Cage Cleaning

KEEPING A CLEAN CAGE IS ESSENTIAL TO THE HEALTH OF YOUR PIGGIES. IN THIS POST, WE WILL DISCUSS CLEANING SHAVINGS/PAPER BEDDING CAGES AS WELL AS FLEECE CAGES. WE WILL THEN DISCUSS DISINFECTING AND CLEANING CAGE BASES.

IF YOUR PIGGIES ARE ON KILN-DRIED PINE SHAVINGS, PAPER BEDDING (CAREFRESH, ETC), OR SIMILAR SUBSTRATES:

DAILY: REMOVE AND REPLACE SOILED BEDDING AREAS WITH FRESH BEDDING. YOU WILL FIND THAT EATING AREAS AND SLEEPING AREAS ARE THE QUICKEST TO GET SOILED AS GUINEA PIGS POOP AND PEE THE MOST WHERE THEY EAT AND SLEEP (LOL). SO DEFINITELY STAY ON TOP OF THOSE AREAS.

WEEKLY/TWICE WEEKLY: REPLACE THE ENTIRE CAGE WITH NEW BEDDING.

IF YOUR PIGGIES ARE ON FLEECE (WITH AN ABSORBENT LAYER UNDERNEATH!) OR FLEECE LINERS:

DAILY: SPOT CLEAN POOPS USING YOUR PREFERRED METHOD (SHOP VAC, DUSTPAN AND BRUSH, ETC).

TNC TIP! We love using a dust pan and a kitty litter scoop for hay areas and this vacuum that we found from GuineaDad for the rest of the cage. These have been the best two methods for our cage.

IF YOU USE PEEPADS FOR HIGH-TRAFFIC AREAS (HAY AND FOOD AREAS, BEDS), CHECK THOSE DAILY AND CHANGE AS NEEDED.
TNC TIP! We use a third of our cage (3×2 section out of our 3×6 C&C cage) for hay so we like to put a normal 2×3 liner down and then put 3 1×2 liners over that liner to prolong the life of the second liner. It’s much easier to just remove those pads after 1-3 days and still have the bottom liner clean to extend the cage cleaning time.

WEEKLY/ TWICE WEEKLY: DO A FULL CAGE CHANGE 1-2 TIMES PER WEEK DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF YOUR CAGE. FLEECE SHOULD NOT BE IN THE CAGE FOR MORE THAN A WEEK EVEN IF IT’S STILL CLEAN. THIS IS FOR SANITARY REASONS FOR YOUR PIGGIES.

DISINFECTING AND CLEANING C&C COROPLAST BASES:

If your base is visibly dirty from pee (check the sides of the base!), here is how to clean and disinfect the base.

Start by removing all pigs from the cage (you can give them floor time during this time if you’d like! You don’t want them breathing in the vinegar. If your cage is big enough, you can section them off to the farthest section from where you’re cleaning)

Make a solution of 50% distilled white vinegar and 50% water (good to keep in a dedicated spray bottle) and spray/wipe directly onto the base. Let it sit for about a minute and wipe up! Allow at least 10 minutes to air dry before putting fleece/bedding back. That’s it! The base should look good as new!

This shouldn’t be necessary too often. If you buy fleece liners, always ensure they’re made slightly larger than the actual size of the cage to allow for shrinkage (fleece will shrink a bit during initial washing and drying) and to have some extra to go up the sides a bit. This will help cut down on accidental pee getting on the base due to the slightly oversized liner.

I hope this helped!

Xx
Daniel

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