By Victoria A. Neely
Rats are fun pets, but like any pet, you have to clean up after them. Strong odors are not only unpleasant, they can cause respiratory distress in rats. A rat cage should be cleaned out at least once a week, possibly more often depending on how many rats you have and what kind of bedding you use. Cage cleaning can either be a nightmare of a chore, or it can go smoothly depending on how you go about it.
It's best to do spot cleaning at least every other day, which is just scooping out the soiled litter and replacing it with fresh litter. It's also a good idea to pull out the hammocks, blankets, or anything else your rats sleep in and replace them with clean ones every few days.
Rats like to stash food, so each day make sure there aren't any grapes or bits of lettuce tucked away in odd corners. Fresh fruits and vegetables spoil quickly.
When it's time to give the cage a thorough cleaning, it helps to have another cage where you can put the rats while you work. Remove all the toys, bowls, and hammocks. To make the job go even faster, use a shop vac to suck up all the old litter. Scrub the cage's bottom pan and any flat shelves with soapy water, rinse, and dry.
If the cage still smells bad after all this, it's time to give it a deep cleaning. If your cage is small enough, you could shower it in the bathtub with some bleach. Alternatively, you could wash it with a bleach solution outside and hose it down. If neither option is practical, spray down the bars with a solution of 50/50 vinegar and water. After a moment, spray down the cage again with hydrogen peroxide. Wipe dry. This will both disinfect the cage and take care of the odors.
Pour fresh litter into the cage, making sure it evenly covers the pan. Clean all the bowls and toys (if possible) before returning them to the cage. Put things in different locations to shake things up a bit. Add the rats last and watch them sniff, explore, and see what you've changed.
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