New bunny mom...what do you clean your cage with?

[jkarn]

We are picking up our rabbit today, in about an hour and are very excited!! The cage is a large, plastic bottom type, and I'm wondering what you use to clean/disinfect the cage? Bleach? Vinegar? What proportions do you use, water to bleach/vinegar?

We will be starting to litter train, so i'll probably need to clean the cage really well everyday since our bun won't be using the box right away...

I bought some stuff called Vanodine but it is very toxic (to people anyway) and I don't want to use it in case it splashes on my skin or eyes.

Thanks,

Jules

 

[LizBuns]

I wouldn't use anything toxic to humans or buns. I personally use carpet remnants or grass mats on the bottom of my cages, so I don't have to scrub them very often, I just vacume w/ a cordless hand vac every other day to get rid of excess litter or random poops. On the litter boxes I use a spray bottle of half water/half hydrogen peroxide and one tbsp of liquid soap and then sprinkle some baking soda on whatever I'm cleaning and then scrub and rinse with warm water. I feel baking soda and peroxide gets rid of smell better than vinegar, but lots of people use vinegar successfully.

 

[JimD]

I use vinegar.

I keep it in a spray bottle....actually two.
One with 50/50 mix with water....the other bottle is straight up vinegar for tough stains.

I rinse first with hot water....spray on the vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes....and then rinse well.

After that, I scrub with Dawn dishsoap and rinse, rinse rinse.

Vinegar works really well for the pee accidents on carpet an stuff, too.

 

[gentle giants]

I won't use anything that my bunnies coun't drink without harm. I use white vinegar, and I dilute it with water, about half and half. I also put apple cidar vinegar in their drinking water about twice a week, it helps keep their guts balanced.

 

[Revverress]

Vanodine is a GREAT product.

http://www.vanodine.com/vanodine_v18_rabbit_disinfectant.html

I haven't been able to get my hands on it yet, but almost all of the rabbit breeders around here use it because of the risk of picking up illnesses at shows. From what I understand, with the right dilution, you can even put it into the rabbit's water or spray it in the air to kill bacteria.

I think the warning about it being toxic is because you need to dilute it first. One the Vanodine website, it says that: "Note: V18 and FAM are in CONCENTRATED form. You will need to dilute before application in order to avoid irritation of the skin."

Vinegar is really great with cleaning up urine, but if you have it already, I would recommend using the Vanodine at least in the litter box to kill off bacteria.

Holly

 

[pamnock]

There are many household products that are safe to use and non-toxic when dry. I used pine cleaner to scrub my cages.

Bleach can be dangerous when mixed with urine, so I'd avoid using it unless outside.

Vanodine is a great product.

Vinegar is very safe and good for dissolving calcium buildup from urine.

Pam

 

[JimD]

pamnock wrote:

Bleach can be dangerous when mixed with urine, so I'd avoid using it unless outside.

Oh my!:shock:

I never thought of that!
Mixing chlorine bleach with ammonia (urine) is definitely dangerous .... it could result in releasing chlorine gas!! Yikes!!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Hot soapy water works for general cleaning. I use it in the litter boxes to get rid of all the bit of left over litter after dumping it. I only then use vinegar if there are stains that the soap doesn't get.
I have a spray bottle with vinegar and water (I don't know the ratio) that I use to clean the chloroplast in the cage (I have an NIC cage). I just spray then wipe with paper towel.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I just clean my cages with a brush and a pan. (and buckets of course ) In the spring I disenfect cages with a water/bleach mixture. For the little amount I use to clean with, it sure takes me a long time to clean though, but I do have 10 rabbits, so....

Emily

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

pamnock wrote:

Bleach can be dangerous when mixed with urine, so I'd avoid using it unless outside.

I'm curious...why is bleach dangerous when mixed with urine?

Emily

 

[Raspberry82]

Because as JimD said, urine contains ammonia and when you mix bleach with any form of ammonia, it creates chlorine gas which is a very dangerous poison. So this is why you never ever mix bleach with any household cleaners that contain ammonia either.

I use Young Living Thieves Cleaner. http://www.youngliving.us/featured_items/feat-thieves_pip.asp

I trust them and they're 100% safe. It smells like christmas to me, good deoderizing. The buns don't mind the scent since I've been using it forever and it kills germs and viruses. I hate the smell of vinegar so I prefer this.

I use a tiny bit of raw apple cider vinegar in my bun's water also. It helps kill bad bacteria and grow good bacteria.

 

[Maureen Las]

I use vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. I mix it only at the time I use it and there is no gases released etc.

this stuff works really good at dissolving crud stuck on a floor and also bird droppings.
Anyone with a bird knows how difficult it is to get dried bird poop off a floor. Well I pour a little hydrogen peroxide and a little vinegar right on the poop and let it sit a few minutes and it loosens it wonderfully.

 

[Raspberry82]

That's a good one Angieluv! I'll have to try that out sometime.