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Post by tripleb on Apr 17, 2015 5:10:43 GMT -8
My daughter brought home Maxine and Clover (one grey, one brown gerbil) this past Monday so I figure the first home cleaning will happen in about a week or so. I have a couple questions concerning the cleaning: 1) What do you use to clean your gerbils cage ( our cage)? 2) Where do you put your gerbils when you are cleaning their home? I thought about just putting them in a smaller cage until we had a chance to give their home a good cleaning, get it dried out, and get their home furnishings back in. Maybe something like  (it's an 8"x12"x8" and $15). If this is something you do, is there something better than this one? Thanks for any and all input. TripleB |
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Post by Thelodar on Apr 17, 2015 5:55:49 GMT -8
I have cleaned with vinegar in the past. You can also just clean with soap and hot water. In either case rinse everything really well. I am now experimenting with isopropyl alcohol as a disinfectant since my tank is too big to move and thus too big to rinse. I figure the alcohol will evaporate completely.
I put my gerbils in a spare 10 gallon tank while I clean because I just so happen to have 3 spare 10 gallons. When I was a kid we used to put them in a shoe box with something heavy on top and a few small holes punched in the lid (make sure there are no big holes where they can escape from of course). You can also put them in a secure playpen/bathtub of you're sure they cannot get out. If you have an empty plastic storage tote you can put them in there.
You might be able to buy a big enough kritter keeper to keep them in during cleaning. Those are usually pretty cheap.
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Post by vexorg on Apr 17, 2015 7:01:46 GMT -8
You get pet safe disinfectant. Usual cleaning means gerbils out, toys out, bedding and sawdust (wood chips) in the bin. Rinse the base, disinfect the base, clean sawdust and bedding. We've got a small carry box for them. Useful for when cleaning and if taking one to the vet. This kind of thing:  You can also stick them in the bath if stuck. |
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Post by eleda on Apr 17, 2015 7:29:00 GMT -8
I use Nature's Miracle Cage Cleaner - one bottle has lasted me the whole lifetime of my gerbils so far (2 years, though i miiiiight run out soon, we'll see) For a playpen, I also use a spare 10 gallon or a small tub I used for split-caging.
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Post by the_gerbilpetsworld on Apr 17, 2015 10:34:29 GMT -8
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Post by betty on Apr 18, 2015 23:22:45 GMT -8
Yeah,I have a 3 ft vivarium that I let them run around in while cleaning out.
It's full of things to do and toys that are too big to fit in their tanks, sand sheets on the floor and nice secure glass doors to watch them through.
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Post by leafwhisp on Apr 21, 2015 18:11:16 GMT -8
I just clean with soap and water, just rinse VERY THOROUGHLY!!!!!!!! I put them in a playpen I made out of a large cardboard box I found. I think it was used to store a piece of furnature or something. If that is not available, I use an unused bathtub that has high sides so they can't get out. Put toys and a towel or sheet in the bathtub
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Post by moonlight7wolf on Apr 21, 2015 18:22:40 GMT -8
I'm sorry to ask a question within your question tripleb, but do you have to rinse your cage if you're just washing it with vinegar? It's too big and awkward to really rinse in our miniature bathroom. But I do wipe it down with a paper towel after spraying it. And if you do have to rinse the vinegar, then I'm curious what harm it does the gerbils if you don't.
And to answer your one question tripleb I put my gerbils in one of those critter keepers that someone mentioned above.
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Post by eleda on Apr 21, 2015 18:28:28 GMT -8
i'm pretty sure vinegar evaporates without leaving any residue behind, unlike soap. Soap residue could be bad for the gerbils in all sorts of ways, but vinegar should be fine I think. Just think of it like cleaning with Windex when you're scrubbing the sides. The most vinegar could do to a gerbil is be smelly or taste bad. I'm pretty sure they'd have to drink it to get sick (even then it'd probably only be an upset stomach, but honestly they'd have to have 0 sense of smell/taste to be able to bear it long enough to drink a large quantity)
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Post by psychotherapist on Apr 24, 2015 8:15:05 GMT -8
Water and small amount of soap. Have also used pet shop bought cleaning sprays.
I usually put them in their running balls and/or a plastic container.
My old 2 females I could trust a bit more, I often wouldn't put them in anything and simply do the dry cleaning bits (ie brushing up) around them. A game of chase the brush and jump in the shovel ensued. Wouldn't try that now with my males, they're too dozy not to fall and hurt themselves.
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