Do Syrians need a sand bath?

[Charley101]

Riley loves his! The first he does after he wakes up and has a stretch is run to the sand bowl, dig and run around in circles rubbing his body against the side! He does use it as a loo tho but I dont mind in a way cos it stops him weeing all over the cage. I just sieve it everyday to refresh the sand and change it when needed

[racinghamster]

I might just give it a go and see if Boris takes to it. If he does`nt, then I will know not to bother with it again. I`ll speak to my pet shop supply man!

[shyimafadh]

i gave my syarian ( snowy) a sand bath and all it did was dig in it and after a while i saw its poop in the sand bath -.-" i guess she just use it as a toilet =.="
at least now all i have to do is have some of the sand in small plastic container for her potty..

[racinghamster]

In the end I did`nt bother buying sand. I don`t feel syrians appreciate it as much as the dwarf hamsters do. I treated him to a small fiddletsix bridge and a natural dangling wood and nut toy instead!

[Wolftrack]

I use it to clean longhaired syrians. Almost all syrians I got only dig in it.

Therefore I keep it in a good size box, and when I feel one of the longhaired needs a proper full grooming, rather than just the washy face with their paws, I put the syrian in the box let him dig for a few minutes, than I pour the sand gently on him, let him have a good shake, and then let him go back to his cage, where he grooms himself all over. The fur looks much better afterwards.

I would do this every few days depending on the hamster. Much better than combing.

[stellanova1]

All 3 of my syrians have a little dig in it but mainly use it as a potty
The dwarves do spend much more time in than the syrians do..

[racinghamster]

My Boris is a short haired golden syrian, but if I had a Chinese or a dwarf, I definately would use sand because I know the wee ones love it!

[Paigebabaa]

i've just bought my hamster some Charlie Chinchilla Sand after reading these posts; i work at pets at home, and we've never put sand baths in with our syrians, so i wasn't to sure! thanks for all the advice!

[GhostsInSnow]

Fudge loves hers. She'll have a little roll in it and if she's had kisses she'll go and rub her face in it. I'm wondering if it helps cool them too because when it was warmer, she'd have a run on her wheel and then go and flop down in her sand bath for a bit.
She also likes to sit in it whilst having a wash

[evel_lin]

Both of my syrians love their sand baths. It was the first thing Hamish investigated when I brought him home and put him in the cage