How often should you clean and scrub the cage?

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Phoeblie

Active member
Joined
May 6, 2017
Messages
36
Location
Connecticut, USA
Hi all, I'm wondering how often you should clean the cages. Right now, I sweep off their poos 1-2 times a day, depending on how busy I was. I scrub their ledges and poo catcher pan thing with dish or laundry detergent weekly. And I haven't scrubbed their cage frame since March.

Should I correct their cleaning schedule? Their cage does get a little smelly after day 4 of ledge-scrubbing. And the ledges do get some pee residue.

Also, does anyone know a good strong cleaner? Dish and Landry detergent cleans pretty good but there's some white stuff left. I spent 2 hours trying to get it off last week but it doesn't want to come off. I do rinse everything clean after scrubbing too.

Thanks!
 
you dont want to use detergents. The residue of chemicals and the scent isnt a great thing for the chins. Try using a vinegar/water mix.

Cleaning is pretty much as you feel its needed. More or less depending on the person and the chins.

Wooden ledges will get dirty over time. You can sand them down a bit to extend there life. But eventually they will need replaced.
 
Do you have the amount of the mix?

And I have metal ledges. They have a paint of something on them. Will it be dangerous if it starts to peel?
 
As said vinegar works well for cleaning, it is a natural antibacterial and deodorizer, and doesn't leave any residue. It's also safe to use around the chins, even if you accidentally miss some it wont do any harm. Some people do use bleach, but you have to be extra sure you get it all off before putting it back in. I'd only really use bleach for extreme cases like if the chin has been sick or something.

The wood ledges don't last forever, especially if they pee on them they will eventually need to be replaced since the pee soaks too far into it to get it all out. Scrubbing them with vinegar and water helps, I have also used Nature's Miracle soaked on the ledges for a while then rinsed off to get some of the staining out. Also sanding can work too depending if it's just surface staining or not.

I try to clean up the cage about once a day, cage bedding change about once a week, and do a full cage scrub about once or twice a year. I do also spot clean about once a month, or as needed, areas that get extra dirty. As said though it really depends on your personal situation, how messy the chins are, how much you are willing to let slide, and also the cage itself.
 
I will try that solution. Does anyone know why I get a leftover white residue though? It's only on the up/down ledges that my chins have as their "potty" spot. It's extremely hard to get rid of, even when I had used detergent.

I'd like to attach a pic too but I heard this forum isn't good with it. Anyone know of any sites I can upload a pic to share with you guys?
 
Most likely the white is calcium deposits from the pee, it's normal. I've had some luck soaking the stain in Nature's Miracle spray for several hours, the enzymes in it seem to break though it. It looks like they have a small pet one too that I've never see here.

As for pics I've been using Photobucket pretty much since that was just the first one I found, but there is also Flickr, Shutterfly, Instagram, and Imgur seem popular. Here is a Wikipedia list of photo share sites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_image-sharing_websites
 
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