Sanitizing cage and room for Giardia?

[zombiezeatbrain]

I've just about finished up the process of giving my chin the medication Panacur for Giardia. I've been cleaning up thoroughly every day since I received the medication, but what other methods can be used? How do I sanitize my carpets? What disinfectant should I use when cleaning out his metal basspans? I need suggestions so I can prevent this infection from happening again.

 

[tunes]

You can clean his cage and pans with white vinegar and warm water, then throw them out in the hot sun for several hours (depending on the cage obviously). Wash everything in them with hot water and dry on high heat. For wood stuffs, boil and bake. As far as the carpet goes, shampoo it with a steam cleaner.

The problem with giardia is once they have it, it can flare any time. If they are overly stressed, if they have another illness, if they get exposed to a bad water source, etc. Sadly, it can be a gift that just keeps on giving. Hopefully that won't be the case, but one of the best things you can do is make absolutely sure of your water source. I only use reverse osmosis water and my bottles are washed at 135 degrees and basically baked dry, and the lids are boiled in soap and bleach.

 

[zombiezeatbrain]

You can clean his cage and pans with white vinegar and warm water, then throw them out in the hot sun for several hours (depending on the cage obviously). Wash everything in them with hot water and dry on high heat. For wood stuffs, boil and bake. As far as the carpet goes, shampoo it with a steam cleaner.

The problem with giardia is once they have it, it can flare any time. If they are overly stressed, if they have another illness, if they get exposed to a bad water source, etc. Sadly, it can be a gift that just keeps on giving. Hopefully that won't be the case, but one of the best things you can do is make absolutely sure of your water source. I only use reverse osmosis water and my bottles are washed at 135 degrees and basically baked dry, and the lids are boiled in soap and bleach.

Do I need to hire a carpet cleaning service to do the carpets? I don't know exactly how to shampoo them! ahahaha. Also, at what temperature do you bake your wood?

 

[aznmexaggie]

You can rent a carpet cleaner from Home Depot or most hardware stores. Personally, I would just throw all my wood items away because wood is so porous and hard to properly sanitize. However, you can sand it down and then bake it for 30 min - hour at around 275 degrees F... or use a steam cleaner. Keep an eye on it though if you bake it because you could end up with burnt wood.

There is an article that Shahna and I wrote in the Chinchilla Articles section of the forums on Giardia and Coccidia which should be helpful as well.

 

[AZChins]

I agree, just throw the wood away. It's such a magnet for bacteria and pretty much anything else since it is so porous. When rescues come in with wood stuff I just toss the wood because I just never know what has gotten into the wood. Then when I just scrub cages here I throw out all the ledges and wooden things except for maybe hanging toys. It's always better to start out fresh with new ledges and shelves and things.

I always like the results from the professional carpet cleaners much more than anything I can do, but I have a carpet shampooer that I use all the time for spots. The ones you can rent are alright...they're pretty easy to use and do a decent job. I don't like the carpet detergent/soap that they sell with the rental units I have used in the past though. If you rent one and do it yourself, buy a different cleanser. I have been using Simple Green Carpet cleaner lately and it works nicely without leaving much soapy stuff behind.

 

[CathyDoggins]

Regarding the carpets and giardia, I've successfully added some disinfectant to the carpet cleaning fluid. I'd just be sure to check to make sure it doesn't stain your carpet, by cleaning an out of the way area first.