Easiest to clean?

Advertise with us
Fins us on Amazon
Shop with us on Ebay
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Linda said:
At the risk of being chased off this post, :giggle: I think Martins are the worse for cleaning! I do like my Martins 695 but what a pain in the butt to clean!! :gaah: I also have a ferret cage that's much easier to clean because of the wide bar spacing - pee doesn't get caught in cracks like the Martins.
Click to expand...

I totally agree! That was the only reason why I changed over to the FN. So now, I've got easy cleaning cages but some of the rats can escape. :roll:
They need to make a rat nation!!
 
Yes they do! The FN looks pretty neat with the opening doors in terms of easy access, but those bars...I'm not sure even my two would stay in there! If only we could take them with us and have them test it out. :lol:
 
Linda said:
At the risk of being chased off this post, :giggle: I think Martins are the worse for cleaning! I do like my Martins 695 but what a pain in the butt to clean!!
Click to expand...

Hi Linda!

I'm new to this Forum (see, it's my first post!), my daughter will be adopting her very first trio of young rats in the next week or so and we've just purchased a Martin's R-695. With regards to cleaning, I just assumed we could pop the tray into the tub for a thorough scrub and maintain the bars with a good wipedown. Can you tell me what difficulties she/we/I :roll: should look forward to with cleaning?

Thanks!
 
Welcome to the Shack, Gina!

You'll need to do a bit more than that with a Martin's. Depending on if you line the floors with anything or not, you'll need to scrub the cage down anywhere from once a week to every couple of weeks. If you do line the floors, you can probably get away without scrubbing for longer periods of time.

I've lined all of my shelves and floors with stick down lino tiles, which then have fabric liners on top. I have to scrub my 680 about once a month.

You can definitely wipe the bars down in between scrubbings, though. It should help prolong the time between scrubbings.
 
javakittie said:
Welcome to the Shack, Gina!

You'll need to do a bit more than that with a Martin's. Depending on if you line the floors with anything or not, you'll need to scrub the cage down anywhere from once a week to every couple of weeks. If you do line the floors, you can probably get away without scrubbing for longer periods of time.

I've lined all of my shelves and floors with stick down lino tiles, which then have fabric liners on top. I have to scrub my 680 about once a month.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome, javakittie! (My sources tell me you make some pretty awesome hammocks . . . is that true? :wink: )

I was hoping to pick up a sheet of corrugated plastic or some other sturdy plastic material, have my DH cut them to size and line the floors with that. D'ya think that would work?

And getting back to the cleaning . . . just how big is the R-695? Is it easy enough to pick up, carry it into the tub for a scrubdown and then turn the shower on it for the rinse cycle?
 
hehe Lilspaz and Godmother's crews seem to really enjoy them, and I always trust a rat's opinion. :lol:

If you want to use corplast, I'd suggest when you do your spot cleanings [daily, every other day, or whatever schedule works best for you and your new kiddos] to wipe down under the corplast as well as the corplast itself. Their pee will seep under the plastic, so you'll need to keep up with that. I have to do the same with my lino, just not as often. I guess the glue seals it to some extent, hehe. Also keep an eye out for Plastic Chewers. Some rats are really bad about it, but most are pretty good about leaving it alone.

The 695 is 30x18x36. It can fit into a standard sized tub, but it can be a little awkward for some to move around. If you can count on a helper 90% of the time, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. If you got the larger doors and flip top lid that's usually suggested, scrubbing it will be much easier on you. Reaching the shelves and floors through the original doors can be something of a pain without those two modifications.
 
javakittie is right; the coroplast lets pee seep in underneath and (worst of all) down the little plastic columns. Nevertheless it works well. when it gets really gross I replace it.

The 695 just barely fits into my bathtub. Wish I had a hand-holdable shower, because that would make cleaning easier. In the summer I take some cages outside to clean, hosing them down and letting them dry on the back porch. A Martins is really easy to clean if you partially disassemble it.

In the tub I scrub detergent onto the Martins, let it sit there for half an hour or so, then rinse it repeatedly with containers of hot water. Between full washings you can clean the floors and, if desperate, scrub crud from between the floors with an old toothbrush.

The FN is much easier to clean!
 
I put a layer of newspaper under the fleece in mine, (I have 8 Martin's) and it does the trick. Sometimes the rats do tear and drag the paper everywhere but I figure they need their fun too. lol
Every two days I wipe the shelves and stairs, especially the stairs as they seem to pee at the top and a big cleanup once a week.
 
yes, those ramps on a Martins are the worst! It would be great if Martins would make the ramps easily removeable like on the FN. the Martins ramps are easier on an older ratty's feet but they sure collect the crud.
 
That said, I love the Martins! I still have one, and I wouldn't sell it.

Shelagh has a brilliant idea for covering the ramps with a non-slip material you can get at any store. And you could also cover them with fleece (make little pillowcases for them), which would be an excellent idea when there are baby ratties with sticky little feet zooming up and down! :lol:

For those who don't like coroplast or tiles, there is always the option of Javakittie liners for the floors. They stay put and they are easy to clean.

The big advantage of a Martins for little ratties is that the bottom pan is deep enough that, if you fill it with Yesterdays News, they can't knock it all over the floor.
 
javakittie said:
If you want to use corplast, I'd suggest when you do your spot cleanings [daily, every other day, or whatever schedule works best for you and your new kiddos] to wipe down under the corplast as well as the corplast itself. Their pee will seep under the plastic, so you'll need to keep up with that. I have to do the same with my lino, just not as often. I guess the glue seals it to some extent, hehe. Also keep an eye out for Plastic Chewers. Some rats are really bad about it, but most are pretty good about leaving it alone.

The 695 is 30x18x36. It can fit into a standard sized tub, but it can be a little awkward for some to move around. If you can count on a helper 90% of the time, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. If you got the larger doors and flip top lid that's usually suggested, scrubbing it will be much easier on you. Reaching the shelves and floors through the original doors can be something of a pain without those two modifications.
Click to expand...

Okay - thanks for the head's up the about pee seeping underneath the floor liners! If I stay on top of it is corplast a good material to use?

If I can count on a helper? :roll: Ummm . . . I sure hope so! LOL! I'm supposed to be the helpee! The new boys are going to be my daughter's, not mine! I just started doing a bit of research to see what caring for rats would involve and darn if I haven't gotten myself hooked! :oops:

:shock: The flip top lid! Someone from the CRA Yahoo Group (SQ was that you?) told me to order the flip top lid and in my haste to get it on it's way so we could adopt MumsyRat's bee-yoo-ti-ful Siamese and Black Berk trio sooner rather than later, I forgot! Can the cage easily be "modified" to have a flip top by someone who is handy?
 
Godmother said:
The 695 just barely fits into my bathtub. Wish I had a hand-holdable shower, because that would make cleaning easier. In the summer I take some cages outside to clean, hosing them down and letting them dry on the back porch. A Martins is really easy to clean if you partially disassemble it.

In the tub I scrub detergent onto the Martins, let it sit there for half an hour or so, then rinse it repeatedly with containers of hot water. Between full washings you can clean the floors and, if desperate, scrub crud from between the floors with an old toothbrush.

The FN is much easier to clean!
Click to expand...

We've got a hand-holdable shower head - so I'm feeling a little better, but things will probably be a whole lot easier in the summer. :D

The FN sure looks like the cadillac of rat cages . . . but the bars look so widely spaced! Can't they squeeze through?
 
mamarat said:
I put a layer of newspaper under the fleece in mine, (I have 8 Martin's) and it does the trick.
Click to expand...

So you just line your floors with fleece with a layer of newspaper underneath? How do you get it to stay put?

mamarat said:
Every two days I wipe the shelves and stairs, especially the stairs as they seem to pee at the top and a big cleanup once a week.
Click to expand...

LOL! Didn't I read somewhere that rats were very clean?!?
 
Godmother said:
For those who don't like coroplast or tiles, there is always the option of Javakittie liners for the floors. They stay put and they are easy to clean.
Click to expand...

Okay, javakittie - I AM NOT A DO IT YOUR SELFER, so stop holding out on me! First someone recommends your hammocks and now the floor liners? C'mon give . . . do you have a website or something? :lol:

Speaking of which, where do all the rattie vendors hang out around here?
 
Dahlas said:
:cry: you guys are not really making me look forward to getting my martins that I just bought.....
Click to expand...

Oh no don't worry PiedPiper, they are awesome cages...I have quite a few of them.

Are you strong? I can carry my Martins into the tub for its once a month scrubbing (start with hot water to melt off any residue and after that its easy :)) I used lino on my floors (stick down lino you can get for 50 cents to a buck a tile) and would wipe it down every day.

the new R-695's automatically have bigger doors now, the old ones were PITA's!

Ask anyone, and the cages they want are Martin's or an FN :)

don't worry you're going to like your cage alot.
 
WOOT! A mom who does research!!!!! This deserves a happy dance! :happydance:

Corplast will be fine to use, just remember to wipe under them whenever you do a spot cleaning. When you scrub the cage, you can toss the pieces into a tub of soapy watery to clean all those grooves out, too.

There's not really a way to make the flip top lid. The way they sell it, there's a one inch lip all around the top, and then a lid that sits on top of that lip. If that makes any sense..? The top on a standard cage just sits on the sides of the cage, so there's no way to secure it other than to attach it. If you cage has already shipped, you can order the flip top separately. If it hasn't shipped yet, you can call martin's and ask them to change your order. They're usually really great about that.

Anyone getting a Martin's!!! Use Zip [cable] ties instead of the c rings wherever possible!!! The rings are coated, so after a while they do start to smell funky. Unless you have a nifty tool [a c ring remover] you can damage the powdercoat taking the rings off. It's also easier to dismantle the cage if you ever need to.

For those saying they're not looking forward to the cleaning. It's really not that bad. You'll find what's easiest and best for you.
 
Yes, a layer of newspaper, then I do tie the fleece blankets over top. It takes a night to destroy it all, but the rats are clean, for their little bodies that is, not their houses. lol Here you can see the paper.

cagenewspaper.jpg
 

Latest posts

Back
Top