Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of roborovski hamsters. Although I understand that they are not supposed to be bathed with animal shampoo, their fur coat are not in proper condition. Their fur coat always in oily condition where they are not fluffy as they should be. Grooming themselves doesn't help. The only solution is to bathe them in sand where the sand helps to absorb their natural oil and keeps their fur fluffy and clean. Hence, I'm wondering whether they can be kept in sand (as bedding) since their natural habitat is in desert, to maintain the cleanliness and fluffiness of their fur.

Dont use sand as their only bedding . With mine I put a small shallow dish in the cage with chinchilla sand in for them to roll in. I find that cucumber makes their fur greasy so if your feeding them cucumber try limiting it a bit more.

hope this helps

Jane

Thanks for the information. I already make an observation. They really like the sand bath, but then too long hours in the aquarium filled with the bath sand, they seem like a little irritated. Their eyes half closed and they drank a lot of water. I think the atmosphere in there is too dry for them.