Cleaning wood?

[jujubee]

The cage that I got with my chinchillas came with plastic shelves that have wood covering the whole top of the plastic, the wood is attached on the sides with wire pretty strongly. I'm just wondering the best way to clean these shelves; when I first got them I rinsed one or two of them in the bathtub because they were very dirty, but now I've read that I shouldn't let the wood get wet. I've also read that you can bake wood in the oven to kill bacteria, but since it is attached to the plastic (and definitely won't come off easily), I'm not sure how I should clean them. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

If your husband has "toys" steal his planer and you can run the wood threw the planer. Basically it takes off the top of the wood. Makes it look like new!

 

[Sheri]

Personally, since my chins chew the most hard to reach areas of their shelves I would throw them out and put in some fresh KD pine shelves. But thats just me. Eventually chins will chew through wood and get to plastic. But then I have been told I am paranoid too.:dance3:

 

[SunshineChins]

Yes you can wash wood, I wash our sleeping ledges all the time. Just make sure to let it dry out which takes about a day. You can also sand the top of it to get anything off that didn't wash away.

Depending on how thick the wood is just keep an eye on the edges where it meets the plastic. Some chins will chew on plastic others won't just depends on the chin.

 

[alli713]

What I do when I want to clean my wood shelves is get a spray bottle and put some water in it along with some vinegar. Then I just spray down the shelves and wipe them off. I'll also take a hand sander and sand them down to get the gross parts (like if they peed on a section).
Then I just don't let the chin back into the cage until it's all dry.

 

[InkedupTara]

What I do when I want to clean my wood shelves is get a spray bottle and put some water in it along with some vinegar. Then I just spray down the shelves and wipe them off. I'll also take a hand sander and sand them down to get the gross parts (like if they peed on a section).
Then I just don't let the chin back into the cage until it's all dry.

That is pretty much what I do here. I have used peroxide on pee stains as well. I however, would yank the platic and get new shelves to start fresh with wood I know is clean

 

[Chinniechantel]

I agree with what was said above. I would not use used wood, you never know what bugs can be hiding in there!

 

[Dora-Marie]

What I do when I want to clean my wood shelves is get a spray bottle and put some water in it along with some vinegar. Then I just spray down the shelves and wipe them off.

I do the same thing to wash wood toys and ledges.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I use peroxide to clean the shelves, however, since these shelves are second hand, I would just replace them. You never know what someone else may have cleaned them with (if at all).

 

[jujubee]

Yeah replacing them sounds like a great idea to me, I just ordered some but they're not supposed to come for a little while so I'll try some of these things in the meanwhile. thanks!!

 

[Sasha]

I have also heard of people boiling their wood to disinfect it and letting it dry out in the sun for a day? I haven't tried that yet, I just replaced the shelving.