How Do You Keep a Chinchilla Cage Clean?
I am getting a chinchilla and I want to keep its cage as clean as possible so how often do I have to change the litter and do I have to scoop soiled areas daily? I am thinking about wiping down the levels of my chins cage with baby wipes is this safe for the chin? What other cleansers can I use?
PeaGreen answered:
You should scrape out all of the bedding (Popsicle sticks work great for this) into a trash bag at least once a week. Any shelves in the cage should be cleaned daily, however, your cage should have WIRE shelves so you shouldn't need to really wipe them down. If your cage has plastic shelves, you need to get a new cage because chinchillas chew plastic and it can be toxic and deadly.
Chinchillas usually only pee in one corner of their box and since they don't drink much, they don't pee much either. You can spot clean this more often than once a week if you really want to, but it isn't necessary.
As for wiping down the cage, I'd simply use hot water. This you only need to do, maybe, once a month.
Dreamer answered:
Simple Green is completely non-toxic and biodegradable. You can also use diluted bleach water, as soon as it dries the bleach breaks down into salts and water and is totally harmless; people use bleach water to clean up after young babies and animals all the time and it's very safe.
Jen answered:
I personally use old home remedy such as vinegar, salt and hot water or soda. I use for cleaning fish/ turtle tanks and hamster cages. This way if you don't completely get it rinsed out its not harmful to the animal but kills bacteria. I clean my cages once a week, but once a month I do a heavy cleaning where I use my bleach and water mixture.
Mary A answered:
I just use a drop of dish soap and hot water but generally a chinchillas cage will not get very dirty. Just make sure you rinse it very well.
@Mary A:
Actually chinchillas are capable of making a mess. You have to give dust baths, and when they jump back into their cages, they are not aware that a layer of dust covers where they are. What I do to prevent this; after their bath, i take one of them, and just pat them softly all over, or just brush off any access dust that might get on the levels of their cages. It is obvious you can't get off all of it, and you will need to clean. Every other day I get a piece of printer paper and a duster. I sweep the dust onto the paper, along with poo. I do this every other day because my chinchillas have a schedule of dust every other day, and the day they don't have a bath, I sweep the dust so it doesn't hurt their respiritory system. (They will be in the bathroom with my older brother for playtime while I sweep. I don't sweep with them in there so they do not get stressed.)
Hope this helps!
~Dani xoxo
You shouldn't have a cage with wire shelving, as this can cause arthritis as they get older. If you do have a cage with a wire bottom/shelves...replace the shelves with Chin safe wooden ones to make sure there is plenty of wood for them to rest their feet on. As for the cleaning thing, I hoover the shelves using a Dust Devil daily. I have a "L" shaped wooden piece on the bottom of my cage, as the cage has a wire bottom - and underneath the wooden shelf I slide a piece of newspaper in...they pee on that and I just replace it. It's tucked under the wooden shelf as well so they can't chew it!As Jen has said, the home remedies work best I find - you know what you are putting in!