Sand Baths?

[CharlieHamHam]

Ever since I adopted Charlie last week I have been interested in getting him a sand bath. Now I just need some help finding sand...

My budget for sand is $5 and I would prefer that one bag would last at least two months. Any recommendations? I found hermit crab sand at a local pet shop and I am wondering if it is ok for hammies.

I have never used sand baths before on my previous hamster, so I don’t know how you would clean them... how do you guys clean yours, and how often? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!

[AmityvilleHams]

Do not use hermit crab sand, reptile sand, or anything similar. They're not considered truly safe, and some are very unsafe!

The cheapest option in the USA is to just go to Home Depot and buy a huge bag of children's play sand(should be just the natural version)and then bake it and sift it. For some perspective on how long this may last you, these bags tend to be at most $5 plus tax(can't remember exact price but it works out ridiculously cheap compared to anything you could buy in a pet store with questionable at best safety)and they're usually 50 pound bags, so if you manage to go through that in two months with just one hamster I'd be pretty shocked!

[CharlieHamHam]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Do not use hermit crab sand, reptile sand, or anything similar. They're not considered truly safe, and some are very unsafe!

The cheapest option in the USA is to just go to Home Depot and buy a huge bag of children's play sand(should be just the natural version)and then bake it and sift it. For some perspective on how long this may last you, these bags tend to be at most $5 plus tax(can't remember exact price but it works out ridiculously cheap compared to anything you could buy in a pet store with questionable at best safety)and they're usually 50 pound bags, so if you manage to go through that in two months with just one hamster I'd be pretty shocked!

I was wondering about children’s sand! When you say bake it, what does this mean? Thanks so much for the input! This was very helpful.

[AmityvilleHams]

You'd just put it in a baking sheet or some other oven safe baking dish, the usual recommended time and temperature is 350 F for about 15 minutes(but it should be easy enough to find more info on the forum with a quick search).

[CharlieHamHam]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

You'd just put it in a baking sheet or some other oven safe baking dish, the usual recommended time and temperature is 350 F for about 15 minutes(but it should be easy enough to find more info on the forum with a quick search).

Awesome! TYSM! This helped a lot.

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