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Post by aminalkrazy03 on Mar 22, 2004 18:04:16 GMT -8
What exactly is a sand bath ? What kind of dish/bowl is used? Do i reeeeeally need one?
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Post by butsam on Mar 23, 2004 4:40:10 GMT -8
A sand bath is the equivalent to a water bath for most people and animals. Gerbils are desert-climate animals, and use the sand to clean off the coats of their fur.
I have heard it recommended several times to get Chinchilla *sand* (not dust), and place it in a bowl in the cage for about 10 minutes at a time, once or twice a week. This gives them time to roll around in the sand, cleaning off their coats of fur. I notice a difference in the health of their coats after the bath as opposed to before the bath; for this reason, I think it should be done if at all possible. While I wouldn't say it is *necessary*, since they can live without it, I would definitely recommend giving them a sand bath.
It cost me about $6 or so if I remember right for quite a bit of sand and a bowl. You need only add a bit of sand at a time, and since the sand is more expensive than the other bedding, that is why I only leave it in the cage for 10 minutes at a time and remove the bowl. This means the same sand can be used a few different times before it becomes dirty, which further saves on money. I have gone through only one out of 6 sand packets that I got, and I have had my gerbils for 1 1/2 months. ..and part of it was that I wasn't sure how much sand to put in the bowl the first time, and added more than I needed. You need only add about 1 cm (~1/3 inch) in depth of sand for them to roll around in sufficiently.
Sam
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Post by andrea on Mar 23, 2004 4:51:31 GMT -8
I agree Sam. I always put our in a show tank of sand so they can have a good roll in it while I am cleaning their main cages out - so this means they get a sand bath once a week.
If you are in the UK, chincilla sand is about £4.50 for 1kg from petsmart and £3.69 for a 1kg from Jolleys.
Andrea
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Post by Manix on Mar 23, 2004 7:00:09 GMT -8
I reccommend finding something they can't kick the sand out of. My girl Cleo LOVES sand but gets so excited she kicks it all out before she can do anything worth while. Rin, on the other hand, doesn't seem to like it.
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Post by andrea on Mar 23, 2004 7:08:15 GMT -8
;D Ours do that too. The cheesmans think its funny to kick it in your face!!.. I made the mistake of putting them in sand in a tank on the way home from collecting them and they kicked it everywhere in my car.
I have a chinchilla sanded car!! LOL
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Mar 23, 2004 8:42:51 GMT -8
Here one of my sandbaths: It is indeed not necessary but in the wild they take also sand baths and it is good for their fur! This way they keep their fur clean and fat-free, what is necessary to have a fur that isolates well. Besides, it is also amusing to see how the gerbils roll in the sand during their bath in my opinion. And my gerbils use their sand bath as a toilet! This way I have to clean their sand bath every 1-2 days and not that often the whole cage. The sand I use is bird sand! It is not as expensive as chinchilla sand and the fur of Mongolian gerbils (and most others) is not as fragile as that of chinchillas! They eat also from the pieces of shells and aniseeds with is in it. If you don't want to have the pieces of shells in the sand, you can also sift it!
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Post by andrea on Mar 24, 2004 5:24:42 GMT -8
The cheesmans need a sand bath everyday they seem to have much oiler coats than their mongolians cousins.. although they are useless at bathing themselves so I have to put it on their backs and stroke it in, they don't even shake so they run around with chin sand on themselves LOL ..
What kind of bird sand is that I have never seem bird sand so fine?.
Andrea
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Mar 24, 2004 6:32:51 GMT -8
I don't know the brand by head, but I will look at home! It is very fine (except the very small pieces of shell)! We in the Netherlands call it shell sand (letterly translated). I thought all bird sand was fine?
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Post by veronic on Jul 18, 2004 13:32:57 GMT -8
Still no gerbils yet but starting to get bits and pieces for them! What size dish should the sand bath be? like a cereal/icecream bowl?, like a cat's food dish? bigger?
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Post by lizzy on Jul 18, 2004 13:45:26 GMT -8
Sand baths also encourage gerbils to groom, which can be especially beneficial to solitary gerbils.
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Post by darrenb on Jul 18, 2004 13:46:34 GMT -8
a cat food bowl is qite a nice size, depends on how fat/slim your gerb is..
we put our bushy tailed jirds in a sand bath in a show tank and they make snake markings in it like desert snakes with there tails ;D
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Post by queenofthenile on Jul 19, 2004 0:16:05 GMT -8
I use a small soup bowl (child-sized) with low sides. They kick all of the sand out eventually, however. It was the only small, porcelain dish I own.
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Jul 19, 2004 3:04:35 GMT -8
You can see the sand bowl I use in the picture in a previously post of me! The one with the black gerbil in it!
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Post by sweetie on Jul 19, 2004 19:19:14 GMT -8
Oh boy am I glad I found this place!! I have gotten a little bowl which is great for the sand bath. It is enclosed all the way around and on the top with a whole in the side. When I figure out how to use the digital with this computer I'll get a picture on here. It is great at keeping the "sand" inside. I tried bird sand but it was too coarse and they did not use it. I then found chinchilla dust. I have not found chincilla sand. Is the dust not good for them? Does it harm them? Hey I Finally figured out how to post a picture. Thanks J!! ;D This is the picture of my sand bath dish. img.photobucket.com/albums/v449/Sweetie4/100_0189.jpg[/img]
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Post by j on Jul 20, 2004 0:08:13 GMT -8
I think it's better to use some kind of high container for a sand bath. A bowl they'll just kick it out of and waste it. I hated cleaning sand out of glass, would stick to the sides, couldn't get it all out..was just a pain.
I used to have a small plastic cage connected by tubes filled with sand. They used it as a bathroom. ;D
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