What to do when cleaning there cage?

[mocha200]

Normaly when i clean there cage, i set up the xpens in the livingroom to make a 8’x8′ pen, then i have to put a sheet down over the rug because my mom doesn’t them on it. then i have to add two litter boxes and towles, hidey huts, hay, water, toys and all that stuff, so by the time i am done cleaning there cage ( witch takes 1-2 hours) i have to clean up the whole pen and take the xpens back outside. I am really tired of doing that and i want to have somthing easyer. so i am trying to come up with something i could build to put them in while i clean so i don’t have as much of a mess to clean up. so i was thinking of building a little thing out of nic grides that would be easy to bring in and out of the house and is small enough to not take up to much space for storage. the reason i want tto do this is becaus i am going to be cleaning there cages 2-3 times a week. so setting all the xpens up is so hard to do that often.

so any hep would be great.

mocha200

[Deleted User]

I just put mine in pet taxis when I clean.

[Sarita]

Yes, just put them in the pet carriers, that would be the easiest.

[eyorelop]

What do you do with them for their out of cage time. Could they not hang out there while cleaing out cage or stay in the same room with you. Mine is free range in his room but I just clean his litter box and pick up hay and change water with him right in the room. That seems like a lot of moving and staging, I can see why you would be tired of all that.

[Deleted User]

It is easiest, to clean during their exercise time. But I think it can be hard when their exercise area is where their enclosure also is. The rabbits, my rabbits, start to mess with cleaning stuff, like jump into the trash, knock it over, throw the dustpan around…

[bunnymum16]

i just put my bunnies in their little carrier when i have to clean their pen.i just put some treat and chew toy in there.they dont really mind it even if i take more than an hour to clean.

if you do want something bigger for them,the nice cube idea would be fine.a 1×1 perhaps?

[Sarita]

I just clean around my rabbits – they move out of my way. But I clean daily, twice a day, so I have no major cleaning other than the litter boxes.

[Deleted User]

They move out of the way… ??? –maybe it is a mini rex thing but mine think they should ride on the broom or dustpan~

[Sarita]

I vacuum and they don’t like that I guess. Pepe is the only one that attacks me when I try to clean. He got me good today because I couldn’t distract him.

[Deleted User]

I really like using pet taxis (little cat crates/carriers) because they double as litterboxes for their pen if I am very rushed.
Mocha, that is outrageous, to make yourself that much work. Your rabbits can be confined for an hour, especially if it is their sleepy time.

[Sarita]

I agree about the pet taxi’s – Mocha you should do that – just stick some hay in there for them to munch on – you make way too much work for yourself.

[Deleted User]

You’d only need one carrier thing. One of your cats’, cleaned out.

[stacyblue]

Posted By Petzy on 09/13/2010 12:10 PM
They move out of the way… ??? –maybe it is a mini rex thing but mine think they should ride on the broom or dustpan~

 

That gave me a nice chuckle I know how you feel .Dexter is a mini rex but when I let him out for play time and start cleaning his pen he likes to come behind me to make sure its done right, I guess .I move his hidy box to sweep under and wipe and he moves it back , I move his blankie and he strts dragging it back ! Its like hes saying “Hey ! thats mine and I want it here !”He is too funny to watch .Marshmallow was fine with me moving his stuff around but he would bite the dust pan and spill it no matter if I was using it in his pen or sweeping up his little “gifts” in my livingroom.

[Andi]

Posted By Petzy on 09/13/2010 12:03 PM

 The rabbits, my rabbits, start to mess with cleaning stuff, like jump into the trash, knock it over, throw the dustpan around…

Baby loves when it’s cage cleaning time. He attackes the brooms and dust pan (They are his arch enemy), & chews holes/digs at the garbage bags  he looooooves bags.
When i clean i leave the cages open so they can leave and run around their free run area. Bubba usually stays in his cage, some of the others do to. Since they have condos they just sit up there while i sweep and empty litter pans. If I have to comb fur off carpet levels, i sometimes have to do it around bunnies LOL Now if i have to wash the floor, i usually take everyone out, if it’s ncie they go outside, if it’s not I just block off the area i am cleaning.
 

[Elrohwen]

I don’t put my bunnies anywhere – if it’s a quick clean, like just litterboxes, I just do it while they’re around. They kind of get in the way, but it’s not so bad. When I clean their whole area and vacuum the rug under their pen, I generally drag them out into the living room first, or at least get them in their maze. They’re usually afraid of the vacuum enough that they stay put and don’t get in my way.

I agree with the others that the pet carrier would be a good place. Can I ask why it takes 1-2 hours to clean their cage? That seems like a lot of work! Maybe if you shortened the cleaning time, you wouldn’t feel bad about leaving them in the pet carrier for 30min while you clean.

[mocha200]

i used to out them in there carriers before they were bonded but now that they are mocha wont leave her alone! as soon as they get in the carrier mocha gets on her and humps her! it makes a LOT of noise and poor lulu can’t get away because there isn’t enough room to move! sometimes he just sits on her but still! he is such a brat! and as soon as i open the door she rushes out!

[Deleted User]

well, if it does not cause a fight… I’d just put them in the carrier and do a cleaning extra fast~ or, use two carriers! Or two NIC cubes!

[jerseygirl]

Yes, use to separate carriers or 2 Petzy cubes. Alternatively, could you shut them in the bottom of their condo with grids, clean the upper floors, then transfer them to the clean part while you finish the bottom floor?

I want to ask same as Elrohwen; why does it take 1-2 hrs? With litter trained rabbits it should only be a matter of doing their boxes and wiping down the floors.

[Beka27]

I’m with everyone else. You shouldn’t have to remove them from your room. My buns are out playing anyways, so when I’m ready to clean, I just go in and clean up. Longest it takes me to do a normal clean is 10 minutes. Can you tell us specifically what your routine is? We want to help you with this Mocha.

[mocha200]

oh sorry! i didn’t have time to give you all the answers yesterday because we were busy.

here is how i clean there cage:

. first i take the buns out
. then i pick the hay off of the rug then vacuum it, then roll it up and put it on my bed.
. then i sweep the hay on my floor into a pile
. then take every thing out of the cage and set it out of the way. ( hay racks, litter boxes, food water dishes, water bottles ect.)
. then sweep out the cage ( and if there was an accidents wipe it up)
. vacuum the whole cage
. spray the cage with vinegar and water mix.
. while the vinegar is soaking in i empty the litter boxes.
. then scrub the boxes with 50/50. and dry them.
. then i go and wipe the cage down after it had been soaking.
. then i go and fill the litter boxes with litter and put them in the cage.
. then i wash out the food and water dishes/ water bottles.
. then fill the hay racks with hay and put them back in the cage.
. and put all the toys and every thing else back in.
. then i put every thing that is on my floor on my bed ( hay bin, laundry baskets. ect.).
. then sweep up the pile of hay / other stuff.
. then vacuum my floor.
. then file the water dishes back up
. then put the buns back in.
and the last few times i cleaned there cage i found pee under neath the ceramic tiles so i had to soak them in 50/50. but the last time i cleaned there cages i didn’t put them back in cuz it was to much to soak them every time.

[mocha200]

i made this and i am thinking i will keep them in this when i clean.

[mocha200]

sorry for the garbage by it, its in the garage right now. is a two by four.

[Beka27]

I see. That is a very, very thorough clean. And you are doing that 3 times a week? Have you tried dumping litterboxes 3 times a week and only doing the full clean once a week? How much of a mess do they make, are they doing well with their litterboxes?

[Elrohwen]

I agree with Beka – I think you can get away with less cleaning. I usually do the litter boxes twice a week, spot clean any accidents in the cage, then wipe down the whole cage once a week and vacuum the rug area once every week (or two weeks, I’m lazy).

I don’t remember what your set up looks like, but could you contain the hay better? I only put hay in the plastic cage portion of their habitat, so it doesn’t get spread around the pen or the rest of my house. When I’ve had them in just a pen (when we’re out of town, for example) the hay gets everywhere and I’m constantly sweeping up. Maybe you can rig up a hay only area that will contain it better so that clean up is easier.

[Sarita]

I have 7 rabbits right now and it never takes me that long to clean. Litter boxes which I do twice a week take me about an hour because I have to go up and down stairs and take 2 trips to do this sometimes 3 depending on how motivated I am.

I guess my daily morning and evening fresh water and vacuum take me about 20 minutes each time….maybe 15 minutes. If I take up and wash rugs, that take me an extra 15 minutes – I only do that for Mango and Toffee.

I try to make it as uncomplicated for myself as possible.

[mocha200]

well now that i don’t have to soak the tiles it takes me an hour or less. but before with the two xpens and everything, took me forever!

[mocha200]

about litter training, Lulu tends to go pee in the box but she poops were she wishes, mocha sometimes will poo out side of it but not to much.

what about the cage i made?

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I think the cage you made is excellent for putting them in while you clean. It would work great, but doesn’t something like that take up a lot of room?
Anyway, I just put my bunnies in the bathroom when I clean. I don’t remove my area rug to sweep under because I personally don’t think it is worth the effort. Once a year I hose my area rug down and leave it to dry outside, but my bunnies don’t have any accidents so it doesn’t get that dirty.
To give you a image of what my cleaning is like I will tell you my routine:

Put bunnies and litter box in bathroom
Vacuum rugs (inside x-pen)
Vacuum around x-pen, under dresser and bed and by hay, food, litter and garbage storage
Vacuum cage
Wipe down cage with vinegar
Put bunnies and litter box back

I find doing only this much works for me, sometimes I slack and don’t vacuum under my bed or cupboard. And sometimes I just vacuum the cage and don’t wipe with vinegar (my bunnies don’t tend to have accidents).
I find this keeps my room plenty clean, it is never smelly (unless I forget to change their garbage)

Personally I think you are overworking yourself cleaning your bunny cage that thoroughly, but if you like everything to be spotless then nothing is wrong with going all out and cleaning everything until it is spick and span.

Maybe if this is just becoming too much for you then you could do a light clean with them still in the cage three times a week and do a heavy clean once a week.

[Beka27]

We’re not suggesting you do a bad job at cleaning up (altho it probably sounds like it!), just cutting corners here and there and picking one day a week to do the full clean might help you out a lot. I wait until the weekend when I have more time to do the full cleaning, and I just spot clean and dump litterboxes during the week.

As far as soaking the tiles or litterboxes, what works well is having an extra set of items that needs more cleaning time. So while the tiles or litterboxes are soaking, you could have already replaced them with a second set. And swap them out each time. Same thing with towels, blankets, rugs, etc… things that need extra washing time. You’ll be amazed at how much time it saves.

[Otti]

Yeah I definitely do the same thing Beka suggests: two sets of dishes, two/three sets of blanket/rugs (picking like colors so I can wash them all together).

I vacuum quickly with the dust buster and change the litter box more or less every other day. Clean the pen and foam flooring and vacuum everything more carefully once a week.

I also keep all my litter box supplies in the same spot in a closet by the pen… so I have paper towels, cleaning spray, carefresh and plastic bags for dumping all together and don’t need to go rummage all over the place for them each time.

If cleaning up after Sammy took me 3 or more hours/week I think I’d opt out altogether LOL

[mocha200]

I cleaned it yesterday and it only took me an hour! yay! i know, i know, thats a long time but it was short for me. Today is one of the only days i don’t have after school stuff, so i am going to get every thing together and organize the cleaning stuff hopefully then it will take quicker.

[Beka27]

And figuring out a schedule will work wonders too. On Sunday I can do my big cleaning b/c I’m home. During the week, Tues and Thurs work better for spot cleaning/litterbox-dumping. Pick the days that work best for you, maybe make a note on the door that says what your bunny schedule is so you don’t forget. (Your mom will be impressed if you can hold to a schedule like that. That is a real sign of maturity).

[mocha200]

the only days i don’t have dance are thur. sat. and sun. so i could do it one of those days and just do a little clean a different day, because i am home all day during the week cuz i am homeschoold

[Dreya T]

I remember when we used to have hamsters it took ages to clean everything out but having bunnies is surprisingly easy. :p I do the litter boxes every other day and a full clean one or twice a week, but since we line just about everything with newspaper all it takes is sweeping everything up and putting down fresh newspaper.

Everything takes longer when you’re still getting used to stuff!

I love that big cage – is that made of NIC?

[allegrabunny]

Hay containment is a huge issue for me, the two babies are pretty decent, but June gets it everywhere. He literally creates a mat out of hay, I have gone through three hay rack for him and he just tosses it everywhere.

[Dreya T]

Have you tried a litter box with a lid on it? I understand they’re supposed to be quite good for animals that throw stuff around.

[mocha200]

they don’t make messes with there boxes Lulu just doesn’t poo in them.

yes it is made out of nic grides.

[Deleted User]

I love that ‘waiting room’ of grids you built! Is it in the garage? That’s so handy to have. I love to be able to pop my rabbits somewheres when I want or need to, I use my pen in the yard for this purpose.

I always go through cycles with my rabbit maintenance; I make it simple and cleaning is easy… then I get creative and want to make new things for them and add in stuff to their habitat and cleaning becomes an ordeal… then I simplify again. It is part of keeping it interesting for me. My rabbits have an incredible tolerance for this.

Lulu has poor litter habits… Neigey was like this for months but eventually improved.

[mocha200]

only poo now. but i hope it gets better.

[Deleted User]

if it is just some scattered droppings, she may still be marking as a phase in her new bond to Mocha.
Where does she leave her stray droppings? Everywhere? On wood, on blankets?

[mocha200]

pretty much wee ever she is she goes. Or when she gets scared.

[Author]

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