How To Clean Your Guinea Pig Cage

Right. There’s no escaping it! If you have guinea pigs (or any other small animal for that matter) you will need to do plenty of cleaning out. It is vital for your guinea pigs’ health and well-being that you ensure their living conditions are, above all else, clean and dry.

- Be mindful of this extra cleaning commitment before you take on guinea pigs.

- Make allowances for cage cleaning time in your daily/weekly chores routine.

- How often you will need to do a ‘full’ clean out will depend on the bedding you are using and the number of guinea pigs that you have… more piggies = more poo and wee!

General Cage Cleaning Tips

At the very least, you will need to do a ‘full clean out’ (i.e. strip out all bedding and clean the inside surfaces of the cage) once a week. If you have a larger herd, or elderly (and therefore perhaps more incontinent) guinea pigs then this could increase to twice weekly (or even more!).

As a rule of thumb, the surface of whatever bedding material you are using wants to be as clean and dry as possible. If the bedding surface is damp and dirty then bacteria can form, the cage will become smelly and your guinea pigs will have to sleep on the equivalent of wet, dirty bed sheets. Yuck! Damp surfaces can lead to piggies getting sore feet which can become problematic for them. So, you need to look out for them and be the judge of when it’s time to clean out their cage.

You can keep on top of things daily, by spot cleaning particularly soiled areas and removing any partially or uneaten fresh food. Then your full clean out is an opportunity to clean the base and insides of the cage, before putting in completely clean and fresh bedding.

CHECKLIST | CLEANING TIPS:

Clean the base of your cage (during your full clean out) with a pet safe cleaning solution. Alternatively, you can make your own by mixing some washing up liquid with warm water. A cleaning solution of water and white vinegar can be effective against stubborn stains or odour. Fully remove all bedding and sweep up stray bits of hay/food/poop before washing the inside of the cage. Ensure you rinse well with clean water and allow to dry fully before replacing with clean bedding.

Don’t forget to clean bowls and water bottles too! These will need cleaning more than once a week…but your ‘full clean out day’ is another good opportunity to wash all bowls and bottles in warm soapy water. Rise thoroughly.

Check accessories like tunnels for poos and damp patches. Clean as appropriate and leave to dry.

Some good ‘tools of the trade’ include: rubber gloves; cloths and a scrubbing brush; dustpan and brush; paper towels. (Keep these cleaning items for ‘guinea pig use only’!)

Spot clean regularly. If you use fleece then this means sweeping or picking up the poos and any uneaten food or hay that’s lying on the surface of the fleece. For natural bedding materials such as hay or paper, there may be particular areas that are more heavily soiled. Remove these sections and replace with fresh bedding.

Bedding Specific Cleaning Tips:

Fleece / Vet Bed

- Sweep up poos, hay and food from the surface daily. Maybe more than once daily if you have lots of piggies! You can use a hard bristle brush and dustpan or even a handheld/small vacuum cleaner.

- Check the surface of the fleece for dampness/moisture. If it feels damp to the touch then it’s time to change it.

- Wash your fleece in the washing machine. Remove as much hay/hair from the surface as possible first. You can place the fleece inside a laundry bag to help avoid hay/hair clogging up your machine. Wash with detergent only and not comfort softener (as this can stop the fleece working properly to wick away the urine). Allow to dry on a line or airer (tumble drying can cause shrinkage).

- Have at least one more set of fleece to use on rotation while the other set is being washed/dried.

- Use small extra fleece drip pads underneath water bottles to help against drips causing damp patches. Then the small pads can be regularly replaced, rather than the entire liner.

Hay / Paper / Woodshavings / Aubiose

- Generally, piggies will choose one or two spots to urinate in. Any areas that become particularly damp can be removed on a daily basis and replaced with fresh bedding.

- Areas that aren’t too badly soiled can be left or a small amount of fresh bedding can be scattered on top, to keep things clean and dry.

- When doing a full clean (usually one a week),then all the bedding materials will need to be removed, the inside of the cage cleaned (see above) and fresh bedding laid down.

Cage / Enclosure Options

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