# dealing with wood items



## Spider (Mar 19, 2007)

How do you guys deal with all the wood stuff in a cage? My Furries eat with their hands, walk sometimes on a turd, and the ladders and wooden house get "crusty".
I have been just knocking the visible crap off the wooden stuff on clean day and let it go at that cause I don't want to get it wet and encourage mold, should I just throw it out every ? months or so?
Also I stopped being so compulsive about sanitizing the **** cage all the time and let it go on a " need to" basis, I think it works better and it stresses the Rats less.
Spider


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

I try to get most everything (especially houses) in plastic or something easily cleanable for that reason. Though you could wet it down and thoroughly scrub the outside and then let it dry very well, urine will still soak into the wood and it will eventually smell nasty, unless it's well sealed. All the wood bits in my cage are for chewing.


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## thegrotto (May 11, 2007)

Plastic is the best. Wood is for chewing, and even if they do chew on the plastic its cheap and easy to replace, usually. I use plastic castles.


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## Stephanie (Mar 25, 2007)

whenever they have some wood in their cages i always boil it after so long. It is rare that hey have wood stuff though.


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## Vixie (Jul 21, 2006)

Wood is for chewing. It should not be kept in the cage for long because it soaks in urine and the smell never goes away.

Stinky...xD


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## reachthestars (Feb 27, 2007)

Yup, i stopped using any wood type products in my cage because they get too grimy too fast. I love plastic houses becasue they're a snap to clean, and they don't hold the smell.


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## yonksgirl (Apr 23, 2007)

Yeah I took almost all the wood out of my cage too. the only wood stuff I have is a bird toy that hangs and a hanging chew toy. I had a woooden house and it just started to stink so bad. I heard if you soak the wood in proxcide (SP?) that will take the smell away but I never tried it.


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

I agree, wood's a terrible idea in a rat cage. Too hard to clean.

Makes good bedding, though.


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## reachthestars (Feb 27, 2007)

2manyrats, that would depend on the type of wood used for bedding. Pine and cedar are toxic for any small animal, but a hardwood bedding like aspen is a safe choice.


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## Nazarath (Feb 20, 2007)

*In some petstores you can buy little bags of wooden toys, I have letter blocks and shapes! I have hearts, squares etc. I found that since they aren't huge my rats can chew them and I haven't noticed them geting grimy at all . I've also found those hanging wood toys last longer.*


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

reachthestars said:


> 2manyrats, that would depend on the type of wood used for bedding. Pine and cedar are toxic for any small animal, but a hardwood bedding like aspen is a safe choice.


Yep - I was referring to hardwoods - but it's good to add that for clarification.


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## IceLore (May 13, 2007)

I have a few wooden houses and some handmade things that friends have given me that I like. If they are small enough, fill a bucket with scalding hot water, and add some white vinegar to it and set the wooden things to soak. It removes the smell pretty well, and the vinegar retards mold.  You can give it back to them a bit damp too, but even for my really think stuff, I usually just sit it outside to dry in the warm months, or put it over the heat vents for a few hours in the winter. ^^

Also, Listerine is good for removing the smell from rat toys, be it plastic or wooden. It's non toxic, and while there is a high alcohol content, it has a high evaporation rate.


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