bathing

[FemaleCheetah]

Hey everyone, I dont know who all knows this but you can actually use chinchilla sand NOT the dust but the sand to bathe your little hammies. I bought a 5 pack of chinchilla sand and I put it in a small bowl for my dwarf hamsters and they love it and it also keeps them smelling better and looking better. It also makes their fur nice and soft and shiny. I only allow mine to bathe every couple of days but you can let them do it as much as you'd like. I dont leave the sand in there all day because it will be gone by the next day so I only leave it in there for about 30 mins so all of my hammies have a chance to bathe... oh yeah I have 7 dwarf hamsters in case anyone is wondering.

[cheekoandkeiko]

I've tried that...I figured my hammies would love it cause they seem to roll around in their cage a lot (they dig all the bedding out of one corner of their cage and roll around on the bare plastic floor) but they don't really use the sand. One of them keeps peeing in it. I try to sprinkle it on them and that seems to do job but it's just not as cute as seeing them do it themselves. Any tips on how to "teach" them to use the sand?

[FemaleCheetah]

Well when I first started to use the sand all of mine took to it right away. But my friend had to sprinkle the sand on them as well as put them in the sand so that they would know what to do after awhile they started to roll around in it. It could be possible that yours just wont learn how to use it. I guess with mine it was just instinct even though they have never seen sand before. But now whenever my female has a liter the parents show the babies how to roll around and clean themselves.

[KiTTyStiches]

aww that sounds so cute, i might just try that..