Children's play sand for digging??

[jess_jolie]

I have chin sand in my cages however I want to make a big digging box for Apollo as he's mad for digging. I was looking at children's play sand, and I know you can use it for hams, but just wanted to know if you had to do anything to the sand before you can use it?

[Angelhamster]

Pop it on the stove or in the oven to get the moisture out. There's a thread about the best type of sand to get and I think some people have made those suggested about preparing the sand there. It's in Housing (some time this month). Sorry, I do't know how to put a link in

[acapae]

This is what I do I stick it in a baking tray (or a bread tin if I can't find one, but big footprint is best) at a low heat for 20 mins or so. It goes all fine and silky smooth. Please remember that sand gets very hot when heated - don't touch it for at least an hour or so after it's come out of the oven.

[Rhino&Co]

Can it be microwaved to clean it - thanks

[acapae]

You're not cleaning it, rather evapourating all the water Play sand is moist so that it keeps it's shape - re. why when on a beach you use damp, claggy sand to build things rather than fine stuff that you can't mould at all.

Theoretically you could microwave it. But I'm not sure what you'd be able to put it in container-wise since metal is obviously out, it may stick to plastic and low/ wide glass dishes tend to be too big to stick in the microwave. Maybe something ceramic would work?

[sully]

What about pyrex glass bowls?

[MismatchedMongrel]

Originally Posted by sully

What about pyrex glass bowls?

Pyrex should work fine. I used a pyrex casserole dish in the oven without problems when i did my sand. I followed someone's instructions on hamster hideout. They baked theirs for 35-40 minutes on 450 degrees fahrenheit.
I also burned the fart out of my arm so be careful u.u.