Why bake play sand?

[Stella Maris]

I've seen several places where one is advised to bake play sand to sterilize it, but haven't found why.
When I was visiting California, I couldn't find chinchilla sand in the local pet stores, but I was at the beach, so I washed some (West Coast sand isn't calcium based), baked it, and served it with a sprig of parsley. (Only kidding about the parsley.)
So my question is, if play sand is sold for toddlers to play in (and yes, they do put it or their dirty hands in their mouths), why does it need to be sterilized for hamsters? Does play sand have something bad in it that's not found in the ordinary sand that wild hamsters dig?
I assume this query has been answered somewhere, but I couldn't find it. Thanks!

[AmityvilleHams]

Beach sand is not an acceptable choice no matter where you live. There is a high risk of contamination that makes it a dangerous at best choice no matter what you do to it.

Play sand has to be baked, rinsed, and sifted without a single step of that process being left out for some very good reasons. One reason is to remove any potential dust, another being to remove any debris, and yet another reason being that even in sealed packaging all sorts of insects can easily get into any and all packaging so those would need to be killed and removed.

Wild insects of any kind are a very big problem. They're not safe to be consumed - they're not raised for safe consumption and can easily be contaminated with harmful pesticides and as such should not be consumed by any pet whether intentionally or unintentionally.

[cypher]

As far as I know good quality play sand should be safe it's just that it's usually damp & baking is to dry itt out.

[Ria P]

Surely play sand must be free of debris, insects and pesticides!

What is suitable for a small, vulnerable child must be safe for a hamster i would have thought.

It can't be damp of course when used for a hamster.

It's the possible salt residue from the sea that would worry me about beach sand even when baked and sieved.

[AmityvilleHams]

Not really Ria P. I wish it worked that way, but it's just not the case! Insects get into everything - sand packaging is no match for ants etc.

Hamsters are also a lot more delicate than even children. There are also loads of things which would be perfectly safe for children but would be quite harmful to hamsters - think onions, garlic, chocolate, etc. Safe for humans/children along with non-toxic does not mean 100% hamster safe unfortunately, especially when you consider how much smaller hamsters are!

[cypher]

I really wouldn't over complicate things & worry about sand it's really not an issue we need to worry about, just dry it & that's fine.

[Ithuviel]

Thanks for all the answers. I also had this question. I did notice that the playsand that i found in my country was damp and colored yellow.

Is that coloring dangerous?

[cypher]

I'm pretty sure the yellow/orange colour of the sand available here is just the natural colour, I'd think it would be the same there but you could check for any additives to be on the safe side.

[AmityvilleHams]

If the sand is dyed yellow that would be a problem. It could cause stained fur for example.

I'd have to say though that rinsing, sifting, and still baking does not over complicate things. Baking is not just done to dry the sand out either. It makes things safer - you reduce dust levels, remove harmful contaminants, and physically remove dead and/or living insects. Baking alone does not do any of those things, hence not being enough on its own despite being great for drying.

[Vierville]

All I know is that preparing your own baked playpen sand works out FAR FAR FAR cheaper than buying sand at the pet store.

I add and mix in a quarter teaspoon of food grade diatomaceous earth to the sand when I put it into their sandboxes.