Sand bath or potty spot?

[Elliebeck]

Hi there, we offer our new ham a little sand when we take him out into a play pen for enrichment. He's using it as a bathroom but also to roll in! The shelter told us not to leave sand in his enclosure because then they are basically rolling in poop, but I'd love to have a littler situation so I can find his pee easier! So do your hams have one and what do they use it for? Business or play?

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome. Actually I think that advice is incorrect - hamsters should have a sand bath in their cage Although some Syrians aren't that interested in them. You could actually give him a litter tray with sand in separately as well. If you put it in the right place they will often use that as a toilet. Although may toilet in the sand bath as well! That's ok - you just scoop out any wet patch or poops and add a bit more sand. Some people use a little sieve to do that. Their poops aren't really dirty or smelly anyway - they're like hard seeds - sometimes they eat some of their poops, which is normal as they have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients from their poops

 

[Tulsi]

I always cover at least half of the bottom of the cage in sand. My new syrian hamster, Kulfi certainly seems to like using some of it as a litter tray. I haven't seen him rolling in it yet. He also has a oval shaped glass dish in case he wants clean sand for sand baths.