CLEANING CAGES

Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:08 pm

I'm getting another rat tomorrow, and the new rat is living in my current rat's home,while my current rat is living in an old wire cage...........I was cleaning the cage my new rat is staying in, and I wanted to know how clean it should be? I know rats can go nuts and get stressed out if they smell another rat Rolling Eyes

.Any suggestions?
Anna

_________________
To my loving rats Arwen and Parle'

RIP:
Suzy:November 20th,2003-January 1st,2005

Rest in peace Suzy Q.I will miss you so much.

Sat May 01, 2004 6:53 am

Under Pet Rat Care.. in the Rat Introductions section it has a part about thouroughly cleaning, check that out (on the left hand menu bar)

Mon May 03, 2004 10:49 pm

Check out this site. I do the complete cleaning and sanitizing once a week then light cleaning in between (changing litter boxes and bedding). http://www.afrma.org/howclean.htm

_________________
The Girls; Thelma, Louise, Sara, Betsy, Vivien, Zsa-Zsa, Eva, Heidi, Myrtle, Dorothy
The Guys; Sam, Charlie, Jaq, Gus
Gone but not forgotten; Eugene, Inga, Gwendolyn, Bertha, Matilda, Roxie

Mon Nov 01, 2004 6:54 pm

I usually just put some ammonnia in the tray and use a sponge to clean out the corners. Anyone have a better solution?

_________________
I never though I would love rats and now here I am.
Coach and Fluff 03/04
Zoie and Sofie 11/04

Mon Nov 01, 2004 9:31 pm

When it's warm enough outside I pull it out to the front yard and hose it down then scrub with a pet friendly cleaning solution. In the winter time when it's too cold for that I use a mixture of vinegar and peroxide - each in a squirt bottle. I'll spray down the cage with both, let it set, then scrub and dry. Cheap, natural and easy!

_________________
Christy
RP Admin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:02 pm

Does the vinegar and peroxide get the smell of urine out of the cage?

_________________
I never though I would love rats and now here I am.
Coach and Fluff 03/04
Zoie and Sofie 11/04

Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:37 pm

It does for me. I have Martin's powder coated cages though. I don't know if it would give the same effect on other cages or galvanized wire cages.

_________________
Christy
RP Admin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Sat Nov 06, 2004 8:28 pm

I have a well-used powder coated Martin's cage for my girls...and like all rats, they love to pee in the top corners. It's not that difficult to clean the outside of the cage and the tops of the shelves, but there is a lot of calcified pee on the bottoms of the shelves. It doesn't smell or anything, I just don't like the look of it. Is there something that will dissolve it off without ruining the finish? I've tried scrubbing with a brush and a kitchen sponge made for nonstick finish, both to no avail.

Ang

_________________
The voices aren't real, but they have some good ideas.

Sun Nov 07, 2004 4:10 am

Hmmm... *tries to think of common solvents that are not harmful* How about vinegar? peroxide? IPA? baking soda?

_________________
Arvay and the Squirmin' Vermin

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'

--Erma Bombeck

Sun Nov 07, 2004 4:17 am

How about a pressure washer? Take the cage on a trip to the local car wash. wink

_________________
Christy
RP Admin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Sun Nov 07, 2004 4:21 am

If you use a pressure washer stand back aways because if there are the slightest chips in the coating it will peel and flake right off. Just be careful you dont want to ruin a good cage.

_________________
Eddie

The Rat Patrol

http://www.freewebs.com/bighog/

Tue Nov 09, 2004 6:38 pm

Christy

We actually have a pressure washer - I don't know why I didn't think of it.

Eddie: Ruining the coating is one of the things I worry about - how to get it clean without messing it up. Not that the girls haven't done a fine job chewing the coating themselves Rolling Eyes

Ang

_________________
The voices aren't real, but they have some good ideas.

Tue Nov 09, 2004 6:51 pm

Oooh pressure washers work great! I used one on mine over the summer.

_________________
Christy
RP Admin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Mon Nov 15, 2004 1:32 am

As our cages have gotten bigger, it's become more and more difficult to get them downstairs/into the shower for cleaning. If I go the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide route, is it ok to spay the cages right in the rat room? Does the lingering vinegar smell bother the rats?

Thanks!

_________________
~Abita and the Rat in a Box rats

In loving memory of Krycek, Rizzo, Curly, Bob, Witter, Kono, Rat, Pinky, Olie, Metro, Calle, Cinnamon Schwartz, Mr. Ratburn, Arwen, Leather, Ohana, Zoe, and Mr. Mistoffelees

Mon Nov 15, 2004 1:37 am

Abita, I spray mine in the rat room and it's always been fine. I spray the peroxide directly on top of the vinegar to neutralize the smell. You still smell it but it's not near as strong as it would be with just the vinegar by itself. And it usually only lingers for about 10 minutes or so.

_________________
Christy
RP Admin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Tue Jan 04, 2005 3:10 am

Vinegar works great at disolving calcified guinea pig urine so I would think it would work for rat urine also. Just spray on full strength (I use a 50/50 vinegar water solution for general cleaning) and let sit for a few minutes. Should take it off and it won't ruin the powder coating.

Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:47 pm

Vinegar is a good cleaner for everything animal-related. But I've found that vinegar and hydrogen peroxide together are really great. You want to keep them in seperate spray bottles and then spray them on together. I failed chemistry but I don't think it creates any harmful byproducts. You can add olive oil for a delicious salad dressing afterwards. Er, maybe not.
I also like oxyclean. It claims to be aquarium safe (usually means a cleaner is very safe in general) but wash it off very carefully just in case.

Erin B.

_________________
I feel so listless, I think they're drugging my cocoa.

Sat Feb 19, 2005 7:53 am

Carolyn-
I usually wipe mine down in the winter, and from time to time use a Scunci steam cleaner on it, but being as I live in an apartment, in the summer, I wipe it down twice a week, then once a month or so I take it to the self-serve carwash and use the pressure washer on it. It works like a champ. I've found that even if I could fit mine in the bathtub, it scratches the enamel.

_________________
Sarah
Gus, Electra and Lillie (cats)
Artemisia Serendipity Timoune Paikea Eowyn (RIP) Nimue Chrysanthemum Mozart, Elizabeth
Ruby Sunrise, Angelina, Madeleine, Claudia, and the Angels

Fri Mar 18, 2005 2:32 am

What kind of vinegar? Does it matter?

_________________

In memory of Riley, the bestest, most squishiest ratty anyone could ever hope for

Wed Mar 30, 2005 2:44 am

Is generic washing up liquid ok to use? I am so paranoid about these things called 'phenols', which apparently lurk in disinfectants and are the root of all ratty evil Confused

That is to say, it makes them sneeze a lot...

Last edited by littlenushka on Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:08 am; edited 1 time in total

Wed Mar 30, 2005 2:46 am

I think in general, if you stay away from products with perfumes in them, and you VERY thoroughly rinse the cage/toys before putting your ratties back with them, you should be okay.

I personally wouldn't use a cleaner that wasn't supposed to be rinsed, because the ratties could ingest it or breath in the fumes and become ill or die.

_________________

Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:41 pm

my cage grows as i wire on old bird cages, rat cages, and hamster cages. at last cleaning there were six cages all wired together making it have 3 levels. there is no way you can that down stairs by yourself! so i put a large towel down of the floor and let all the rats loose to play in my room. took me a good 2 hours to clean it though.

i used a cheap old sponge and a bucket of hot water and president's chioce antibacterail hand soap (highly diluted and it has no smell-great having a dad that's allerigic to most soaps!) there's a picture of the monsrity that i had to clean in this section somewhere...

in there you can see the different types of cages i had to clean. the powder coated ones were a breeze!! i absolutly love them!!! but the stainless steel and galvonised ones sucked! i got most of it clean but there were parts that i just couldn't get to. and the underside of the floors took a lot of elbow grease and ended up destroying the sponge. (of course after i had everything cleaned i added another two leveled cage...)

because of the size i'm really only able to give it a good thorough cleaning about once a month. for the most part i just wipe it out with a warm damp rag at night before i go to bed. it's not the best but it seems to keep the smells down and i haven't had any problems with the rats feet or breathing so i think i'm doing ok. though i think next time i'm going to go out and buy a proper scrub brush for it and i will be trying the vingear in the water too if it helps to dissolve things.

_________________
mommy to:

1 human son: Corvis
1 feline son: Sesshoumaru
1 lost feline daughter: Snowball

Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:22 pm

Hey all.
My girls live in the Rat Skyscraper cage that is one step down from the Ruud cage.
I keep the shelves covered by either solid plastic placemats or that plastic grate stuff that is used as a backing for hooked rugs, but pee seeps through both and collects on the shelving itself. The cage is too big to fit through the doors in my house, so getting it outside and going at it with the hose is out. It is difficult to get the dried pee clinging to those bars off. I've been putting the girls in a cat carrier and going at the shelving bars with a sponge, a floor scrub brush, and water mixed with Dettol clenser, but it takes a long time and aggravates my back problems.

Have any of you found a good way to get dried rat pee off the bars of the shelving? Any genius ideas out there?

The girls are pretty good about using the litter box for poops, but absolutely not potty trained for pee.

S.

Sat Apr 09, 2005 6:42 pm

Vingar ...usualy the white. I have used that but even after rinsing I can still smell rat...and vinegar. I saw something on how clean is your house though....lemonjuice and baking soda diluted with water....I tried it and not only did it come very clean, after just rinsing in a little hot water, there was no smell of anything including the lemon juice. Shaz

_________________

Sat Apr 09, 2005 6:49 pm

ooo! that's sounds much better then the vinegar and better then what i did. does it help disolve the gunk too? i would assume the lemonjuice would do that but just to be sure.

_________________
mommy to:

1 human son: Corvis
1 feline son: Sesshoumaru
1 lost feline daughter: Snowball

Sat Apr 09, 2005 6:58 pm

Dried wee calcifies so any acid is going to help remove it. That's why the lemon juice and vinegar work. Baking soda will just make it fizz which might help agitate it and get it into all the nooks and crannies... and I guess lemon juice is much nicer to smell than vinegar. wink

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:57 pm

I was realy amazed at how well that stuff works...I just sprayed it on let it sit a moment, wiped the crud with a paper towel and it wiped right off. Then I rinsed in a little bit of hot water and dried it. It didnt smell like anything...not even lemon Juice..I guess it pays to watch odd tv shows late at night! I will post the recipie for it. Shaz

_________________

Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:04 pm

	Tabby wrote:
	Vinegar works great at disolving calcified guinea pig urine so I would think it would work for rat urine also. Just spray on full strength (I use a 50/50 vinegar water solution for general cleaning) and let sit for a few minutes. Should take it off and it won't ruin the powder coating.

What if one has a galvinized cage? would it do the same?? <ready to go fill my little spray bottle righ tnow and spray the cage down!>

_________________

Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:09 am

The lemon juice and the baking soda/water mix works on galvanised!! It is 2tbs lemonjuice concentrated is fine...2 tbs, baking soda..and 2c. luke warm water...add the lemon juice fist then the soda then the water in your spray bottle...shake for 30 seconds and go to town!! Since rodents are sensitive to citrus rinse in warm water. The towel or air dry....I paper towel since its quicker. Shaz

_________________

Fri Apr 15, 2005 6:20 pm

OK.. sounds good... i will do that when Im ready to clean it again! I was very surprised how easily the vinegar took the guinea pig urine out of the bottom of the spare cage.

What about the same for an aquarium?? How do you effectivly clean an aquarium?? I know not to use any cleaners, but would vineagar work on that too?? Katy was useing it until I got her cage, but im getting new additions I'm going to have 4 new babies to quarentien in 1 cage, and 1 aquarium.

_________________

Sat Apr 16, 2005 1:45 pm

i was thinking about making one of those cages out of an old shelf and was wondering... how the heck would u clean it? with the carpet and all..

Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:40 pm

You wouldn't

. I'd read through all the "building/remodeling your own cages" stickied threads up top. If you make an unsealed wooden cage, or a cage from galvanized wire, it will stink to high heaven really fast. As for carpet, Littlewillow uses it, I believe. You'd have to ask her how she cleans it, though I'm guessing it's removeable and that she washes it somehow.

_________________

Sun Apr 17, 2005 11:43 pm

I have a galvanized cage, and I use carpet in mine for Ivy. I plan on spraying it down with vinegar... cage and carpet seperate of course, then rinsing them out totally! I'm sure it will work just fine. I have found the vinegar kills odors very well, (in your laundry as well!) so it should come out very fresh smelling!Thats my opinion anyways!

_________________

Mon Apr 18, 2005 5:35 am

I used vinegar once...and only once Shocked

WOW what a bitter odor, even after I had rinsed with warm water. As bitter as it was to my poor sense of smell, I can't imagine what those little rattie noses would have had to endure. I have been using lemon juice ever since and both I and my rattie kids have been very happy.

Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:41 pm

I did it last night. Not a Problem!!! I did it outside. Sprayed it down, let it sit, then took a carpet brush to it! cam out very clean, then did the same thing to the ladders and carpet. then rinsed them completely! My husband wet vaced the carpet dry. Then they all got bathes! LOL!!!

_________________

Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:59 am

The lemon juice baking soda was acctually made for carpet...then they cleaned everything that a pet would touch with it...Fish tanks..vinegar for whatever reason can and will eat silicon....but I used the lemon and baking soda and it was great...as far as tough lime and calcium stains I used the lemon juice soda combo and had to only gently scrap the glass with a razor blade...vinegar I had to almost scratch the glass...its something in the oils that lemons have that vinegar doesnt...Shaz

_________________

Sun May 01, 2005 4:01 am

2tbs lemon juice 2 tbs baking soda 2 c. water in a spray bottle...shake it for 30 seconds and spray away..let it sit on harder stains for 1 minute rinse in hot water once...done..Shaz

_________________

Sun May 08, 2005 12:46 am

Hi Everyone, I'm new. I've kept ratties for about five years now, and my co-workers and husband are sick of hearing me talk about them...Where I live, there don't appear to be many rat-people so this site is wonderful! woot

On the cleaning issue, I'm in the same boat, the ratties used to stay in my office, and eau-de-rat doesn't bother me, but I've got a bigger cage and wanted to integrate the ratties into the family more and am keeping them in the livingroom - where we also eat. My husband is under protest. I'm wiping down the shelves constantly but he still says it smells--has anyone tried Febreze? They make a kind that's supposed to be an allergen reducer, and it says it's safe for animals - what if I sprayed down the shelves, let it sit and wiped it up with baby wipes? Anyone tried that?

Nice meeting everyone!

Sun May 08, 2005 1:36 am

What are the shelves made out of? And welcome. Wave

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun May 08, 2005 2:05 am

Hi Little Willow, thank you.

They're actually plastic, which I guess can be absorbant.

_________________
"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f------g khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." ~ Tyler Durden

Sun May 08, 2005 2:20 am

I've found personally that solid shelves get stinky really fast even with a daily wipe down. I think the lemon juice or something like that would help, or the hot water and peroxide trick... perhaps though, covering them with some cloth that you could change every day would help? I'm not sure about the Febreeze - if it had time to air off, then it might be ok, but I'm always concerned about chemicals and smells around them, considering how sensitive their noses are.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun May 08, 2005 10:50 pm

I had a friend of mine use frebreeze on one of her dog beds...she let it air out...she put it back in the house which is next to one of her large parrots cages...the parrot got sick with a respritory infection, vet ruled it caused from the frebreeze...so this stuff is not animal safe. She isnt the only one that has had problems with it. I will see if I can find the claims against the company for animal related deaths to the stuff...I would stick to the lemon juice and baking soda it really does take the odor away!! in fact it smell like nothing.. Shaz

_________________

Mon May 09, 2005 12:23 am

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/febreze.htm

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/swiffer.asp

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/scrub.htm

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/clorox.htm

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Mon May 09, 2005 12:29 am

Thanks Kate the first one is the one I was looking for stateing it is harmful to birds...ok so if its safe for dogs and cats is it safe for rats? There are no mentions on rodents with their tiny little lungs anywhere! What do you think? Would you chance it knowing that its harmful to pet birds, around your rodents? Shaz

_________________

Mon May 09, 2005 12:33 am

Read the article: "The National Animal Poison Control Center, an organization under the aegis of the ASPCA, tells us that they have no evidence that Febreze, when used according to label instructions, is harmful to pets. In fact, they say it's "now approved by the ASPCA for safe use around cats and dogs." Given the choice between believing an anonymous e-mail message and the ASPCA, we'll side with the ASPCA. Two of the specific concerns about Febreze — that it contains zinc chloride (which is supposedly harmful to pets) and that it uses aerosol propellants (which pose a danger to many types of birds) are not viable: the improved Febreze formula (produced since December 1998) does not contain zinc chloride, and Febreze is a pump spray rather than an aerosol."

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Mon May 09, 2005 12:54 am

Aye, I've seen the thing about Febreeze being lethal to pets before now. I would take common sense precautions to make sure the stuff doesn't come directly in contact with them (such as covering fish tanks, or - in this case - not putting rats onto surfaces still damp with it) - but I sure as heck don't believe the story that it's particularly lethal either. Febreeze, from what I can judge, is no more harmful than any other aerosolised product to birds or any other critter.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat May 21, 2005 12:38 am

I just got a aquarium topper from martins cages and the silicon in the fish tank absorbed the urin odors. Does anyone know how I can safely remove the odor? I want my girls to have a safe and clean home. Daisy pees so much its hard to keep up with.

thank you

-Antea

Sat May 21, 2005 4:06 am

Hi Antea, I've been experimenting with that allergen-reducing Febreeze on the plastic shelves in my boys cage for about three weeks now. It's not really perfumy, and doesn't appear to have any effect on my boys. Just spray the inside of the aquarium, let it sit, then rinse it out or wipe it out with baby-wipes. If the ratties are in the same room with you, I wouldn't use the spray - don't want it airbourne - just pour in a little and swirl it around.

Hope this helps! wink

_________________
"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f------g khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." ~ Tyler Durden

Sun May 29, 2005 9:55 pm

You guys I've tried everything you've suggested but my cage wont last till the end of the week without being cleaned. My cage is a Super Pet Ferret cage with four levels and it was originally powder coated but then we had a little escapee problem so we had to put mesh around the cage. The sad thing is I only have two rats. You could see my cage here at www.petsmart.com it's the one that has purple shelves and the cage is taller than the girl! lol. Does any one know if I could use Cascade or somethin' like that? My room also gets kinda stinky cause the amoneia smell is still in my room I tried useing this room deoderizer for my fabric and stuff for those of you who live in america know it as Frebreeze but it just made my babies sneeze. I have hardwood floor so know pet vacuum stuff. Oh as some advice one time since I couldn't find lemeonjuice I decided to use lime juice and it worked well on the cage but there was some left in the bottle and I decided to keep it next time I cleaned the cage I went loooking for it and it smelled like rotton eggs! Ewwwww! Sorry for the LONG post!

Sun May 29, 2005 10:45 pm

I'd suggest cleaning your cage more often. I clean mine every other day. Once you get a routine, it doesn't take *that* long. You can save the big clean outs for the once-a-week job.

_________________

Mon May 30, 2005 4:07 am

Wow on cage cleaning day I never have left overs...how long did it sit in there? Also lime juice as any juice will eventualy ferment, however lemons take longer to do so..and concentrated lemon juice seems to never ferment..if you have left over its also a good idea to keep in a fridge. Shaz

_________________

Mon May 30, 2005 5:53 am

kalynhanna, Hi, I have the same cage - I sealed the plastic shelves with a child-safe enamel made specifically for plastic after having smell problems.

I sweep poopies off the shelves and put them, ever the optimist, in the litterbox and wipe down the shelves every day. If you've got any fabric hammocks or anything like that it will smell up quickly, especially if you have marinators - so I have to change that too. Every day.

I agree with Jill -- I've got it down so it takes me about 10 minutes - but that's only because I sometimes stop to A. remove a rat from my head or B. smooch a rat.

Di

_________________
"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f------g khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." ~ Tyler Durden

Mon May 30, 2005 9:29 am

I have the same superpet cage and find it is very easy to clean, and does not hold any odors. I scrub it with just soap (dawn dish washing liquid) & water. Then I spray it down with a pet enzyme cleaner (natures mirical or similar), and let it air dry. Works like a charm!

_________________
paisley

Spike, Diamond, Elphaba, Rose, Octavia, A Cappella, & Nocturne

the cats: Trip & Phlox

the rabbit: Ripley

Mon May 30, 2005 9:35 am

paisley, pet enzyme cleaner? Shrug

I haven't tried that. What does it do, exactly? I wish I'd known about that for the cleaning, I've got the boys in the living-room, where we also eat, and my hubby allows them to stay in the room only if there is NO SMELL. I swear, if one of them poots, he can smell it, tell me who did it and what they just ate. LOL

I'll try it, Thanks for the info!

_________________
"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f------g khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." ~ Tyler Durden

Mon May 30, 2005 9:24 pm

hi guys well my rat cage gets stinky very fast I mean one day it's smelling great and the next day it smells like horse dung! Confused

Well let me tell you about my cage it was originally a powder coated cage till we had a big escapee problem then we had to put a bunch of wire mesh on it. We have a 4 story Super Pet Ferret Cage that was hell to put toghther ( good thing my mom did it! hehehe

) with solid shelves and a hammock ( that is impossible to get off the cage so we have to just spray it down and squirt it with soap Confused

, bird rope,two boxes,tube,litter box,igloo,wooden cheese house, and Super Sorbent litter ( has no Pine or Cedar says on label), and only two spoiled rats live in this cage

! And the cage is in my room so then my room smells like rat pee.

Mon May 30, 2005 9:50 pm

As in - you clean it on day 1 and its stinky on day 2? Or you clean it and then suddenly after a few days it gets stinky, rather than getting gradually stinky over a few days?

If the surrounding wire is galvanised, and it's getting pee coated, that could well be the problem. Are you washing all of the cage furnishings, the plastic ones, and the ropes? The wooden house is likely another source of smells, as wood absorbs wee and gets quite stinky unless it's coated with something completely (eg, no gaps at the edges and so on).What are the boxes made out of, cardboard? How often do they get swapped, if so?

I don't know much about that litter, but maybe someone else does - but I do know that not all litters are as good at absorbing smells.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Mon May 30, 2005 10:15 pm

Hi kalynhanna, I think I have the same cage - mine came with a very thin hammock - I was able to get it off though. Little Willow is right: wood baaaaad stinky. Also, hammocks are like little wafty stinkerators if you can't wash them thoroughly, and I bet the ratties are peeing in it. If you can post a picture of the hammock, maybe we can suggest some ways to get that off the cage. Are the ratties going to get big enough so that you can take the galvanized wire off?

_________________
"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f------g khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." ~ Tyler Durden

Mon May 30, 2005 10:54 pm

Hey guys thanks for the help. Well lets see the hammock doesn't really stink before cleanings it just smells like ratties. The bars are pretty wide and when they were squeezeing out of the bars they were about 5 months and really squishy( my babies just are really flexible like their mommy!

). I went to the dollar store yesterday to find a couple rattie things they had nothin' just soap for the cage and a couple of baskets but at that moment I didn't think about using the baskets and bought candy instead! Maybe I could try to put down an OLD towel on the levels so it could absorb some odor. One time I used a nice hand towel for litter for the litter box and my ma got sooooo mad good thing my rats just stash food in the litter box! Embarassed

Mon May 30, 2005 11:02 pm

Hmm.... well if you're going to need permanent reinforcement.... You can get wire powder coated (or get ready coated wire) - how far apart are the bars?

They're solid shelves, right - Do you wipe them down every day with a wet cloth?

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Mon May 30, 2005 11:12 pm

kalynhanna, You're right about the hammock just smelling like rat after it's washed. But once it's clean, as soon as you put your ratties back in, they might be up there peeing in it. If you're here in the states, you can go to Walmart, in the craft section and find the fabric remnants bin, where they put leftover scraps and find really good hammock material for very little money, that way you could change the hammock out sooner, and it wouldn't be stinky.

You don't have to know how to sew - go look where they keep the curtain-rods and such, and you'll find something called cafe curtain rings, they have little jaws that open up and clamp down when you squeeze them. You'll also find metal shower curtain pins that open and close (that's what they call them, but they're really shaped kind of like pears.) You just clip four cafe curtain rings to the corners of the fabric, loop the shower curtain rings through and hang them up. Let's see: I spent $2.50 for enough felt to make 8 hammocks, $2.75 for the cafe curtain rings, and about $1.75 for the shower rings - total $7.00 -- you can't even afford 1 cruddy Superpet hammock for that.

_________________
"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f------g khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." ~ Tyler Durden

Last edited by SillyRat on Mon May 30, 2005 11:34 pm; edited 1 time in total

Sat Jun 25, 2005 10:47 pm

I have usually been cleaning my cages once a week and have been using aspen bedding. We have a play table which they are on for most of the day, and at night I put them in their seperate cages. So its one rat to one cage. When cleaning do I just use water and should I clean it more often? Thanks.

_________________

Sat Jun 25, 2005 10:53 pm

I use hot water to spray off the bars and the bottom pan once a week. About every three days though I go in with a pet safe santitizing wipe and clean the wires to get the pee off and such.

_________________
--;[Dannie/]
Ratties: Kina, Cessi, Nerissa and Dare

Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:59 am

I went to the pet store today and found some deodorizing cage wipes that I can use inbetween cleanings instead of a wet paper towel. They are made by Nature's Miracle and the "Yucca Enzyme Extract Makes it tough on Cage Odors". I used them today....they have an odd smell. They smell similar to Lucas, that weird nasty smelling mexican candy. It certaintly got rid of the odor by replacing it with the Lucas smell. Yuck

I can smell it wherever I go, on my hands, clothes, everywhere!

Has anyone else used these? It says they are "gentle to pets" but shouldn't be used directly on them. The ingredients are: water, formic acid, nonoxynol 9, and Yucca Extract. Sound safe? I haven't noticed my girls having a reaction to it. Shrug

If they are safe I'll probably continue to use them until I find something else with a nicer scent.

_________________
--;[Dannie/]
Ratties: Kina, Cessi, Nerissa and Dare

Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:13 am

Try looking up plants that are poisonous/dangerous to pets, and if yucca is not on the list, you're safe I'd guess.

Those sound nasty, though. If you can smell it, it must be driving the rats bonkers!

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:42 am

My husband and I made a large cage out of harware mesh and a Sterilite tub base. Will the lemon/baking soda work well on the hardware mesh since it is not coated?

_________________
--Suz

3 rats
4 mice
2 dogs
2 homo sapiens (my favorite)

Sat Jul 23, 2005 7:08 pm

It will do, I think, but it might cause some corrosion after a while (along with the wee etc).

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Fri Aug 19, 2005 5:47 am

any ideas how to clean a 20 gallon long tank with out mothing it from my third floor bed room? Confused

because its realy disguting and i just realized i can't move it (yes i just put it in, and yes i can't move it because its too heavy)

Fri Aug 19, 2005 5:49 am

I can't think of a way without without taking lots of water into the bedroom... tanks need thorough cleaning and rinsing regularly, so you'll really have to get it to a water supply somehow.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:20 pm

there is a sink about 25 feet down the hall (we live in a 19 century house) i'm willing to move it once to clean it th first time but is there a way to "lighten the load" like getting a litter pan the right size or somthing

Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:03 pm

Well that might help in between thorough cleanings, but I suspect that you're still going to end up with urine escaping from the litter tray down the sides of the glass, and underneath it, particularly if you're using a tank topper - and if there's nothing to absorb it, that's going to worsen the ammonia build up. I can't really think of a way around it - it's unfortunately one (or two) of the problems with tanks - the need for frequent cleaning and the weight. Maybe someone who's using a tank may have more advice.

However, as you were already considering a tank topper, it might be worth paying the little bit extra for a full cage and going with that, simply because it does make cleaning easier (it's lighter to carry around) and has better air flow. It's worth considering, anyway.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:44 am

Hi all. I am thinking about cage cleaning now, and I saw Simple Green lemon scent all purpose cleaner. Could I use that to clean the cage?

_________________

Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:05 am

Hmmm. I'm not sure. If it has a lingering and/or strong scent, it may well upset them. I know that there are a few cleaners that also include orange or lemon oil to help with cleaning greasy stuff away, and that would be a no-no for the male rats. Because the ingredients aren't listed, some people have reported that the scent is strong and makes them cough, I'd probably say no, and it's safer to stick to something that you know isn't going to upset the rats.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:16 pm

Okay, I was now thinking about regular diluted Simple Green. I heard someone on RR say something like 15 to 1. I am right next to the bathroom, so I was also thinking about spraying in on, letting it sit for 10 minutes or so, then taking to the shower and washing it off?

_________________

Sat Oct 15, 2005 6:45 am

I think that would be okay if you let it sit for a while to evaporate, but if I remember correctly you are getting male rats, right? If so, then I would try another light, diluted citrus free cleaner. Could plain bleach work if you let it evaporate?

_________________
Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Sat Oct 15, 2005 6:08 pm

Well, this is citrus free. I can get it really cheap, and a lot of people on RR use it.

_________________

Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:40 pm

As long as it is citrus free, and you rinse it well/let it evaporate, I think it would be okay.

_________________
Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:00 am

Okay, so as I posted in a seperate thread, we just got our R-695. Awesome cage, nice and roomy... the girls love it.

BUT I am finding it very challenging to clean? With our old modified chinchilla cage I would just throw it in the bathtub every 3/4 days, spray it down and then run the shower over it... the lastly would give it a scrub down with a cloth.

The 695 is incredibly awkward to maneuver, and doesn't even fit in the tub. So I have no idea how to clean this sucker! Help!! What do you guys do that have large cages like this one?

_________________
Lise...

& Molly, Nora, and Tevy

Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:09 am

I have the R-695 as well, and I just bring it outside, and wash it down with a hose. Next I spray it with Simple Green, and rinse it down well. It takes a while to dry though...

I know what you're talking about though, big cages are alot harder to clean than smaller cages.

_________________
EMILY-------------------------------------------------

Rest in peace, Violet and Isadora. <3

Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:19 am

LOL... I live in Manitoba, Canada. Its winter... aka its -10 to -30 outside. There will be no bringing it outside and washing it with a hose.

Man I wish I lived in Cali like you do!

_________________
Lise...

& Molly, Nora, and Tevy

Sat Dec 31, 2005 8:33 am

As you all have suggested vinegar or lemon juice for cleaning...as I have boys would the lemon juice be an absolute no-no? I'd rather not use vinegar.. lately here I've been using normal Dawn/Palmolive.

_________________
Happy New Year from Myself, Dumbledore, and Harry!

Sat Dec 31, 2005 11:09 am

As long as it's rinsed well, it should be fine - the main problem is if they consume it, but if it's thoroughly rinsed and dried prior to putting them back, it should be fine.

The use of something acidic helps remove calcified wee buildups as well as neutralising odours with the bicarb, and the bicarb fizzing helps agitate things as well. You can use anything acidic (though you really want to use a mild acid rather than a strong one) and if you have in your kitchen cupboard some citric acid (the same acid that is in lemon juice) or some cream of tartar/tartaric acid then you could use some of that instead. That's not going to have the same problems with skin oils as the fruit juice would.

If, however, you're using happy using the soap, then go with that.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~