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I would probably do pretty much the same as chesca suggested, one thing that may (or may not?) be different to syrians is that they can get a bit spooked if you try stroking them too soon, I've found that they quite quickly get comfortable with sitting on your hand & hardly notice being lifted a little, at that stage they seem to be fine if stroked but if you try to stroke them before they sit in your hand it can scare them.
I forgot to say about the sand, I've only ever used chinchilla sand so I don't know about play sand, the texture is different so it may not be so effective for coat & nails but really not sure.