hey guys it's me Victoria and in today's
video I am going to be talking all about
sand baths for hamsters I get so many
questions about sand baths like what
type of sand do you use what do you
recommend can I leave it in the cage all
the time so today I'm gonna be answering
all of those questions for you so why do
hamsters need sand baths hamsters
actually cannot be bathed in water like
a dog or other animals can be because
when a hamster gets bathed with soap and
water it actually removes a lot of
the good oils in their coat and it can
wreck their coat so a good way to get
rid of any excess oils is to provide
them with a sand bath now when looking
for a sand bath for your hamster
something that you are going to want to
avoid is anything that is labeled dust
or powder you really need to avoid those
because they are very fine so they can
actually cause a respiratory infection
which is something you do not want to
experience. So now I'm going to be
talking about the different types of
sands that you can use for your hamster
the first option that you can use is
very heavy and let's see if I can get it
so the first option is children's play
sand from your local hardware store this
is a perfectly good option and this is
great for a lot of people who aren't
able to go into the pet store and get
sand this is also a lot cheaper option I
got this 55 pound bag of children's play
sand for $12 which is great because I
go through sand very fast because I have
three hamsters that use it. Some couple
of things to note about play sand is
that you are going to want to check to
see if it says if it's heat treated if
it says its heat treated then you don't
need to sanitize it unless you really
feel the need to but if it doesn't say
that its heat treated I do recommend
putting it on a baking tray and then
putting it in the oven you can bake it
at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20
minutes and
should get rid of any bacterias or
fungus is growing in it another thing is
that I recommend getting a sifter and
sifting through the children's play sand
a lot of people tend to say that it can
be too rough and it can wreck your
hamsters coat and skin which I have
never seen any evidence of I've never
seen a hamsters coat be wrecked from
children's play stand but just to be on
the safe side I do recommend sifting
through the play sand because children's
play sand it does tend to have thicker
pieces I think that's what you would
call it so it is a good idea to just
sift through it the next option is
reptile sand I got this from Amazon for
$22 for a 10 pound bag now when looking
at reptile sand there are a couple of
things you need to make sure the first
thing is that it's not dyed it needs to
be a 100% all natural and you
also want to make sure there are no
minerals or calcium added those things
can cause impaction which is actually
one of the reasons reptile owners don't
use calcium sand because it can harm
their reptiles so that goes for hamsters
as well I think the reptile sand can be
a really great option if you don't feel
like going through all of the work of
the play sand of course you do get less
but it is a lot softer and you don't
have to sift through it and the last
option of course is chinchilla bath sand
from your local pet store
now this isn't my favorite option one
for the price I paid $12 for about 700
grams of sand that is not a lot compared
to the other two options another reason
that I don't like this option is because
a lot of brands will say it's Chinchilla
bath scent and then it ends up being
super dusty like this kaytee chinchilla
bath sand while it does say it's 100%
volcanic Mountain pumice it is super
dusty and it's also obviously a much
different type of sand than the
children's play sand and the reptile
sand there also is a kind of a
controversial brand going on right now
and that is the tiny friends farm sand a
lot of people have said that the
formulas change and it has become a lot
dustier
so actually went ahead and emailed the
company so they did go ahead and email
me back and they did say that the
formula has not changed and that's the
type of material that they use is called
sepiolite mineral which is a
naturally occurring clay mineral so
there were a lot of people saying that
this sand actually clumps now but the
reason for that would be because the
type of material that they use actually
is very absorbent I even found that
someone has made a cat litter from this
clay mineral because it clumps so
that would be one of the reasons that it
clumps so because there isn't a lot of
information for hamsters when it comes
to which sand is safe there really is no
way to say whether or not this sand is
safe or not personally I would avoid it
because there are other better options
to use but just remember to use this at
your own risk
now when giving your hamsters a sand
bath you are gonna want to provide them
with a large container to bathe in I see
a lot of people often use these for
their sand baths these are much too tiny
for your hamster to properly bathe in
hamsters like to have a large sand dish
that they are able to dig in the corners
and do little flips and things it's also
recommended that in your sand baths you
put a hideout or something similar to
that so that they can go in the hideout
and dig and stuff so that they feel a
little bit safer to use the sand feel
free to keep your hamster sand bath in
their cage 24/7 it won't harm them the
only thing is you just need to make sure
you are scooping out any poop and pee
and other materials that get into the
sand bath which can be really easy if
you get yourself a little sifter which
you can just get from the dollar store
so hopefully this video has answered any
of your questions about sand I've just
gotten so many that I thought it would
be a good idea to just sit down and
answer them all so hopefully I have see
ya guys thank you for watching bye
