Play sand

[r_k_chic47]

I know there were a couple of topics about this on the old forums, but I just want to get something clear. Everyone is so worried that if you let your hedgie play in sand, they will get it in unwanted places. True, but isn't that the exact same thing that would happen in the wild? And like someone else said, its like if you go to the beach, you get sand in every crevice of your body, but you take a shower and it all comes out. So if you give your hedgie a bath after he's done playing in the sand, it would come out too, wouldn't it? I've been wanting to let my hedgie dig in some sand. Does it HAVE to be expensive sand that you buy? or can it be natural sand from your yard (not dirt, but sand.)? because I have a LOT of nice, white sand on the land at my house.

[LizardGirl]

That is a good question! I don't have an exact answer, so I'll just wait around and see what the others have to say as well.

[Nancy]

I think sand would tend to dry their skin out but I'm sure they are in sand in the wild.

I would be concerned that sand from outdoors would have sand fleas or mites in it so I'd bake it in the oven before using it.

[r_k_chic47]

Bake it in the oven? Wow, I would have never thought of that! but that is a good idea - it would kill anything that may be living in it! How long should it bake for? I would think it wouldn't take too long but I've never tried it so I don't know.

[Reaper]

Out door sand as well as kiddie sand has tons of bacteria in it. If it were me I would put it in the oven for a couple of hours at 250-300 and then put it directly in the freezer for a couple of hours. The combination of high temp and low temp should kill anything you would need to worry about.

[r_k_chic47]

Wow, a couple of hours? Okay, I'll do that. Should I do this again after a certain amount of time?

[schlarmanm1]

You dont necasarly have to put it in the freezer after baking it for the reason that freezing will not kill all bacteria. It will slow the growth fo the bacteria how ever and kill most of it. I personaly would bake for about an hour at 350-400 this will kill everything.

[r_k_chic47]

Well I tried the sand once and will never do it again He wasn't really all that interested in digging in it, and it was so dusty that he was filthy when i took him out and i had to give him a good bath. But if your hedgehog is a digger, you can try it :P Mine, apparently, is not.

[LizardGirl]

I decided to just crush a whole bunch of cat/dog food and put it in a tub, put the mealies in that, and Inky can eat as much as he wants of anything, without getting sick! Of course, you'd have to replace the food often, but it works...

[r_k_chic47]

That sounds cool, but what if inky pees/poops on the food, and as he's running around he contaminates a lot of the food, and you dont know what's safe and what's not safe to eat anymore? Then you'd have a lot of wasted food