Serendipity has made some great suggestions
. If you're on a tight budget though your cheapest option is children's play sand like Cypher said. I use this for my Syrian Spike because he loves his big litter tray and filling that thing with Chinchilla sand would bankrupt me
. You don't have to use a baking tray specifically (although you can
) but just a large oven proof dish works fine too (I use a pyrex one meant for lasagne). Stick it in the oven on high for 30 min, at the 15 min mark give the sand a good swish around with a wooden spoon. Obviously set it out to cool before using
. Be careful, hot sand burns like nothing else!!
The Fitch was a good buy since you're on a budget! Mine lasted a year with me cleaning out my 100cm cage every 2 months so it's extremely cost effective in the long run. At least now you won't need to worry about buying substrate again for ages, which means you have more to spend on Freddy each month
,