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Old 09-29-2020, 09:32 PM   #1
Ke1982
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 1
Smile Hello! I’m new to hamster care. Questions about sand baths?

Hello! Just to start my hamster is about 2 months old and her name is Hinoka.
I have the prevue 528 cage which is about 600 sq inches so it’s not too small. But I would like to get her a bigger cage but I’m having trouble finding anything right now. I want the ikea detolf but it’s been out of stock and I don’t know when it will be available again. I’ve never built anything myself and don’t have the tools or the money and space to buy and store tools. Anyways my question is about sand baths. I have a small sand bath in her cage, I don’t have room for a bigger one. She pees in it and I’m wondering how often I need to change it. She doesn’t poop or get anything else it in, just pees in it. I am using children’s play sand so it’s not too expensive to change every day but it seems a little excessive. I tried just taking out any clumps but they break apart and get mixed in the rest anyways. And it starts to smell very strong after a day. So far I tried changing it every 3 days but she has a strong order and I’m wondering if it’s from the sand bath? Should I change it every day or will she have a strong order anyways because she seems to be marking her cage.
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Old 10-05-2020, 12:51 PM   #2
Engel
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Location: Shropshire, UK
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Default Re: Hello! I’m new to hamster care. Questions about sand baths?

Hi and welcome to HC!

Where abouts in the world are you, I may be able to suggest better cages for you based on where you live.

As for sand, how deep is it? if its a shallow dish it wont do much. I also use a little sieve/ tea strainer to remove soiled sand.

What species of hamster is Hinoka?

With my Syrians I mixed in paper pelleted litter in with the sand to help lock away the odours. For my Syrian I sieve through the litter once every 3-4 days. if you do it more often than they may mark the area to make it smell like them again. The more you clean it the worse it gets. Now with my dwarf hamster I can leave his sand bath a week before sieving through it and he practically lives in his.

One more thing to know, female hamsters come on heat every 4 days, typically lasts 12hrs and it typically starts in the evening and ends at dawn. This makes them smell and secrete a slightly white discharge from her vulva which stinks! So it may be that you can smell.
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Old 10-05-2020, 09:42 PM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Hello! I’m new to hamster care. Questions about sand baths?

Hi & welcome to HC
I use a tea strainer to sieve the sand too, that works well & it doesn’t need cleaning often at all that way, you can sieve it daily if need be.
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