Grooming Wipes?

[poeyswifey]

I usually give my 3 hamsters a bath every 2 weeks as recently I have found out mckenzie ( the oldest) has got flaky itchy skin. I was looking on the pets at home website and was looking at grooming wipes and just wanted know, would anyone use them?
Thanks

[KatiePillow]

Hamsters should not be bathed unless it's specifically recommended by a vet, for example if they need a medicated shampoo. Bathing them will reduce their fur of its natural chemicals and could lead to them getting a cold.
I wouldn't put anything on their fur, such as grooming wipes, since hamsters naturally clean themselves, so anything you put on their fur they'd potentially ingest, not to mention it's just not necessary.

[starbug]

I personally wouldn't use them. I wouldn't bath hamsters in water either, unless given special instructions by a vet, as they wouldn't bath in the wild. Instead, my ham has a sand bath, with Charlie Chinchilla sand in a plastic Chinese takeaway tray - this keeps the fur in good condition.

[sully]

I was wondering why you bathe them, i never have in all my years of having hamsters and thats a fair few!

[poeyswifey]

I bath them as mckenzie has dry skin so this helps and the other 2 cuz I dont want them feel left out. What do sand baths acctually do as I also like to bath them to make there fur soft n smell nice.

[BaileyandBeth]

Originally Posted by poeyswifey

I bath them as mckenzie has dry skin so this helps and the other 2 cuz I dont want them feel left out.

you really don't need to be bathing the other two, and I'm sure a few people will say the original hamster doesn't either. Bathing can leave for health problems to arise and I would only ever bathe under vets orders. You don't need to be bathing them, they won't 'feel left out' they're hamsters, and they probably hate being bathed.

[Mona's Humans]

Bathing is not good for hamsters unless as the others have said its recommended by a vet for a treatment of some kind. It could actually dry the skin out further, by stripping the skin and fur of the natural oils that keeps their skin in good condition.

Also the other 2 won't feel left out if they don't have a bath at all, jealousy is a human emotion, that hamsters are unlikely to feel, especially regarding bathing.

Sand bath's help hamsters to keep their fur soft and clean without stripping the oils, and hams also love them. They groom themselves, so i'd really advise stopping the bathing, giving access to a sand bath and then monitoring the dry skin. If it persists i would see a vet who will then advise whether bathing is the best course of action, but for that ham only.

Hope the skin issue clears up quickly

[KatiePillow]

Sand bathing is what they would do to clean themselves, the sand absorbs oils in their fur, what you're doing is removing the goodness from their fur. Please don't do it =/

You can buy chinchilla sand from the pet shop in newcastle town centre, for £1 for a fair amount of it. It's called 'chinchilla dust' but I compared it to definite chinchilla sand and it's fine. Give your hamsters a small dish of it, and they'll clean themselves.

[samzyzg]

They are desert animals so as far as i am aware (someone feel free to correct what i say if its wrong) it is good to keep their fur clean and so it doesnt become too oily. My syrian just seems to dig in the corners when i put him in the container with it.

[sully]

Originally Posted by KatiePillow

You can buy chinchilla sand from the pet shop in newcastle town centre, for £1 for a fair amount of it. .

Thats a real bargain, is this shop nationwide?