# How often do you clean your cage?



## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

How often does everyone clean their cage, I've heard anything from once a week to twice per day. Before I had the litter box I was changing it 3ish times a week, now I think I can go down to once or twice (I change out 90% of the litter ever 3rd day). Since I've litter trained them i've noticed almost no smell from their cage after...well I changed it on Friday. 

I don't mind changing it, but i also read not to change it too frequently.


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## Ruka (Dec 20, 2012)

I have a ware clean living cage, and I wipe the levels down once a day (usually the first thing I do in the morning) and I wash the blankets and what not once a week.

My boys are litter trained, so no bedding, just blankets and whatnot.

But if they decide not to use it, my cage has a plastic grate thing on the bottom (covered wi blankets) I just take the blankets out, and let it fall beneath the grate, then I just pull out the bottom tray, throw away the 'waste' and done!

It takes five minutes tops!


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## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

I am a clean freak... Haha. My mom has always had a (sorry if you ever read this, mum!) disgustingly cluttered, messy house and so when I was young I'd force myself to clean my room for 15 minutes every night otherwise it'd get cluttered. I have made myself try to not let things touch the ground because I have a fear that if I set it there, it will stay there. So, I suppose I'm a little over board (I'm also a little OCD, it's not severe or anything though. It's not the "everything has to be perfect" OCD, it's the habitual type lol.) Anyway! 
Because of this I clean the cage every night before bed and, throughout the day, any time I see poops laying around I stop and clean them. 
So I suppose I may not be an example but I tidy several times per day with one fairly deep clean every night. 



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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Honestly i once went almost two weeks without changing the fleece. i felt terrible when i realized i forgot to change it all the previous week. i was really surprised when i changed it that it wasnt that smelly or dirty. worst part was all the little food crumbs everywhere but as far as the urine goes it wasnt bad. i usually change my cage weekly though but ill go through daily and pick up stray turds and large chunks of things. I read on here about people having to change it every other day because it stinks but i dont have that problem. I have two girls in an all living things rat manor.


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## Willieboo (Oct 22, 2012)

I usually change out the fleece and all that once a week (sometimes twice if the fleece is exceptionally stinky). However, because I use potty pads under my fleece (my rats have refused to ever pee in the litter box; I have one that pees everywhere she wants all the time and another who at least only pees in the cage, but both will only poop in the box) If they get stinky mid week I can usually save myself a whole extra change-out per week by just changing the potty pads underneath. 
However, how often you change a cage also depends on how many rats you have in one cage, of course, and how quickly the smell piles up. If the rats are like mine and pee everywhere, a cage with 5 rats might need multiple cleanings a week to tame the smell whereas a cage of 2 rats might not. So I just judge the number of cleanings in a week by the smell (and food crumb buildup, haha).


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

Thanks for your replies, I have a 2 story 15x30 cage and most of the calculators say it can house 3 rats, and I have two. I think as they're learning the litter box I will clean it once every 5 days and as it gets more routine, go once a week.


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## Possum Rat (Dec 30, 2012)

"spot clean" every day...ya know, pick up poops & any pee spots I find.
Do a total replacement of bedding/litter every few days..all depends. I wash all blankies once a week.
I wipe down the rats abt every 3 days with baby wipies and wipe down ramps & stuff every other day or so.


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## Ruka (Dec 20, 2012)

Possum Rat said:


> "spot clean" every day...ya know, pick up poops & any pee spots I find.
> Do a total replacement of bedding/litter every few days..all depends. I wash all blankies once a week.
> I wipe down the rats abt every 3 days with baby wipies and wipe down ramps & stuff every other day or so.


I wipe my rats too!! I thought I was the only one.. Lol.


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## SaraBRattie (Aug 29, 2012)

I clean my cage once a week or once every two weeks depending on how dirty they get everything. It probably should be changed more but It never smells. I use the sunseed rolled paper pellet bedding with baking soda.


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## Possum Rat (Dec 30, 2012)

Ruka said:


> I wipe my rats too!! I thought I was the only one.. Lol.
> 
> 
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HECK NO ! I wipe them suckers down, especially my boy...man parts and all - he don't care. LoL !


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## Ruka (Dec 20, 2012)

Possum Rat said:


> HECK NO ! I wipe them suckers down, especially my boy...man parts and all - he don't care. LoL !


Mine squirm so much... Lol, especially the tails..


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## iHayleyNorris (Jul 28, 2012)

I have 4 males in one cage. It's big, but smelly. I wipe their shelves down every other day and change their aspen shavings every 5 days. That 5th day is a little smelly too. Lol. I also have 1 older male in a cage by himself (I know, I know, "he's lonely." He will not tolerate cage mates.). I only have to completely change his out every 2 weeks or so. It's a very big cage for 1 rattie and he always uses the same corner. So I actually scoop that corner out every couple of days and it lasts longer.


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

I too wipe my boys down, it doesn't bother them and I would like to think they like it...they don't smell, but they do get a little dirty from time to time. Linus fell asleep on a small piece of chocolate and he a brown streak on his tummy forever....baby wipes do not take care of chocolate.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I’m pretty relaxed compared to most of you. Saying that I have good reasons. I have a cage that’s big enough for double the amount of rats (5 rats, it fits 12 or so), boys that use their litter trays and I use a deep layer (4-5 inches) of absorbant substrate rather than fleece which gets whiffy quickly. I also don’t use shelves, I use suspended cat litter trays with paper litter in it, shelves are one of the biggest holders of smells on a cage as rats seem to love to wee on them

I am also a great believer in not wrapping my rats in cotton wool, I never use bleach or strong antibacterial (unless they have a spate of abscesses and I’m ruling out environmental contamination) as I believe a little bit of muck helps build up their immune system (a bit like children never allowed to get muddy tend to have worse allergies and asthma). Theres also the fact that overcleaning tends to make them smell more, as they need to make up for you getting rid of there ‘home’ smell.


I go by the following rules of thumb

Spot check daily – remove any wet food more than 24 hours old and if there are any squishy poo’s smeared anywhere. If there’s any particularly smelly bedding that gets removed then too

Weekly check – I review the litter trays and hammocks. If they are whiffy they get changed / emptied. There’s one litter tray that gets heavy use so gets done most times, there most used hammock tend to be fine for a week or two, the others are fine until the next big clean out. I will also remove any wet substrate, this isn’t always needed (unless their water bottle leaks).

Big Clean - When needed (guided by my nose, this is typically 2-3 weeks depending on how many rats I have and how old they are) – I strip everything out of the cage, empty and chuck all the substrate. Wipe everything hard with a wet cloth, or sometimes those cleaning wipes. About every 2-3 cleans I’ll throw everything small/moveable into a bath full of warm soapy water for a soak too. All hammocks get put in the wash, I asses their ropes for muckiness and wash them if they need it. Then they get new substrate and I completely re-arrange the layout adding in a good few different toys/accessories too. Usually the wheel stays in the same place due to practicality, but every 3 or 4 cleans I move that too. I also give the rat room a good sweep out and wipe the surfaces as it’s their main free range area too. This typically takes 3-4 hours, at least in part because the boys help me, and we have an extended free range session at the same time

I don’t wipe the rats down unless they have become messy, for the same reason as I don’t clean them loads or bath them. They value their own smell (it’s a good part of who they are), and unless they’re mucky taking it away is pretty harsh on them.


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## iHayleyNorris (Jul 28, 2012)

I've only bathed my rats once because they had decided to mud wrestle in a small plate of baby food. It's was gross. Lol. But I will wipe their little feet occasionally if they have stepped in a particularly squishy poo or trampled their baby food while playing too hard. Otherwise, I feel it's good to let them keep their individual scents. Last time a bathed them, Algernon, my albino didn't know who was who for an hour or so because he doesn't see very well. 


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## Nauseum (Mar 3, 2012)

I do mine once a week. I have a double critter nation with two girls in the top and my boy in the bottom. They all have fleece bedding and machine washable items in their cage, so I just throw it in the wash once a week and really scrub down the cage/shelves!


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## Smilebud (Jul 31, 2012)

I empty most-all litter out of the litter box every three days, and wash the fleece every other Friday. I put paper towel down under it, which helped me fin out that my boys only peed out of their litter twice in two weeks! I feel so lucky! -does a little happy dance- I was wondering why it wasn't smelling! I clean out food and water things every few days, and remove any wet food after 24 hours. I pick out any stashed lab blocks (harder than it sounds lol) and put them back in the cage for them, because they freak if thy can't find their stash. I wash any hard toys, the flowerpot and the rock every week.


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

Funny about the lab blocks, mine move their's around all the time....it's really the worst part of cleaning - finding the food stash. lol




Smilebud said:


> I empty most-all litter out of the litter box every three days, and wash the fleece every other Friday. I put paper towel down under it, which helped me fin out that my boys only peed out of their litter twice in two weeks! I feel so lucky! -does a little happy dance- I was wondering why it wasn't smelling! I clean out food and water things every few days, and remove any wet food after 24 hours. I pick out any stashed lab blocks (harder than it sounds lol) and put them back in the cage for them, because they freak if thy can't find their stash. I wash any hard toys, the flowerpot and the rock every week.
> 
> 
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## Possum Rat (Dec 30, 2012)

I bet I piss my male off if he stashes anything , cuz EVRY thing goes when I do a 100% clean out!

*ISAMURAT ~~ I want to see pics of your cages!!!*


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## Freecia (Jan 24, 2013)

I have three double nations and a smaller cage for my new girls in quarenteen. Every cage gets completely dismembered and shelves, furniture, towels, bowls, ect. All get scrubbed weekly. Every day food and such are swept up and the smaller shelves, they don't get covered, are wiped clean when needed. Food bowls are cleaned if I think they are dirty and their fresh food bowls are taken out to be cleaned. I remove fresh food stashes, though they usually eat it all. This is when I look at litter boxes. They are just learning and stray poo get put in the boxes. It takes forever, but only because I'm too busy playing with everyone and the cleaning up gets done in between. Tidy ups take less then ten min, without playing, and full cleanings take half an hour. My daughter helps with the weekly cleanings, as I am disabled and it is crazy painful to get to the back of the bottom levels. 


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

You have 3 double cages? You must have a lot of room in your place, lol.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Possum Rat said:


> I bet I piss my male off if he stashes anything , cuz EVRY thing goes when I do a 100% clean out!
> 
> *ISAMURAT ~~ I want to see pics of your cages!!!*


Heres a pic of the current layout


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## Possum Rat (Dec 30, 2012)

That's very creative...I see you have extra stuff stored on top of the cage too!
I like the color of that rat behind the dumbo , on top


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## Freecia (Jan 24, 2013)

I have one in the living room and two in my bedroom. 



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