13/05/2024
Let's talk dirty...or clean? Let's talk cage cleaning!
I have learned SO much about cage cleaning and guinea pig health over the years of caring for piggies, trying different cages and beddings and I thought I would just be open and honest about how messy the cages here get.
My cages used to be pretty messy and smelled bad as I learned what bedding to use, what food to use and how much of it, as well as how often to clean cages; it has taken a few years to get right and, still, leaky waterbottles are awful and babies are the messiest! But finally we have the knowledge to keep the babies healthy and clean. Everyone keep cages differently and jno way is better than another as long as it is clean enough for your piggies.
This is the lifecycle of my cages as well as my reasons for using the bedding I do and the cages I do.
The first photo is of top plastic "bottoms" to wire and plastic guinea pig cages, that were gifted to us, and they show the difference between using fabric bedding and using 'loose' bedding like shavings, hay, or pet litter. These cages have both been scrubbed as hard as possible by hand and disinfected with hot water and the mess is still stuck to them caked on over time, they will need to be blasted to remove and urine staining (these cages were gifted to us from the same location same age with different bedding in each cage).
You will extend the life of your guinea pig cage by choosing to use a cage with the plastic base (as it will not absorb any nasty smells and won't corrode with water and urine) and choosing to use fabric bedding.
Why fabric bedding? Well, because fabric bedding absorbs that mess much better than loose bedding that lets the mess just sink to the bottom of the cage where you can't see it. With loose bedding the mess cakes onto the bottom of your cage faster and more evenly than by using fabric bedding, where you can see how messy your cages are at a glance and see when it needs to be changed for the health of your guinea pigs and for the cage itself.
Usually, without spot cleaning, you will need to clean your guinea pig cage at least weekly if not every 3-5 days. I am being very vulnerable showing you my current 'messy' cages; the first is 3 days since a change, the second 5 days, the third is a week with messy guinea pigs, and the last is a cage that is OVER overdue being over a week since a change with a messy guinea pig (it was changed after the photo 😅).
You guinea pig cages get dirty in a certain order; where the water bottle is, first, then the sides of the cages, then wherever your guineas have chosen as the designated p*e spot then the food spot and finally all over. They will cover their cage in mess. Most people 'spot' clean their cages as they want to extend the amount of time the cage stays 'clean' before having to change the bedding...this, doesn't actually extend the life of the bedding all that much...it just makes it clean to the eye.
Your guinea pig has still spent the same amount of time p*eing on that bedding at the end of the day...and just removing the p**p and loose food from the cage constantly is actually detrimental to your guinea pigs health long term. Guinea pigs actually eat their own p**p to help maintain their gut health. It adds bacteria back into their digestive system that aids in digestion and helps boost their immune system against disease via exposure to bacteria and fungus.
There is a sweet spot of around 3-5 days where the p**p should be removed from the cage as the p**p has, essentially, expired and the piggies shouldn't eat it as it doesn't have any helpful benefits anymore and can cause fungal growth in the cage instead...and by that time you may as well do a FULL cage clean and that is about the lifespan of the cages set-up, anyway.
When your cage needs to be cleaned take it outside over the grass or the garden, shake out the bedding, and blast it with a hose to remove all of the extra stuck hay etc. You can then pop it in the washing machine (wait for it to dry or take it straight in wet) and wash in HOT water for a cycle with unscented laundry soap, hang out to dry when cycle is done, and tada, clean bedding to use again in rotation. The best bedding I have found are reuseable/washable puppy p*e pads, fleece blankets and/or toggle/popcorn/bubble bath mats.
P.S. If your guinea pig cage is ever quite wet, it is likely a leaky water bottle...or a leaky guinea pig...or you are spot cleaning too much and not changing your bedding enough. Some guinea pigs just go through water really quickly and p*e a lot. wet = bad as it is a breeding ground for harmful bacteria more than having just a 'dirty' cage. Again, you may not notice this with loose bedding, but you will with fabric bedding.
