The Sand Bath

Good hamster owner that I am, I refrained from dipping them in soap and water and instead poured "hamster bathing sand" onto a new tray for them. They sniffed at it suspiciously and ventured a paw inside and then turned away. The previous day they even pissed in it. Hmmm - seems like they are just not interested in sand-bathing. My vision of 3 hamsters frolicking and rolling gleefully in desert sand crumbled. What went wrong? They don't like the lemony scent? Like me, they hate sand on their bodies? Or was it plain folly to place the tray too near that hole in the wall? Mimi was tugging at the plastic so forcefully that I feared her teeth would fall out. Her breathing became heavy and I finally had to cradle her in my arms to calm her down. As an extra treat she was allowed on my computer table so there she was snooping and sniffing and wondering what would happen if she leaps off the edge of the table.