# how often do you clean cages?



## Love My Rats (Sep 3, 2015)

I was cleaning every 5 days but now I'am going to every 4 days , Snowball and Mickeys cage are right next to Summers and Breezys cage and now Snowball and Mickey have URI , I went to the vet and started them on meds Friday, now Summer and Breezy have it so I will be calling the vet tomorrow and pic up more meds for them seems like every time I turn around they have this , I always spot clean between a deep cleaning using unsented baby wipes any suggestions here maybe someone else has a better plan


----------



## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

It depends on how many rats you have, what the cage is and how good they are with potty habits.

Daily-i clean water bowls, any fleece/beds that got dirty. I use those cutting board protectors under food and water bowls and just in front of litter boxes. I replace those daily and clean them at my leisure. Any fresh food bowls get cleaned daily

Weekly-dry food bowl is cleaned a couple times weekly. Fleece if it didn't get changed yet, weekly. litter boxes, toys, levels ect. 

I only take the whole thing apart and clean everything on the same day once in awhile because it makes everyone upset for things to get over cleaned. Probably once a month or two for that. The only reason I do that at all is there is always little crevices and such between bars that need that extra cleaning I can't really do if there is anything still in the cage.


----------



## Love My Rats (Sep 3, 2015)

I have 2 large cages one is a criiter nation cage and the other is a Living World cage , they look exactly the same they are double units and my 2 older girls are in one and the 2 younger dumbo girls are in the other , I change their water every day and clean their food bowl every day and give fresh food , Harlan Teklan Lab Blocks and a mix of cheerio's Rice chex , wheat chex , oatmeal , some banana chips, pasta , and total , this time I bought organic cheerios and organic bran flakes I also mixed in a little Reggie Rat food in their mix and they get fruits and veggies on a daily basis , I would go back to paper bedding but I feel safer using the fleece , Snowball my oldest rat came down with mites from paper bedding , I also use yesterdays news in their litter pans


----------



## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

Just some possible guesses, if the fleece you use isn't being disinfected, that might have something to do with it, especially if they don't have litter boxes. I'm leery of using the baby wipes because I don't know if there is something in them that might irritate the girls.

Somethings you might try:

Get purified water for them to drink.
Chocolate is supposed to help with URIs. I give mine bitter sweet or dark chocolate. Not in excessive amounts. 
Maybe keep an air purifier next to their cages. There could be something in the air in your home, especially if you have carpet. Carpet tends to hold a lot of dust and germs and difficult to clean. Yuck! 
What kind of cleaners do you use? Do you use air fresheners, candles, etc? 
You might be using a personal hygiene product that irritates them. Cologne, deodorant, hair spray, etc.


----------



## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

There definitely isn't a one size fits all for when to clean. As mimsy said it really will depend on so many factors. I would think 2 rats in a DCN, needing to clean it every 4 days is a bit much. 

IMO it should be cleaned before it has a chance to smell or need to be cleaned. So wait and when you clean the cage mark the day then wait...when you notice the cage getting dingy or a smell you know to clean a day before then.

I clean my cages once-twice a week depending on the cage. 

I have been talking to some other rat owners about fleece, it really has to be used correctly to work and if not it seems like it might be worse. You might want to consider changing their bedding. Or working with the fleece a bit better to make sure u r using it right. It should wick away moisture and u need something absorbent underneath. 

I'd also work on litterbox training, it may never be 100% but every little bit will help.

Also I'd think about environmental stuff like what type of detergent are you using on the fleece, I suggest scent free & sensitive formula like for babies. Do you smoke? Do you light candles or incense or have airfresheners in the same room?


----------



## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

moonkissed said:


> fleece, it really has to be used correctly to work and if not it seems like it might be worse. You might want to consider changing their bedding. Or working with the fleece a bit better to make sure u r using it right. It should wick away moisture and u need something absorbent underneath.


What is the proper way to use fleece? 

This is what I do. Let me know if should be something different.

I put puppy pads on the shelf first. Then I secure the fleece around the shelf so with no loose ends. They would really have to work to get it up. They don't seem interested in pulling/ chewing it since I started securing it better. 

Lucky for me, they all seem to prefer what I call the basement of the cage to pee/poo. That area I just keep lined with puppy pads. I take out the bottom tray and clean it every couple of days. They do use their boxes, mostly! It's difficult to get to their preferred areas to further litter box train them. But I expect that to improve greatly once the DCN arrives next week.

I'm SOOOO excited to get that DCN! I hope the girls like it as much as I'm pretty sure I'm going to.


----------



## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

> What is the proper way to use fleece?


This is a good thread on how to use fleece
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/21568-The-Fleece-Project-The-Study

You want to make sure not to use fabric softener but sometimes if you use it for your clothes it is still built up in the dryer and can affect the fleece wicking. You can test it out. 

I also find alot of people do not use anything absorbent under it which you really need.

I also strongly suggest washing it in vinegar as it sooo cuts out the smell.


----------



## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

I have a SRS which is the European equivalent of a Double Critter Nation. I have three girls in it who are potty trained. 

I deep clean every Saturday. This means taking out almost everything and tossing the hemp bedding (I use this on my base), wiping down with a vinegar and water mix.

I spot clean through the week (if there's any fresh food lying around and they haven't touched it I'm tossing it)

I change water and check their dry food daily and refill them when needed.

I change any fleece that gets whiffy every 3 - 4 days luckily I don't have to change much.

Every other day I change / empty the litter. Since they've been pooping and peeing in it like 90% of the time it gets rank fast.


----------



## Love My Rats (Sep 3, 2015)

I have the corner litter pans and my youngest girls are pretty good about using them I have 1 for each level , my older girls not so much they seemed to ignore it sometimes , I use All Free and clear laundry soap and I do not use any fabric softener also I add 1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar in the their laundry to kill the ammonia smell also I don't have any puppy liners on hand but I will get them tomorrow and try putting them under the fleece , great idea  I don't smoke and I don't light candles or use hair spray or perfume in the house so that's not it , ok so today is sunday I will be cleaning the cages again on Wednesday night when I get off worry , it took me 4 hours today to really clean them , o boy sounds like a long night comeing up , good thing I'am off Thursday ok going to read that link u put in about the fleece and ty for that , o also we have a filter on the sink and on the bathroom shower so they only get filtered water and I have a humidifier running on the table in front of their cages


----------



## Love My Rats (Sep 3, 2015)

I have the corner litter pans and my youngest girls are pretty good about using them I have 1 for each level , my older girls not so much they seemed to ignore it sometimes , I use All Free and clear laundry soap and I do not use any fabric softener also I add 1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar in the their laundry to kill the ammonia smell also I don't have any puppy liners on hand but I will get them tomorrow and try putting them under the fleece , great idea  I don't smoke and I don't light candles or use hair spray or perfume in the house so that's not it , ok so today is sunday I will be cleaning the cages again on Wednesday night when I get off work , it took me 4 hours today to really clean them , o boy sounds like a long night comeing up , good thing I'am off Thursday ok going to read that link u put in about the fleece and ty for that , o also we have a filter on the sink and on the bathroom shower so they only get filtered water and I have a humidifier running on the table in front of their cages , will check out some air filters , anything to help


----------



## Love My Rats (Sep 3, 2015)

I forgot to add I use Pet Focus to clean their cages , we used to have parrots along time ago and I used it then , it's safe for all animals


----------



## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I’m probably pretty unuseual in that I clean out very infrequently compared to most. My regime is

Daily – get rid of any left-over wet food or anything I see that’s particularly messy (i.e. if someone has smeared a squishy poo all over the front of the cage) – takes a couple of minutes a day

Weekly – monitor the litter trays and general smell level. If anything is overloaded / smelling change that thing, sweep rat room floors, takes me 5-10 mins

Every 2-3 weeks – full clean out, change all the substrate, wipe down all surfaces with soapy water or a pet safe disinfectant, rearrange cage layout, takes around 2-3 hours

Every 4-6 clean outs - deep clean, everything out and soaked in soapy / disinfectant water. Cage bars steamed / scrubbed down, rat room fully cleaned, floors mopped etc, takes me most of a day

This isn’t that often, however I use a good absorbent substrate (chopped card mixed with aspen or hemp), my rats have litter trained themselves (using back to nature in the litter trays), I don’t use shelves, I hang cat litter trays instead (shelves are pee traps), my cage is under populated (SRS, big enough for 12 with 7 in it), my rats live in a proper rat room, so painted concrete floor, part of a separate garage so not got loads of soft furnishings to trap smell and keeps cool most of the year.

One of the main things though is I don’t over clean, rats need to smell like they are at home, clean to often and they will overcompensate and mark more and generally smell more strongly. You can also over disinfect, much like with human children a bit of muck is actually good for there immune system. They shouldn’t be dirty, but they shouldn’t live in a sparkly spotless cage either.


----------



## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

Isamurat said:


> ... I hang cat litter trays instead...


Did you have any trouble getting them use a litter box that is suspended?


----------



## smoteymote (May 28, 2016)

I've heard bad things about using puppy pads underneath fleece. If you're still having an issue (I know this thread was a while ago) maybe try using a different absorber under the fleece.


----------



## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

moonkissed said:


> I also strongly suggest washing it in vinegar as it sooo cuts out the smell.


Would vinegar, being so odorous, be irritating to rats if it's not washed out thoroughly?


----------

