Clean clean clean clean

Along with the story of any rodent(s), comes the story of cleaning their cages. In order to get a sense of how often and how much we use to clean with, I'll be trying to keep a tally on this blog.

Sunday (February 1): Rat Cage Day
In order for you to get a sense of how much cleaning we do on a weekly basis, here is our general cage setup for 6 rats (the 3 cages in the corner) and 3 meeces (the smaller two-story cage on the bookshelf). The lower bottom white cage is actually only half of a much larger cage we used to house all the girls in (excluding Ron, she had her own cage, the blue one on top), but due to Pumpkin's continuous and obnoxious harass/hump behavior toward Peaches, we decided to separate her.

Blue Cage (on top): houses Luffy and occasionally Peaches so Luffy has company
Includes: One envelope hammock from Chelsey's Cozies and a regular hammock from Petsmart, along with a climbing rope and medium blue igloo and random cardboard boxes.
Black Cage (Martins R670): houses Pumpkin and Bridget, who prefer to be alone together
Includes: Two hammocks from Chelsey's, two from Stars Rat Rescue, and one demented cube I made, along with a climbing rope, chew blocks, and cardboard box(es).
White Cage (Prevue 4-Story): houses Mimi and Xing Xing, and also Peaches
Includes: Two hammocks from Chelsey's, two climbing ropes and a chew log.

The Mice Cage (Critter Universe): one small igloo, one hamster potty used as a nest, a wheel, and many tubes.

THE RAT CAGE-CLEANING PROCESS

Because I am obsessive compulsive about cleanliness, this is a constant daily activity in my life, whether it be vacuuming around the cage or cleaning up poops that are somehow flung to all reaches of the apartment. They are like monkeys sometimes.

The Process:
1. Unstack all cages. Remove all hammocks from cage into the wash.

2. Remove the twins from their cage. Empty out bottom of cage into trash can. Vacuum up leftover poops and bedding pieces. Spray with organic/non-rat killing cleaner and wipe down with paper towels. Wash food bowl. Replace bedding. Put back pissed-off rats who hate everything being clean. Watch them poop and pee all over everything again.

3. Somehow get Bridget and Pumpkin out of their cage. Repeat.

4. Remove Luffy and repeat again.

5. Remove Meeces from their cage - either scrub out cage with cleaner or soak in the sink, depending on how ambitious I feel. Meeces have the worst stink, as they poop everything 3.2 seconds.

6. Get the stink eye from the rats while hammocks are in the wash. Feed them treats.

7. Place hammocks back into cages. Happy rats!

8. Now, repeat 1-3 times a week.

And there you go! Whoo cage cleaning! I actually don't mind it (Ricky does).

Remember, when considering cages, bedding materials, and toys:
- NEVER put in anything where your rats have a risk of injuring themselves. For some strange reason, hurt rats do not have a tendency to call attention to themselves, leading to a major freakout by their owners.
- ALWAYS use bedding such as Carefresh, EcoBedding, and Yesterday's News, NOT Pine or Cedar shavings. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you use soft wood bedding, be prepared to have rats with major respiratory problems down the road.
- If you use newspaper, change it out very often, as rat pee on newspaper makes a stinky ammonia that's not good for anyone's noses
- And remember, the more hammocks, ropes, and chew toys, the happier (ie less bored) your rats will be.

Happy cleaning!