Cleaning is important, we cannot let our rats live in a dirty cage. They cannot clean, we have to. I have seen a few cages (when moderating in my larger groups) that are very dirty, I have seen posts of rats coming from hoarding/abuse situations, and the cages are filthy. It’s very disappointing to see… the rats are the ones that truly suffer at the end of the day.
‘How Often Do I Need To Clean?’
That depends on how many rats you have, how much substrate they have, the size of their cage, and whether or not they are litter trained.
For example, five litter trained rats in a very large cage on a layer of absorbent substrate (like aspen or hemp) mixed with hay and paper to hold tunnels, in a plexiglass base, would need cleaned much less than three (not litter trained) rats in the bare minimum space, on six inches of paper bedding.
Daily Spot Cleans:
Spot cleans should be done daily, regardless of how much substrate you have.
Daily spot cleans should include:
- Removing extra soiled substrate
- Removing soiled bedding
- Replacing nesting materials
- Swapping fabrics when necessary
- Changing water and cleaning water sources
- Wiping down any plastics
- Cleaning the litter box
Litter training makes cleaning much less daunting, and makes the cage much less stinky! Here are some videos on litter training!
https://youtu.be/Dn5EallFyS0
https://youtu.be/KI6HL4fPsRk
Deep Cleans:
Deep cleans can be done weekly, biweekly, and even monthly depending on set ups. Bioactive set ups don’t even need full base replacing if you have a sustainable and strong CUC.
Deep cleans should consist of taking everything out of the cage, cleaning what is dirty, then putting stuff back and adding new things. Rearranging the cage is important, healthy rats can have it changed weekly if you clean weekly. Then, replace the substrate.
*Disabled rats will need more consistency, don’t change it as often with them.
I remove everything from the cage, and wipe it all down. I use my own cheap spray mixture that works wonders!
Spray:
70% water
30% plain white vinegar
a few drops of dawn dish soap
You can also use hydrogen peroxide, but be sure to rinse even more thoroughly with that.
Avoid scented household cleaners, and scented animal sprays and such. This will irritate their lungs.
*Clean hospital cages extra deeply.
How To Clean Fabrics:
I basically use the same mixture as the spray mixture outlined above, but in smaller amounts of course. This works wonders, I clean in the machines. It comes out with zero scent. If you aren’t comfortable with that, you can hand wash and soak in the bathtub with the same mixture, and air dry, but that takes a lot of time when you have a lot of things.
*Never use scented detergent for rat stuff!!
Cleaning Tip: Leave a smelly object in the cage (like an unwashed hammock, I often use the pee rocks, helps with litter training too) as this decreases their desire to mark the cage when it smells absolutely nothing of them. If you don’t leave a smelly object, I find they stink up the cage a lot faster.
Many of us who keep small animals also seem to have chronic illnesses / conditions, if you would like tips related to caring for small pets while battling a chronic illness, definitely watch the video linked below.