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AmityvilleHams · 04-05-2022, 04:50 PM

There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that many forms of toxic chemical waste and other harmful(whether short or long term) pollutants would NOT be simply removed at such a low temperature as 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

There's also no telling what composition the sand actually is, something that is even more harmful since you could potentially have clay content which can lead to serious life threatening digestive blockages if any sand were consumed. Using sand from the outdoors like the river sand is honestly setting yourself up for problems whether now or in the long term.

Your play sand is the safest option, far safer than river sand actually despite your understandable concerns. Perhaps you haven't processed it enough to remove more dust? It can be a bit of a challenge to get as much as possible out, but once it is done properly & thoroughly it is still the safest & most economical hamster sand option.

Anything dusty that gets in the lungs can be very harmful and even deadly though, after all humans nor animals should be inhaling dust. That's part of why dusty substrate for example is so dangerous, but even things like food dust could potentially cause problems if your hamster inhaled enough over time. You also shouldn't cut, drill, or otherwise do things to wood around pets either and it also should only be done with extremely good ventilation or outside - that also produces hazardous dust. Plastics produce fumes when cut, burnt, drilled, etc as well as potential dust too, and that obviously isn't going to be good for humans or animals either. There are lots of things that can be safe if handled & used properly, but that doesn't stop them from being dangerous under certain conditions. It's easy to get paranoid over that aspect of safety but ultimately if we completely banned ourselves from using things that are unsafe under specific conditions, handled certain ways, not processed certain ways, etc we'd have very little to actually use with hamsters despite how safe those things can be when used properly!

04-05-2022, 04:50 PM
AmityvilleHams PM Fluffy for custom title Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 4,545	Re: Have you looked into using River Sand? There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that many forms of toxic chemical waste and other harmful(whether short or long term) pollutants would NOT be simply removed at such a low temperature as 400 degrees Fahrenheit. There's also no telling what composition the sand actually is, something that is even more harmful since you could potentially have clay content which can lead to serious life threatening digestive blockages if any sand were consumed. Using sand from the outdoors like the river sand is honestly setting yourself up for problems whether now or in the long term. Your play sand is the safest option, far safer than river sand actually despite your understandable concerns. Perhaps you haven't processed it enough to remove more dust? It can be a bit of a challenge to get as much as possible out, but once it is done properly & thoroughly it is still the safest & most economical hamster sand option. Anything dusty that gets in the lungs can be very harmful and even deadly though, after all humans nor animals should be inhaling dust. That's part of why dusty substrate for example is so dangerous, but even things like food dust could potentially cause problems if your hamster inhaled enough over time. You also shouldn't cut, drill, or otherwise do things to wood around pets either and it also should only be done with extremely good ventilation or outside - that also produces hazardous dust. Plastics produce fumes when cut, burnt, drilled, etc as well as potential dust too, and that obviously isn't going to be good for humans or animals either. There are lots of things that can be safe if handled & used properly, but that doesn't stop them from being dangerous under certain conditions. It's easy to get paranoid over that aspect of safety but ultimately if we completely banned ourselves from using things that are unsafe under specific conditions, handled certain ways, not processed certain ways, etc we'd have very little to actually use with hamsters despite how safe those things can be when used properly!