Cage and Toy Cleaning
Boys hanging out in the mini cage while their cage is being cleaned
We do spot checks on our cages three times a week, and do an entire cage clean once a week. Using litter boxes helps maintain a cleaner cage as well.
When spot checking, remove any soiled bedding or litter. This is essential to do because if left too long, soiled litter can lead to ammonia build up. This means that there are bacteria in the cage, unpleasant odors, and the risk of fungus growth. This is not only dangerous for your rats, but you may be affected as well. If you spot-check at least two or three times a week, it can make a difference in cage hygiene.
Your cage-cleaning schedule may vary, but you shouldn’t let your cage go for more than two weeks without a thorough cleaning. To do this, make sure you have a spare cage or a safe area where your rats can hang out in. Remove everything from the cage and wipe the cage down with a damp sponge, rag, or paper towels. What works also is to simply hose down the cage. After this is done, you can use a safe cage cleaner, or a liquid anti-bacterial brand of soap to wash and scrub your cage down. The wire on the cages tends to get particularly sticky. Once you wash and rise, you have the option to disinfect the cage. This is not necessary, but doesn’t hurt to do. To disinfect, you can use either bleach or a Lysol brand cleaner and mix one part of that to 15 parts of water. This must be done AFTER you’ve washed your cage. Apply your disinfectant solution and let it sit for at least 15 minutes, then rise completely before drying. You can let it air dry, or towel dry.
As for their toys, the same cleaning and disinfecting process can be done with plastic toys. Their soiled hammocks or other material can be hand washed or thrown in the washing machine with hypoallergenic soap in hot water. If you want to disinfect these items as well, you can add a tiny amount of bleach or Oxyclean to the hot water. Be sure to rinse the items well and either let it air dry, or stick it in your dryer for about 30 minutes at a high temperature.
Once the cleaning and disinfecting process is done, you can put clean litter in, place the clean toys and accessories back into the cage, and let your rats go back home!
