Sand baths?

[KWsHamstery]

Have any of you ever used these? How do they work?
I have syrian hamsters, and I suffer from a palm sweating disorder so my hands are constantly sweating. So when I handle my hamsters a lot their fur gets greasy. And of course they eventually groom it all away, but I'm wondering if a sand bath could help?

[SinNyx]

Yes! I love sand baths! Well..my hamsters do

A sand bath could definitely help if they do get greasy fur, plus it has other advantages...my older male having been less active began to have overgrown nails and since having his sand bath back, his nails have shortened down now.
It's also great fun, some may only groom in them but others may dig more or roll ect...I would definitely get some

There are plenty of sands you can buy specially sold as hamster sand or chinchilla sand - but some members purchase children's play sand as it is cheaper and pretty much the same, although you will have to bake it as it may be a bit damp, and baking will also remove any hidden nasties.

You can put the sand in a variety of things...I have a cat bowl in one cage! You can buy special 'hamster potties' or even use a large cheap jar from a shop

[KWsHamstery]

Wow great! This is just what I was hoping for, thank you very much SinNyx!
How expensive is the sand? And the potties? I would love to get one tonight, so I am hoping they are cheap! If not I will have to wait until I get paid sadly.

[DrKMcK]

Hello KWHamstery. I have a good friend whose son had the same problem with his palms. I can definitely understand the difficulty. I have found that my dwarf hamsters love their sand bath and it keeps them really soft. None of my Syrians have liked it, except as a toilet. But some Syrians do like the sand and will happily roll about in it. I would offer the sand to your hammy daily, but not keep it in the cage. I find that it gets bedding knocked in and it becomes an expensive deal to keep the sand bath clean for the hammy. I use a plastic Chinese food carry out container for a sand bath for my dwarf hammies. You can also buy a Chinchilla ceramic sand bath. They're adorable and a good size for Syrian hamsters. I use the below shown sand bath and I get it from Amazon. Hope this is helpful.

[purple_x]

I use a glass cookie jar placed on its side, or a loaf baking tin (they are nice and deep) or an old tuppaware box to put sand in.
Anything that's quite deep with enough space for the hamster to roll around.

I use Charlie chinchilla sand but I'm not sure if you can get that in the US.
Just look for chinchilla sand, not dust

[Bec]

We also use chinchilla sand for Apollo, he loves it! When we got his cage, it came with a large potty and we used that as a sand bath! He rolls, digs and grooms in it! Sometimes has 40 winks in it too lol!

PS...you can see Apollo in my avatar pic in his sand bath!

[KWsHamstery]

DrKMcK- I am ordering the sand as we speak! Thank you so much for your affordable suggestion!
Purple x- I'm going to use a cookie jar on its side I believe, thank you bushel for this idea!
Bec- It looks like Apollo loves it! I'm hoping my little fur babies do too!

I'm entertaining the idea of keeping my sandy cookie jar in the play pin, so whoever I have out at the time can use it, and I won't need 10+ jars for each of them.
Does this seem like a good idea to all of you? I am enjoying all the very fast and helpful responses!

[basilthehammy]

That sounds good! You won't have to use to many and you save cage space and add another fun toy into the playpen!

[CreamSyrian]

The cookie jar idea is great, I also use one. I got mine from Asda (a UK shop) for only £1. Its really spacious even for a syrian and usually keeps the sand contained (no with Willow though, she just kicks it all out !).

[KWsHamstery]

Oh my gosh how sweet!
Well, my jars are not nearly as precious as yours, so I may have to purchase one more like that! Thank you for the photos