Good way to remove the sand from my sandperch?

[hlasdf]

I bought my sandperch a while ago when I still had Daisy. She'd perch on it occasionally and it helped keep some of her nails trimmed. But with Sunny, it doesn't seem to have the same effect. He prefers to pick the sand off the perch and eat it! He also seems to perch on it quite often, and I don't want it to damage his feet. So I'm looking to simply get rid of the sand - or as much of it as I can - and use it as a regular perch. I thought about just grinding it against the ground until it comes off, but I'm afraid I may accidentally make the perch too thin in some areas and possibly break off. Any ideas?