Can you give a Russian Dwarf hamster a dust bath? Are you supposed to give it one?

Question

I have one, and alot of people keep saying that they give their DWARF HAMSTERS dust baths once in a while. So i was like, ''Am i supposed to give mine a dust bath? Or are dust baths just considered a treat?''

Answer 1

Hamsters are naturally neat animals and immaculately groom themselves. They do not need bath in any way and the chinchilla sand is more for their fun to roll around with an added purpose of cleaning their fur. So a bath is not a necesscity at all, it is only a treat.

Also never use dust for hamster baths. Chinchilla sand should only be used for hamsters. Do not use chinchilla dust or any other dust as hamster's respiratory systems are sensitive and the dust can easily be inhaled and cause allergy.

Leave a one-inch deep ceramic dish filled with chinchilla sand in the hamster cage so that the hamster can roll on it whenever he feels like. Change the sand once a week and remove any p**p on it with the litter scooper once in two days.

Answer 2

i did

but i just had a certain place for where I put the dust

and then I gave it a real bath every now and then

Answer 3

Dust baths are a treat, and they love it. It's really cute to watch them roll around in and they get good mental stimulation from it. :)

Answer 4

Yes and yes. Dust baths are healthy and hamsters love them. You just give them access to a dust bath and they will "bathe" themselves.

I have dust baths contained in Ovo modules (my male hamsters kick the dust around a lot and make a mess...this solved the problem). You can buy ceramic dust bath houses at pet stores too though.

Pics of mine are in the link below.

Answer 5

You do not "give" them a bath with dust. Giving a dwarf hamster chinchilla dust does not involve a literal bath at all.

Hamsters come from deserts where there is no water. To clean themselves, they not only groom themselves, but their skin also produces an oil. This oil is heavy, but gets rid of all the dirt. On some hamsters, the oil builds up in their fur, and if left alone, causes hair loss. In order to get rid of the oily build up, you provide the hamster with a shallow dish of chinchilla dust. It will roll around in it, and the dust will collect the oils. Easy as that, just remember to replace dirty dust.

Now, I have had some hamsters that could not go a few days without looking like hedgehogs, for those hamsters I left dust in all the time. Other hamsters never seemed to need any dust, and kept themselves clean. So it depends on your hamster. I think this depends on the species, as well as genetics.

Edit: Oh yes, and like someone has said, do not use chnchilla -dust-, but chinchilla sand instead. Dust is finer and will upset their respiratory systems.