# Cage cleaning - products?



## SarahEden (Mar 5, 2013)

I was just curious as to what everyone uses to wash their cages with? Your methods, and how often?


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## Willieboo (Oct 22, 2012)

I spray our cage pans with diluted vinegar/water mixture and wipe them down, and change the fleece liners & absorbancy pads underneath once a week (I've got 2 rats in there, so once a week works out fine for me). Because our cage is on fleece liners with potty pads underneath (to absorb the pee), the pans don't really get smelly or peed on, but I like to clean them anyway for good measure, and if there ever was any smell, the vinegar gets rid of it lickety split. With the actual bars of the cage, I usually just wipe those down with baby wipes if I feel like they're getting gross, but they don't really get that way very often.

If your rats are on bedding, soaking/spraying the pan down with water&vinegar solution still is what I found to work the best for getting rid of any smell. I used to soak/spray our pans in the backyard with the hose. I've also soaked with Dawn dishsoap before when I had my rats on bedding as babes; it works well enough. I've never actually bought cage cleaning product from the pet store though because it is often overpriced. Vinegar is cheaper and lasts longer (and probably works better, too, haha), and I've always got some in the house. c:


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

I use unscented baby wipes to wipe down flat surfaces on a daily basis. For deeper cleanings, I mix water, dish soap, and vinegar. I clean the fleece/linings with a mix of dish soap, water, and vinegar as well.


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## anglethatispurple (Jan 3, 2013)

I use vinegar once a week to spray down the bars and levels after I vacuum all the dust off them. I leave the vinegar on there for 10 minutes to kill any germs then wipe off with a wet micro fibre. I wash all litter boxes, huts,toys, bottle and bowls with a dish wand with a squirt of dish washing liquid and rest vinegar. And i use fleece liners with towelling sewn underneath to absorb. I wash all their liners and hammocks, fabric stuff once a week in the machine with one scoop of eucalyptus washing powder and fill up the fabric softener compartment of my machine with vinegar for the final rinse. And halfway through the week usually Wednesday i change out the litter boxes with fresh breeders choice litter and vacuum surface dust off the fleece and wipe down a little uncovered shelf i have with vinegar. doesn't really get smell unless the littler doesn't get changed and I know when it needs to be changed because they start kicking it out of the boxes lol. I have three female rats and their cage is pretty big according to calculators can hold eleven rats.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Vinegar, water, baking soda! If something gets really grody, I'll break out the Dawn.


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## Jluckie (Feb 27, 2013)

I feel like i got a crap hand compared to all of you! lol I have to clean my boys cage every night, i wipe down all the levels with natures miracle and remove all there bedding. They poop on every single level of there cage that ive put in, and even in there baskets!! They are very very DIRTY! lol boys are such slobbs! Does anyone else have to clean this often?


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

I have three boys in an 8.6 cubic foot cage and I spot clean everyday by vacuuming up their fleece and looking over their plastic stuff, if it looks grubby I wipe it down with a wet wipe. I take the fleece and fabric accessories out on Sat, and wipe everything down with a vinegar, water and baking soda solution. I wash their litter pan out with dawn as well. They have craft foam under their fleece and I wash that with the same solution once per month. 

Their fleece and fabric accessories goes into a bin and after a month its enough for a load, I wash that with laundry powder I make that doesn't contain any chemicals. 

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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

I wish I had enough liners and accessories to last a month! I'm still working on building up supply to last two weeks! The bin is a great idea... I've just been using a trash bag so far. Silly me.

Jluckie, my boys are messy messy! It's just a matter of keeping up with them by picking up and wiping down a bit each day so that weekly/bi-weekly full cleans aren't as big of an ordeal.


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

cagedbirdsinging said:


> I wish I had enough liners and accessories to last a month! I'm still working on building up supply to last two weeks! The bin is a great idea... I've just been using a trash bag so far. Silly me.


I have tons and tons of fleece liners, since my cage is two, 15x30 levels 1 yard of fleece is enough for the entire cage. I just tuck the doubled layer under the foam and pin it in place. I don't fancy them up like you do. 

I spend a lot of time making cage accessories so they have a matching set for each of their liners. Today, for instsnce, I spent 4 hours sewing. 

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## HeatherElle (Aug 16, 2012)

I use towels and fleece liners. On the pans I use a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water, sometimes I add dish soap. I use unscented baby wipes on the bars. I clean once a week.


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## ratchet (Sep 27, 2012)

Does any one else have an issue with baby wipes leaving residue? I always have a white cotton film after wiping it down ):


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Has anyone used one of those little handheld cordless vacuums in their their cage? i have four girls in a prevue hendryx feisty ferret two on top and two on bottom (they can't get along) and one group eats like pigs. They crumble their lab blocks all over the fleece leave stray turds everywhere. they don't do it all in one area( like my other two) they crumble all over the cage. I used to take the dyson and vacuum it out and i figured they'd run and hide but nooo they like the vacuum especially rat sized hole that sucks up things. Drives me crazy! so i figured id get one of those little handheld things so i don't end up with a rat stuck in my vacuum. Just wondering if anyone has experience with these?

My clean girls get their fleece changed out once a week the dirty ones get it twice a week. I empty the litter pans three times a week. I wipe everything down with baby wipes and soak anything that needs it... Which is usually nothing. My girls have pans of water with stones in their cage at all times and i rinse that out with soap and water every day. They clean themselves in it so it can get a little yukky but they're way more clean now. I don't even have to wipe down their tails.  

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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

Lolll my rats like the vacuum too! Little weirdos.. I use vinegar and pour it generously with a dab of dish soap .... Leave it for a bit and then scrub it in... Then, to get the vinegar smell out, I wipe it down with alcohol. I'm going to try hydrogen peroxide in the future though, since its also kills viruses, and not just bacteria. Alcohol kills fungi and bacteria only i believe, and vinegar is mildly bactericidal....

Don't worry about your ratties drinking the alcohol- it dries and evaporates very quickly. 


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## trematode (Sep 8, 2012)

I use fleece on top of towels.

Old Superpet Cage:

Weekly: replace the towel in the tray. I sweep up the debris, slide the tray out, spray it down with heavy duty cleaner and hot water. I let it soak and then I rinse it well in the bathtub. Litter pan gets the same treatment.

Bi-weekly: ladders and/or levels get soaked and rinsed with the tray. Outside gets wiped down with a wet cloth.

As needed: I'll replace the fleece and towels on the levels. If I notice their accessories are grubby or smelly, I wash them with fish detergent or stick it in their laundry. The fleece on the levels may need to be done as often as twice weekly, bedding is every 2-3 days, hammocks are sometimes weekly and food dishes get put in the fish washer every couple of days. 

DFN

As needed: bedding and accessories get washed and replaced.Weekly: the level my two girls spend most of their time in doesn't have a liner. It gets swept out and wiped with vinegar and water weekly.

Bi-weekly: since the cage is so large, the fleece on the other levels don't smell. I replaced mine after two weeks, not because it was dirty, just because I thought I might as well replace it. The bottom level got swept and wiped with vinegar and water. This is likely going to change when I add two new girls.I have had the cage for 3 weeks approximately. I haven't wiped down the exterior yet.

The rest of the stuff is the same. Litter pan, bedding, ladders, accessories and bowls get done on the same schedule.


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## dr.zapp (Dec 24, 2012)

I have an all wire cage with a metal pan, I use rags on the shelves and Kaytee clean and cozy bedding on the bottom and a litter bowl. Litter is every other day, Bedding and rags are changed out 2x week and then whole cage gets sprayed down in the shower (just hot water) every Saturday. I have 2 boys that are very clean and litter trained, so it's not much of a job to clean up.


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

zurfaces said:


> Has anyone used one of those little handheld cordless vacuums in their their cage? i have four girls in a prevue hendryx feisty ferret two on top and two on bottom (they can't get along) and one group eats like pigs. They crumble their lab blocks all over the fleece leave stray turds everywhere. they don't do it all in one area( like my other two) they crumble all over the cage. I used to take the dyson and vacuum it out and i figured they'd run and hide but nooo they like the vacuum especially rat sized hole that sucks up things. Drives me crazy! so i figured id get one of those little handheld things so i don't end up with a rat stuck in my vacuum. Just wondering if anyone has experience with these?
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I use this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047W328Y/ref=oh_details_o01_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1, it's small to get into the small areas of the cage and has good suction power. Plus the filer and entire canister is washable. My boys like to play on it when I vacuum their cage.


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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

I've just tried tonight with vinegar and water after reading this thread and its worked amazing! 


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Ratfinx said:


> I've just tried tonight with vinegar and water after reading this thread and its worked amazing!
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Vinegar is a great cleaning agent. I use it for everything.

It can be used diluted or straight as well as combined with baking soda for an awesome chemical reaction and double odor/dirt blasting. You can make baking soda into a paste with some water to scrub the cage if something gets really nasty and then rinse it with vinegar. Or in a dirty litter pan, for instance, you can sprinkle baking soda in, pour vinegar on top and let it sit to fizz for a while before rinsing.

It's very versatile. Vinegar and baking soda can be used when washing fleece liners and accessories as well. Sprinkle baking powder in with the wash and add vinegar to a Downy ball or fabric softener dispenser to be released in the rinse cycle. It will smell vinegar-y when it comes out, but it will dissipate after it's dried.


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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

I'll defiantly try that for my hammocks next time I wash them, what I did was scrubbed the cage with water and vinegar then wiped over with a baby wipe left them to dry a bit wiped with another baby wipe and dried them with a towel, all the smell has gone instantly! 


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## Oncegoneinsane (Mar 7, 2013)

Soap water weekly


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## SarahEden (Mar 5, 2013)

I work for Molly Maid so I definitely know the cleaning powers of vinegar! That's what I ended up using on my cage and fabrics and it seemed to work, no more smell.


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## Booder81 (Mar 4, 2013)

I'm def going to try the water and vinegar. What kind of vinegar (distilled white vinegar?) and how much water to vinegar do you use? 50/50? My girls are in my family room so I'm always conscious of smell and always cleaning. As for the wash do you use regular detergent and then add how much vinegar to the fabric softener slot? Sorry for all the questions just want to do it right 


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## ScienceBoyfriendRatlets (Apr 3, 2013)

Don't have my ratlets yet, but the most effective thing I've found for cleaning my sugar glider cage is a hand-held steam cleaner with a brush attachment. Once a week, just give the whole thing a quick scrub with the steam cleaner and then wipe down with a soft cloth to remove the now soft and wipeable debris. A quick blast over the whole thing with the steam after wiping and it's fairly well sanitized, too. Baking soda paste works great on plastic to remove odours for plastic pans and shelves.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Booder81 said:


> I'm def going to try the water and vinegar. What kind of vinegar (distilled white vinegar?) and how much water to vinegar do you use? 50/50? My girls are in my family room so I'm always conscious of smell and always cleaning. As for the wash do you use regular detergent and then add how much vinegar to the fabric softener slot? Sorry for all the questions just want to do it right
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I usually just use distilled white. The amount really depends on the mess. You can use it straight or as diluted as you wish.

For washing, I use unscented detergent always and an equal sized scoop of baking soda. I put the same amount of vinegar in the fabric softener slot and/or Downy ball as you would your standard fabric softener. Be warned that the wash WILL come out smelling like vinegar, but it will go away after a run in the dryer.

There really isn't a right or wrong here!


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## graphite (Apr 6, 2011)

I use a mini shop vac (LIFESAVER!) to vacuum up loose litter and stray poops, then I take all the liners and hammocks and put them in the rat laundry hamper. Then I spray the pan with diluted simple green cleaner, and wipe with a paper towel. When I do a big cleaning, I put the rats on the bathroom floor and let them run around while I scrub the cage pan, litter boxes, and hidey houses in the tub with diluted bleach and dawn soap and rinse them off. I wash hammocks and bedding with unscented laundry detergent and dry with no dryer sheets or anything. My boys are officially litter box trained now (poop AND pee!) so I don't have to clean nearly as much as I used to! I'm so proud!!!


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## thelittleredladybug (Aug 8, 2011)

I use baby wipes for daily shelf clean up then vinegar/water for a weekly cage cleaning. 

UPDATED: Oh yes and the most important! My cage bedding-- I wash with free and clear detergent about once every week and a half then hang dry.


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## Laura (Apr 13, 2013)

for those of you that use baby wipes for your cages, consider making your own. I cut a roll of good quality paper towels in half with a serrated knife. Mix 1 cup water and 1 cup vinegar and a few drops of dish soap in a bowl and then pour it over the paper towels and store it in an air tight container. They work wonders and are much cheaper than buying baby wipes.


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## sara1991 (Apr 12, 2013)

I use an antimicrobial spay to give it all a good clean, change any hammocks/litter/bedding and wash the food/water bowls with washing up liquid and warm water once a week. Through the week i just remove any spoilt food or dirty bedding and wipe the plastic bits as and when it needs doing, im quite lucky then dont tend to poo in their beds.


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## socal_sarah (Mar 5, 2013)

As Garnet is still in her aquarium (because I believed the pet store staff), I've been using Lysol wipes to disinfect it & air drying it until the fumes are gone. I wash the towels & blankets in whatever normal detergent I use for us (Tide packs or liquid All Free & Clear, I think?), then dry without a dryer sheet.


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