Cleaning?

[snowindry]

So I haven't gotten my Chin yet, but i was wondering how often to clean her/his cage, and what to put in the bottom? Do you use fleece and bedding or just one or the other? If i used fleece do i just wash the blanket to get the waste out? (scooping poop too?) For some reason that just doesn't sound right.. Or do I treat bedding like litter and dump the whole thing out once a week or so? Cleaning the big messes daily of course. Would i need to clean the whole cage weekly? And also what about shelves, is that just the bottom of the cage?... and i've heard plastic ones are bad and wooden are good.. sounds stupid but i'm confused. Thanks.

 

[missyjre]

I personally vaccuum every day. When I do food and water changes. I wipe down shelves as needed though my girl seldomly pees on them. She seldomly pees anywhere except her "Litter box" Which is a Glass pyrex dish full of shavings. I use fleece liners for the rest of the cage. Be sure not to just toss a fleece blanket in. There's a thread on here with directions for making fleece liners. http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=907 Most blankets have stitching around the edge which if chewed could cause an impaction, Not to mention alot are made of low grade fleece. I change liners two or three times a week. Just toss em in the wash I promise it gets em clean. Just make sure you do a good vac and get as much of the hay off the liner as you can before the wash. I Do a full wipe down once a week usually on sundays but I've seen some ppl that do monthly and I'm sure that is fine. And yes plastic is bad. If chewed and alot of chins chew it. It can cause impactions go with wood. Just make sure it's chin safe here's a list http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34 and here's a DIY For making shelves http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15265 .

 

[Pikaia]

I use aspen bedding in my cages. Every night, I have a handheld sweeper that I sweep poop off the shelves with. It works really well! Then I wipe the shelves down. My chins pee in a corner of the cage, so I change that area of bedding. Once a week, I do a complete cleaning (dump bedding, wash pans and put new bedding in there).

 

[Pikaia]

oh, and I do this while my chinnies are having playtime with my boyfriend

 

[snowindry]

Oh, thank you! So you can 'potty train' chins to only go in a specific area like a litter box? If I wanted to buy some liners what shouldn't i get?..

 

[mishellyshel]

all my boys have fleece lined cages and everyone has at least 1 litter box, some have 2. A couple of them only use the litter box, but most also pee on the fleece. i also have a marble tile in my cages about 12 x 12 inches that i put where their food & water is.

Each night i take out all the hay that has fallen, the shavings that have been kicked out and i pick up the hundreds of poos.......usually by hand. i wipe down the the tiles and wipe off any pee on shelves, since i have 1 boy that does that. i refill thier food, water, hay, new shavings & give them their nightly treat.

Then about 1 time, sometimes twice per week, I remove everything in their cage including the fleece, vacuum or by hand remove & debris on their metal pans and wipe them down with an organic pet safe orange cleaner. replace with new clean liners and everything fresh. and start over!
i have 9 boys and i can not get this process under about 30 minutes per night, usually 40 - 60 just in nightly maintenance and when i replace everthing it takes almost 2 hours, so i usually split it into 2 nights. 2 FN towers one night, then 2 the next!

also my chins are out in their play area during this time, which is about 4 feet behind me, so i keep my eye on them.

and i shake out my liners very very well before i put them in the laundry. i use detergent and vinegar.......no softner. warm or hot water. extra rinse cycle.

 

[winknfox]

I use fleece liners. I personally feel that its cheaper because I don't have to buy bedding as often. It also is cleaner because my chins liked to kick the bedding all over outside of their cage before I switched to fleece. I use a shop vac(doesn't get clogged as easily) and vaccuum off the shelves and liner of poop and old hay/food every day. I wipe down shelves and change liners once a week.

 

[SamiJami]

I use carefresh at the bottom of one cage and liners for my other cage. I kind of like the carefresh more because I can spot clean it during the week and do a whole cleaning once a week. The liners need to be shaken daily (for my liking) and washed every 2-3 days. The liners are much more cost effective, though!! And I think my babies like it I also vacuum my shelves every other day.

 

[GorillaJTA]

I use carefresh at the bottom of one cage and liners for my other cage. I kind of like the carefresh more because I can spot clean it during the week and do a whole cleaning once a week. The liners need to be shaken daily (for my liking) and washed every 2-3 days. The liners are much more cost effective, though!! And I think my babies like it I also vacuum my shelves every other day.

Be careful with carefresh, as chins have been known to eat it and get impactions.

I used liners for months, but just switched back to shavings with my bass pans. The liners eventually build up an ammonia smell that I cannot get out no matter what I wash them with and it is twice the work as using litter, if a bit cleaner.

 

[minrex]

Be careful with carefresh, as chins have been known to eat it and get impactions.

I used liners for months, but just switched back to shavings with my bass pans. The liners eventually build up an ammonia smell that I cannot get out no matter what I wash them with and it is twice the work as using litter, if a bit cleaner.

I've been reading this forum/CnQ for years now, and I don't ever remember reading a thread in which someone's chin actually ate Carefresh and became impacted. It's been discussed as a possibility, but it's also possible for chins to ingest and become impacted from wood shavings. That doesn't mean it happens except in freak instances.

I've used Carefresh with my chins and other small pets for several years and have never had a problem. Though the price of Carefresh is higher than other beddings, I like it the best of any bedding I've tried and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. Of course you need to keep an eye on your chins to make sure they're not eating it, especially right after you clean the cage when they often "explore" the new bedding and chew on bits of it, but you should do that regardless of the type of bedding you use.

 

[GorillaJTA]

I've been reading this forum/CnQ for years now, and I don't ever remember reading a thread in which someone's chin actually ate Carefresh and became impacted. It's been discussed as a possibility, but it's also possible for chins to ingest and become impacted from wood shavings. That doesn't mean it happens except in freak instances.

I've used Carefresh with my chins and other small pets for several years and have never had a problem. Though the price of Carefresh is higher than other beddings, I like it the best of any bedding I've tried and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. Of course you need to keep an eye on your chins to make sure they're not eating it, especially right after you clean the cage when they often "explore" the new bedding and chew on bits of it, but you should do that regardless of the type of bedding you use.

I still didn't have good luck with it when I used it. It killed my vacuum cleaner.

 

[Rob Walker]

Ive used carefresh for the first year i had neve, and switched to liners/shavings.

My next step is to probably tile the cage bottom.

I clean my cage once a week

 

[Sandi]

So you can 'potty train' chins to only go in a specific area like a litter box?

Not on your nelly! Actually, you can train a chin to urinate in a litter box but they will poop anywhere and everywhere they feel like. )