Hello everybody ! :wave:
I am a new rat owner, got my 2 boys 2 weeks ago (so they are now 7w old) and they are great But I have a problem about the infamous cage cleaning ! Hope people with more experience than me can provide some help
So far, I have been cleaning their cage every 2 days. I usually take everything out, wash everything plastic (toys, stairs, bottom of the cage, etc) with soap and water, and spray the hammocks and the vetbed with an animal stain+odour remover spray (the same I used to clean my dog's "accidents" when he was a puppy). I also replace the kitchen papers they have under the vetbed. But... it stinks !! (and so do the rats, they really themselves smell of pee).
Maybe I should mention I am trying to litter train them too, so the cage has a vetbed, and they have a corner litter with cat litter pellets. It's a lot of poo in it, and while I still find some outside of it, I think they poo mostly there, but I don't know about peeing (but the kitchen towels under the vetbed seem to indicate they pee everywhere at the bottom).
Today will be the 1st "big clean", since Im going to do a laundry with the vetbed and hammocks (I do laundry every 2 weeks, it's just the way it is since I live in a building with a communal laundry). I also planned on soaking the whole cage in the bathtub with some white winegar.
I've been reading around a lot and saw a lot of things. I don't actually do a daily cleaning, and had never thought of washing outside the cage, so the wall and floor, etc. But then I also read you shouldn't clean too often either, so is it a good idea for me to get equipped with baby wipes, and clean the cage wires, stairs, floors as well as the wall around every day (and vacuum the vetbed)? Also while I do laundry every 2 weeks, I have 2 vetbeds, so that I could rotate every week with a clean one.
So yeah, basically wondering if I should change my cleaning routine to:
- a daily baby wipe in and around the cage + vacuuming the vetbed (and changing to a clean one every week)
- a quick cleaning of the toys, beds, vetbed, etc every 2 days as I do now
- a deep clean in the bathtub every 2 weeks + hammocks and all in the washing machine.
It just seems like a lot and I read cleaning too much can be just as bad as cleaning too little so ...:laugh:
And last but not least... should I give my rats a bath?
Well I see I wrote quite a lot hehe, but hope you guys can enlighten me a little :-D
Have a nice day !
I am a new rat owner, got my 2 boys 2 weeks ago (so they are now 7w old) and they are great But I have a problem about the infamous cage cleaning ! Hope people with more experience than me can provide some help
So far, I have been cleaning their cage every 2 days. I usually take everything out, wash everything plastic (toys, stairs, bottom of the cage, etc) with soap and water, and spray the hammocks and the vetbed with an animal stain+odour remover spray (the same I used to clean my dog's "accidents" when he was a puppy). I also replace the kitchen papers they have under the vetbed. But... it stinks !! (and so do the rats, they really themselves smell of pee).
Maybe I should mention I am trying to litter train them too, so the cage has a vetbed, and they have a corner litter with cat litter pellets. It's a lot of poo in it, and while I still find some outside of it, I think they poo mostly there, but I don't know about peeing (but the kitchen towels under the vetbed seem to indicate they pee everywhere at the bottom).
Today will be the 1st "big clean", since Im going to do a laundry with the vetbed and hammocks (I do laundry every 2 weeks, it's just the way it is since I live in a building with a communal laundry). I also planned on soaking the whole cage in the bathtub with some white winegar.
I've been reading around a lot and saw a lot of things. I don't actually do a daily cleaning, and had never thought of washing outside the cage, so the wall and floor, etc. But then I also read you shouldn't clean too often either, so is it a good idea for me to get equipped with baby wipes, and clean the cage wires, stairs, floors as well as the wall around every day (and vacuum the vetbed)? Also while I do laundry every 2 weeks, I have 2 vetbeds, so that I could rotate every week with a clean one.
So yeah, basically wondering if I should change my cleaning routine to:
- a daily baby wipe in and around the cage + vacuuming the vetbed (and changing to a clean one every week)
- a quick cleaning of the toys, beds, vetbed, etc every 2 days as I do now
- a deep clean in the bathtub every 2 weeks + hammocks and all in the washing machine.
It just seems like a lot and I read cleaning too much can be just as bad as cleaning too little so ...:laugh:
And last but not least... should I give my rats a bath?
Well I see I wrote quite a lot hehe, but hope you guys can enlighten me a little :-D
Have a nice day !