his sand. I was just worried about it irritating him.

You'll definitely notice irritation via excessive scratching or flaky, dry looking skin. However, this is more rare in dwarf hamsters than in Syrians so I wouldn't be too concerned Hope he enjoys his sand bath!

[cypher]

It sounds like normal grooming to me too.