How do you keep a guinea pigs cage clean? PLZ help?

Question

My guinea pig cage gets dirty way to fast about every 3 to 4 days.Is that usual? It just sucks having to clean it every couple of days and having to buy bedding alot.Now ive had them (2) for a year and a half about and i just want to know what you guys do and just help learn how to keep a cage clean PLEASE.

Answer 1

that's about right -- every few days... try lining the thing with several layers of newspaper before you add bedding.... you might be able to pick it all up at once (hopefully) at each cleaning...

and if they go in one spot more than all others in the cage, put more bedding in that spot, less in the rest of the cage.

that might help?

Answer 2

It depends on 2 things.
1. The bedding you are using.
2. The size of your cage.

1.
Out of all of the beddings I would recommend Aspen or fleece. Aspen has no aromatic-oils, soaks up the urine and is perfectly safe for your guinea pigs. I usually put newspaper underneath the aspen as this way when it comes to cleaning all I have to do is wrap the whole thing up. I usually clean the cage out every 5 days, with spot cleans daily. The whole cleaning process involves me wrapping the aspen up in the newspaper, chucking it in the bin, sweeping out any stray pieces of aspen and using a 50% vinegar and 50% water to wip3 out the cage. After leaving the mixture to dry I then return, add a fresh layer of newspaper and aspen (a couple on inches thick), chuck out any left over pellets and fill that up, I finish by giving them fresh water. Aspen is quite expensive compared to other beddings but is well worth it. Fleece is a totally different bedding, what fleece does is wicks the urine through to the bottom of the cage. This is why you need to have some sort of absorbent underlay, good choices include towels, matress pads and puppy pads. I usually clean out the cage once a week (7 days) but I vacuum the cage every day to get rid of poops. Cleaning the cage when using fleece involves, taking the fleece and towels out and washing them in the washing machine with a cup of vinegar, I then put the fleece and towels in the dryer to get them dry quicker. After all of this is done I put everything back in the cage, change the pellets and give them fresh water. Fleece is quite expensive to buy but because you just re-use it, in the long run it is cheaper.

2.
Like Memphisgal said, the bigger the cage the less often you will have to clean it as they have more space to go so it isn't as concentrated in one spot. Alternatively you can try litter box training, this is quite hard to do especially with guinea pigs but none the less, it can be done. Litter boxes can be found at most pet stores (the ones that do not sell animals), fill the litter box with bedding (or litter but make sure that it is safe, I would stick to either fleece or aspen) and add some already soiled bedding to enforce the use of the box. If you do catch them using it reward with a treat.

Answer 3

They do get dirty fast. They needd to be cleaned 1x a week . I use cedar shavings now instead of the pine because it helps cover up the smell..espically in smaller rooms. I dont buy the small shavings bag either. I buy the huge block that weighs a ton from Walmart for about $5. It lasts for quite a while. I use a normal broom and dust pan and the big kitchen trash can to just kick out the old nasty stuff and once a month I use the Lysol anti bacterial spray on the walls and floor of the cage. A room de stinker helps too.

Answer 4

I am a slave for 5 adult guinea pigs and I have them for about 4 years years now. Most of them are 2nd 3rd and 4th generations. Well sad to say that there is no way to keep their cage ultra clean for more than 3-4 days. They are little poop machines that basically what they do. My enclose is similar to dog cage that have slots wherein there droppings and urine could fall or drip trough, underneath is a tray that has newspaper. I usually clean them after 3-4 days by replacing the soiled newspaper after cleaning the tray with soap and water.

Answer 5

I need to totally clean ours about every 5 days & do spot cleaning between times. It's a little better now that I've found a way to secure his food dish so he doesn't spill it & I'm hoping that when the weather cools down he'll stop playing in his water-- he's got a bottle with a sipper tube but still manages to play in it. We've noticed that he doesn't play in it when we have the a/c on.
We've been using Total Comfort for all our small animals but I'll probably switch to Carefresh for out piglet, I think it would be easier to clean up. Putting newspaper under the litter helps if your guys don't 're-arrange' it.

Answer 6

The bigger the cage, the less often it will have to be cleaned. Pet store cages are like litter boxes, they need cleaning all the time. Large C&C cages only need weekly cleaning with maybe a spot cleaning once in a while.

Answer 7

Well 3 to 4 days is usual and they do have to pee and poop. Put newspapers underneath the shavings - that'll soak up the urine. And don't let them keep stale food in the cage. Give them enough veggies to eat and then throw away what they leave behind. That goes bad quickly. apart from that there's nothing else that you can do.

Answer 8

Well it is completely normal for guinea pigs to be messy!!!
I reccomend using vinegar and water it works great!!!!!!!!!!