How to Keep Clean Cages for Your Guinea Pigs or Cavies

Guinea pigs often clean their own cavities. A guinea pig that relies on laziness is a sick guinea pig. Keep your guinea pigs healthy by keeping their cages as clean as possible. How does this happen? Changing the bedding as often as possible, washing the cage once a week in a pet-safe solution and checking the guinea pig’s water bottle for free.

Safe Board

Not all bedding at pet stores or online that claim to be safe for guinea pigs are actually safe for guinea pigs. Guinea pigs are browsers and will taste everything, including bedding material. When choosing a bed, remember that I sometimes eat a guinea pig.

Like humans, guinea pigs can develop allergies to certain substances such as phenols in cedar or pine oil. Cedar boughs and pine boughs that have not been kiln dried are unacceptable bedding materials. Kitty-litter is also an unpleasant litter as a guinea pig can die from the litter. Cob is an unpleasant grain that creates a dangerous mold when it is born wet, according to Guinea Lynx.com.

Safe bedding choices include:

  • Aspen tree branches
  • Recycled paper bedding for care
  • Hay – though this is way expensive and should only be used with other beds
  • Old clothes or linens should only be used in an emergency or for a short period of time because they get spoiled so quickly

Spot Cleaning

Wet blanket not only smells but bacteria soon grows and mold that can get a guinea pig sick. Make sure the bottles don’t collapse water. If they do leak, they need to be replaced. If the guinea pigs play with water bottle with water bottles likes to play and sprinkles water almost as much as he drinks, then cleaning the spot every day is a must. Just drain the wet spots under the water bottle and replace with fresh bedding.

Also be sure to remove any fresh fruits or vegetables within 24 hours of offering them to the guinea pig. . remove it sooner if the treatments start to smell. Lack of fresh food can also introduce dangerous bacteria into the guinea pig’s environment.

Great Clean

The guinea pig should be placed in a play or other safe place while the cage is cleaned. All water bottles and food dishes must be cleaned. Use a bottle brush to remove all the gunk that collects at the bottom of the bottle. Any urine on toys or chew sticks. Dump all the old straws into the trash or compost pile. Use a dusty back or a clean paintbrush to scrape away any stubborn ferns.

Wash the cage itself in a solution made from 50 percent white vinegar and 50 percent water. Never use strong scented cleaners like Lysol or Pinesol because they contain chemicals called phenolics. Phenolic poisoning of guinea pigs, according to Sharon L. Vanderlip, DVM.

Wash the main cage and bottom with hot water and dry with a clean towel. Fill the dry cleaning bedding, replace the food dish and water bottles and place the guinea pig in a clean cage.

Periocha

How do you keep your guinea pigs’ cages nice and clean? With time, effort, hot water, white vinegar and a safe place to keep the guinea pig. the cages are cleaned. Health should be a daily concern for guinea pig owners.

Sources

Vanderlip, DVM, Sharon L. Guinea Pig Registrations. Barron; 2003

Bedwell-Wilson, Wendy. “It’s Not a Place I Love Home.” Guinea Pigs. Bow Ligament Press; 2005

Guinea Lynx.info. “The bedding.” http://www.guinealynx.info/bedding.html

The author’s own experience

 

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