# How do you clean wood used in the cage?



## zieo92 (Jul 25, 2014)

I have a wooden ramp, level, ledge, and hut in my rats' cage but they've all gotten so dirty and I am trying to keep everything clean since one has a pretty bad respiratory infection. Is there a way to clean all the wood in a way that it's ok when they inevitable chew it?


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## PawsandClaws (Jul 22, 2014)

I just try very hard not to buy any wood toys etc for the cage seeing how urine absorbs into the wood and is then practically impossible to clean. We had a wooden hut (given to us) that got so soaked in urine that we HAD to wash it and it cracked when it dried so we just threw it away. You could probably wipe ramps and ledges with baby wipes or a sponge but in my experience, wood is a complete and utter nightmare to sanitize properly so I just avoid it like the plague. We had one of those rainbow wood nut nibbler puzzle toys and that got pretty gross so we tried washing it and all the colors leaked off of it. It dried okay but we will probably replace it with a new version that we would just wipe down with wipes instead of actually wash in a tub.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

If the wood is too soiled you should probably just throw it out. Wood absorbes urine and odors and is probably especially bad for your one with a URI to be living in. 


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## Jessiferatu (Apr 30, 2014)

I was going to say - you don't. I don't think there is a way to truly clean wood because it's porous. Probably better to just replace them with plastic/metal.


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## zieo92 (Jul 25, 2014)

Thanks for the input, I guess I'll have to get rid of it. Does anyone have a recommendation for getting plastic or metal? I know they'll chew whatever I put in there so I'm not sure if plastic would be too healthy.


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## Jessiferatu (Apr 30, 2014)

For ramps you probably want metal. Though, none of my cages have ramps and my rats do just fine climbing and jumping around. I have Critter Nation cages so the levels are plastic - but covered in fleece they don't get chewed too badly. Also, I have a few lava ledges and they are pretty great - they make a good perch and are safe for the ratties to chew. Just some ideas.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

Anything that is wooden in my cage I just usually throw out once it starts to smell. I do clean over it with a moist paper towel just to get rid of any stains, but that's about it.


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