OK to wash and reuse peed sand?

[Oatmeal_Cupcake]

So Aria and Little Bear are both litter trained. They both use sand.

So I'm wondering, would it be safe to sanitize the peed sand and reuse it? Or is that something that can't really be sanitized? If you are able to do it, how do you go about sanitizing it correctly? Is there a how to guide or could someone explain it to me?

Thanks in advance! It's 3am for me so I'll have to check for replies when I wake up. Until then, have yourself a good day or night depending on your time zone! :)

[cypher]

I have no idea how you could do it but personally I wouldn't even try, just bin it & use fresh.

[Shannonmcn]

I guess you could, technically, but you would need some very fine sieves, drying pans and a hot oven and you'd probably still lose most of it down the sink and it wouldn't really be "sanitised" just rinsed. I resent paying so much for sand too sometimes but cleaning it is just waaaay too much work lol

[RubyDG]

I resent paying so much for sand too sometimes but cleaning it is just waaaay too much work lol

To be honest this is why I use children's playsand rather than Chinchilla Sand :). I can buy a 15kg bag for 2.99 and all I have to do is stick it in the oven for 30min. That way I can happily use a large amount, just throw everything in the litter tray away plus I don't even get through a quarter of a bag a month. I do acknowledge that the Chinchilla Sand is a better quality product though but sometimes you do have to compromise and the playsand has worked perfectly for me.

As for sanitizing that sand once used I would agree that there is no real practical way of doing that. A lot of people do sift out the used sand and still reuse the sand in the litter tray that's mostly clean though.

[Shannonmcn]

Play sand is definitely a better option but if I bring a 15kg bag of sand into the room that's already stuffed with 100lt of hemp, cardboard boxes and a Detolf that takes up a whole wall I'm going to get murdered! :lol:

[RubyDG]

I hide mine behind the couch :D. Hiding the 20kg bale of Fitch took some doing though!

[BrainGirl]

I hide mine behind the couch :D. Hiding the 20kg bale of Fitch took some doing though!

^LOL! Thanks for my first belly laugh of the day :D

Oatmeal_Cupcake, if you really can't find room for a small bag of sand, maybe you could split a bag with a friend or neighbour who gardens or needs sand for whatever reason! You can also buy smaller bags of the stuff in garden centres for potted plants. In fact, if you go to a building supply or garden centre (or wherever you buy play sand from) and ask them for any partial bags they probably have some that have broken open in shipping and will either give them to you or sell them really cheaply.

*as for washing sand, I actually have done it, but it's a lot of work. Basically, you put it in a tall bucket and add water. Swish it around and pour off the dirty water. Keep doing this and what you'll end up with is all the coarser, heavier grains of sand that sank to the bottom before you poured off the dust and whatever else ended up in the water column. Do it a few times and you'll have clean sand! Then bake it if you want to sanitize it ;)

[Oatmeal_Cupcake]

Thank you all very much. I don't mind the expenses for buying new sand. I've been tossing out the used sand for months now. Last night I just happened to wonder if i was being wasteful.

[BrainGirl]

If you're worried about waste, perhaps you can sprinkle it on your (or someone's) garden! The small amount of pee in it will provide some fertilizer but not so much as to burn the plant :)

[RubyDG]

I know absolutely nothing about gardening but I wonder if you could add it to a compost heap?

[cypher]

That's what I do, my hams contribute quite a lot to the compost heap, sand, substrate, uneaten food, chewed up cardboard...!

[Scarlett Empress]

I've wondered about washing sand too...but my latest line of thought is to chuck it on our gravel drive, it'll sink into the gravel.

My sister freaked out when I said I'd put some used bedding and substrate in my compost bin! "It's carnivore poo, you can't put carnivore poo in the compost bin!" Well I know Smokey has the odd bit of chicken but I wouldn't exactly call her a carnivore...

I'm reluctant to add sand to the compost bin though, as we have enough sandy soil in the garden as it is!

[Oatmeal_Cupcake]

Hmm, I use the sandtastik play sand. Not so sure how that would play out with a compost heap.

[BrainGirl]

For sure! If you're talking about your own then definitely, if a city heap there might be rules against it. Other types of pet waste might overwhelm a home compost heap and cause smell problems but in such small amounts it won't be:)

[Leila0420]

Where I live we aren't allowed to put animal substrate etc. into the council compost bins to avoid contamination. I think it should be fine in personal compost though...

[cypher]

Compost is about proportions really so I guess it depends what else you have to go in a personal heap, I have 3 bins on the go all the time & masses of garden waste so a little hamster stuff hardly gets noticed!

lol! @ Smokey being a carnivore, sounds scary! I'm sure a little bit of chicken waste wouldn't hurt but I guess you don't really want more sand if your soil is already sandy, mine is rock solid clay so a little sand helps but not much!

[Robodwarfs18]

Just wanted to say that I Iove the names of your hamsters!! Little bear and Aria, how adorable, seriously I'm in love with them :) xx

[DrKMcK]

I've wondered about washing sand too...but my latest line of thought is to chuck it on our gravel drive, it'll sink into the gravel.

My sister freaked out when I said I'd put some used bedding and substrate in my compost bin! "It's carnivore poo, you can't put carnivore poo in the compost bin!" Well I know Smokey has the odd bit of chicken but I wouldn't exactly call her a carnivore...

I'm reluctant to add sand to the compost bin though, as we have enough sandy soil in the garden as it is!

:D:D LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL :D:D All I could think of reading this was Bec's photo of Neptune with his mouth wide open in a yawn looking, for all the world, like a miniature fuzzy dinosaur! I just cracked up! :-)

I also use play sand. I need it for all my cactus plants besides the hams. So, I buy a 50 pound bag. Way cheaper than the chinchilla sand I use for Nutmeg. :rolleyes: I use the play sand more for digging fun, the chinchilla sand is for the hammy bathtubs. :-)

[Oatmeal_Cupcake]

Just wanted to say that I Iove the names of your hamsters!! Little bear and Aria, how adorable, seriously I'm in love with them :) xx

Thank you! All my pets share an instagram : https://instagram.com/oatmeal_cupcake/

[Lexieshamster]

If you sieve the sand a couple of times a week the peed on parts don't go through the sieve as they form clumps while still wet.

[DrKMcK]

That link is wonderful! I ador Little Bear's skirt. What a fancy little hammy. :-)

[Oatmeal_Cupcake]

That link is wonderful! I ador Little Bear's skirt. What a fancy little hammy. :-)

Thank you very much! Yes! His skirt has grown! I love it so much! :)