Where do you put your chinnies while you clean their home?

I have a thought that just occurred to me: where do you put your furbabies when you are cleaning their homes? Do you have a temporary cage that they go in? If so what kind will do. Or do you put them in the bathroom? I searched the forum and didn't find anything. Or do you just clean with them in it? Hmmm :hmm: what's best and if I should buy something then what?


Thanks:thumbsup:

some of my boys let me do a quick nightly clean with them in it. some are such PITA's that i have to let them out. when i switch the liners, they come out and go into the playpen i have set up that is a few feet away. i set up some tunnels and cardboard boxes for them to play. previous to the playpen, i chinproofed my bathroom and then made it real quick BUT they nibbled on wood and just generally destroyed the bathroom. and i really didnt like leaving them in there for more than 5 minutes unattended. sometimes i would get my son to sit in there so the playpen was my definitely my best investment.

I'm with Mishellyshell. I have a playpen for the days when they get an extensive cage clean that's a few feet away so I can watch them. If it's a quick clean Jemma and Zim usually let me do it with them in the cage, but Atlas doesn't so I just put him in a carrier by the cage really quick, change out what I need to, and put him back in.

I spot clean daily, so my chin just stays in the cage while I do that. When I do a full blown, thorough cleaning, he goes into a carrier. This is usally during the day, so he just takes a nap while I'm cleaning!

I leave my chins in the cage while I clean. I vacuum poos out nightly and change fleece liners, pee pan shavings, and disinfect with vinegar 2x weekly. Only one chin escapes occasionally while I have the cage doors open. She is the only one who I consider putting in a carrier while I clean.
I've always wondered what other people do, good question!

Misshellyshel may I ask what type of playpen are your referring to? Do you mean like a ferret marshall, I think that's what it's called, playpen?

I leave mine in the cages and usually shop vac around them lol. I do pull little babies out and put them in my pocket while cleaning their cage

this is the one i have:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751767

it wasnt the one i wanted originally, but my fiance' bought it for me as a surprise. i love it because i can put my boys in it while i clean their cage but still keep my eye on them. and because it is right where they all are, i am able to let them out more often.
if you do a search and type in playpen, a ton of threads will come up with all kinds of suggestions and reviews.

starleomach said:

I leave mine in the cages and usually shop vac around them lol. I do pull little babies out and put them in my pocket while cleaning their cage

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I totally let out an "AWWWWWWW" when I read that about you putting the babies in your pocket. :heart3:

I usually clean around the chins as well. I use a small broom and dust pan so I don't have to worry about sucking anyone up into the shop vac.

It depends on how much of a rush I am in. Sometimes with classes and other things going on, I don't have time for the chins to come out to play, but if I'm leisurely cleaning, the chins go in the playpen.

The playpen


If I don't have tons of time (cause they love it in there and don't want to come out - the covered litter box has dust in it), then I just leave them in the cage while I vacuum out the cage with a shop vac. We have one that can pick up all the shavings and everything, so the chins usually go up to one of the higher levels while I vacuum the tray.

So I found another thread about using the zip up playpen from petco. And it's very expensive so I found on ebay one very similar, larger, and cheaper. Is this color too feminine for chinny boys?
http://cgi.ebay.com/58-Pet-Puppy-Do...ultDomain_0&hash=item2a0b0d2a72#ht_3689wt_929

I wouldn't care about the color. The price is right. I would go for it.

Here's mine and I think you were referring to this one from petco -

Yep Sandi that's it, I wouldn't really let color dissuade me from buying it, I was just curious what others thought the color looked like to them. But for the price you're right its a steal.

Since we've only had Annabelle 1 month and 3 days (yes we're counting!) we're still getting into the groove of playtime/cleaning. We have playtime in the bathroom, it seems to be the easiest & safest place. For now we're wheeling the whole cage into the bathroom and cleaning at the same time- mostly because she's still skittish about being picked up so we can't make the transfer from cage to BR that way. The dustbath transfer trick worked for a few times, but she loves being out of her cage so much that the second we open the cage she tries to escape. The BR is literally 3 steps from where the cage is set up, so its really not that big of a deal to wheel the whole thing in and out. Of course it would be a lot easier if we were able to just pick her up, but we're giving her more time. I may eventually get brave enough to pick her up by the base of her tail, but I'd have to drink a few glasses of wine first!

Stitch-n-Roo said:

Yep Sandi that's it, I wouldn't really let color dissuade me from buying it, I was just curious what others thought the color looked like to them. But for the price you're right its a steal.

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If you end up buying it, let us know how it is as far as quality, such as the zippers working smoothly, etc. I love mine and in a few months it will be 2 years of me using it with my chins. It's been holding up really, really well.

I clean on dust bath day. Shelly's cage is right next go the bathroom and in a hallway I can block off. So I close all the surrounding doors and clean while she rolls.

will do Sandi

I do many different things when it comes to cleaning day. I change my liners every two days and when I do this I leave everyone in their cages. I can pull out the liners and do a quick vacuum with no problems. Now on the 4th day I pull everyone out and do a deeper clean of their cages. For this it depends on my work/school schedule. Sometimes I have to be a mean mom and take them out of their cages during the middle of the day because I will be gone until late at night, when I do this I put them all into cat carriers because they are all sleepy. But I don't have to work or go to school until in the evening, I pull everyone out and do two different shifts in the playpen (I have a pair and a trio) while I clean their cages. Their playpen is set up in the same room as their cages so I am always right next to them.

I generally leave the chins in their cages unless they have babies, or one that doesn't like me intruding, then they go into a carrier, or an empty cage if one si vacant.