Half the cage as a sand area?

RainbowBrite

RainbowBrite

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I have been watching a robo care channel and the person has a cage the same size as mine but she puts one half of the cage with sand. Her little robo seems very happy with this and the person believes this is due to a more natural robo environment.

I know robos love digging and making tunnels and this would mean less digging and tunnelling opportunity but more sand to play in.

What are all of your thoughts? Is half the cage full of sand better for a robo or is a large sand bath better?
 
I’ve seen set ups like that for robos before & it van work but personally I think it just limits everything else a bit too much, a large sand area is definitely beneficial but as you said they need plenty of opportunity for digging, burrowing & other things like foraging & exploring, you could put more in the sand area I guess to allow for foraging & a few hides or things to explore but I don’t really think half the cage is necessary.
Having said that I don’t have experinece with robos so maybe others with experience will think differently.
 
elusive said:
I’ve seen set ups like that for robos before & it van work but personally I think it just limits everything else a bit too much, a large sand area is definitely beneficial but as you said they need plenty of opportunity for digging, burrowing & other things like foraging & exploring, you could put more in the sand area I guess to allow for foraging & a few hides or things to explore but I don’t really think half the cage is necessary.
Having said that I don’t have experinece with robos so maybe others with experience will think differently.
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Thank you. I appreciate you sharing your opinion with me. I feel the same as you do but wanted to make sure a hamster I adopt would not be missing out.
 
I don't think it's necessary. In fact I saw elsewhere online, someone had a set up that was half sand and she was being criticized for it saying it reduced the benefits of the cage size and environment for the rest of the cage. Robos also like to tunnel in substrate. I would go with a sand bath. I don't think we can ever recreate native conditions and they benefit from cushy modern things for pets like soft substrate as well :)
 
Maz said:
I don't think it's necessary. In fact I saw elsewhere online, someone had a set up that was half sand and she was being criticized for it saying it reduced the benefits of the cage size and environment for the rest of the cage. Robos also like to tunnel in substrate. I would go with a sand bath. I don't think we can ever recreate native conditions and they benefit from cushy modern things for pets like soft substrate as well :)
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Thank you for your opinion. I will stick to a sand bath. :)
 
Another option could be to have a sectioned off sand area - even if it isn't half the cage. But a sand bath or box sounds easier as it does the sectioning off for you.
 
Maz said:
Another option could be to have a sectioned off sand area - even if it isn't half the cage. But a sand bath or box sounds easier as it does the sectioning off for you.
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Thank you. I would not have any idea how to section off an area safely. I am still waiting for the sand bath to arrive. It is due to be sent out 15 July so hopefully it will not be too long now. :)
 
I think your sand bath will be fine, if you section off part of the cage it still limits what else they can do in that area of the cage & I don’t think the sand needs to be all that deep so having a sand bath on a platform that can get underneath seems like the best option to me.
 
I'd need to read up on Robos in the wilds but wonder if they build habitats and tunnels in the sand. If they do then a half cage of sand wouldn't recreate anything natural because it wouldn't be deep enough. Unless you are talking of half a cage full of sand the depth of substrate?
I'd stick to a sandbath.
 
Beryl said:
I'd need to read up on Robos in the wilds but wonder if they build habitats and tunnels in the sand. If they do then a half cage of sand wouldn't recreate anything natural because it wouldn't be deep enough. Unless you are talking of half a cage full of sand the depth of substrate?
I'd stick to a sandbath.
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I would be frightened to use very deep sand in case they could not get out. Thank you for your opinion. I will stick to a sand bath. 🙂
 
I think there’s some confusion out there on the internet as there does seem to be the idea that a large sand area can somehow mimic the natural habitat which it can’t.
In the wild they would dig deep down into the ground which would be compacted sand & probably some kind of sandy soil below that so they can actually create burrows, they can’t do that in loose sand so all you can offer & all you really need is a fairly large area of sand that is deep enough to dig around in & clean themselves in.
 
elusive said:
I think there’s some confusion out there on the internet as there does seem to be the idea that a large sand area can somehow mimic the natural habitat which it can’t.
In the wild they would dig deep down into the ground which would be compacted sand & probably some kind of sandy soil below that so they can actually create burrows, they can’t do that in loose sand so all you can offer & all you really need is a fairly large area of sand that is deep enough to dig around in & clean themselves in.
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That is a good point. Thank you for sharing that.
 
Albert's sand bath has a lot of sand in it and is very deeply filled because he enjoys digging and it's good for his nails. But you can tell by the way the sand moves there is no way he could build a burrow.
 
I have a tray which I fill with sand that takes up a third of Ares cage. It has dowels attached to the bottom of it so I can have bedding underneath it. That way Ares still gets plenty of burrowing space. In fact the depth of the bedding under the tray is about 6-7 Inches. He gets the best of both this way. Maybe you could do something similar if you want a large sand area but don't want to compromise on burrowing space?
 
I think a large sand area can be nice because it allows for lots of digging and foraging (if you scatter food there), but I wouldn't go as large as half the cage. With a modest sized cage of about 80cm, I don't think that leaves enough burrowing space, and with a larger cage, I think it's just excessive to have that much sand. Robos are primarily burrowing creatures so I think deep bedding should be the priority.

I like Riven's idea of a sand tray on legs so they can still burrow underneath and this probably comes the closest to imitating their natural environment where they would have areas of sandy soil on the surface and compacted soil underneath for burrowing.
 
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