[Dragonrain]

It's safe to use baking soda to clean the bunny's cages right? Mostly their litterboxes.

Probably a stupid Q - I mean ppl brush their teeth with that stuff right? I don't see how it would be bad for rabbits, I just want to make sure!

If anyone can recommend any good cleaning products to use with rabbits that would be awesome. I clean my babies cages everyday but they've still been getting kinda stinkey - nothing too bad but Chris has been complaining about it a little. It has to be pet safe, of course - and I don't want to use that stuff you put in their water or anything like that.

Thanks!

 

[blessedx3]

I'm sure that would be safe! Let us know if it helps cut down on odor!

 

[Mygala]

It's safe to use, but it doesn't really do anything. It's not a disinfectant or a soap.

To really clean cages, you need to take out the rabbit, do a wet, soap, scrub, rinse, disinfect, rinse, rinse, rinse and dry.

A dish soap like Dawn is fine for cleaning and relatively safe to use around animals (as long as you rinse well). Bleach is the cheapest, most effective disinfectant you can use, as a plus, it actually is more effective when used in sunlight.

Any other spot cleaning is just that, ...spot cleaning. Unless you use soap and water and disinfect you aren't doing a thorough job.

bob

 

[kathydip]

I use vinager. It's fantastic. It takes off bunny pee wonderfully. I thought that the purple cage I have for temporary housing was going to be stained forever. That was until I tried white vinager. It all came right off. And I love the smell.
I have also used that clorox (lysol also makes it) anywhere hardsurface cleaner. It is food safe so I thought it would be okay. I think the clorox one smells like diluted bleach. The lysol one has no smell. I use that stuff everywhere in my house.
Bob made me feel bad though - I don't scrub and bleach things out. He's right you should. I am more likely to toss the boxes.
Oh and I have started using the vinager to clean everything as well.

 

[Dragonrain]

Psh yeah - honestly I don't even like using bleach on my stuff, let alone my bunnies stuff.

I think it's kind of hard to clean that throughly when with bunnies you're cleaning cages everyday, sometimes more then once a day!

I do take my cages out and give them a really good cleaning once a week but I'm just talking about for daily maintance.

I haate using chemicals and stuff. I was using some rabbit cage whipes that I got online but they're expensize - I also replace my litterboxes quite often.

I'm definatly going to give vinager a try! Thanks!!

 

[Mygala]

I'm a bit anal about my disinfection procedures. Cleaning and disinfecting are just part of my weekly/monthly routines. Most household chemicals (like baking soda and vinegar) have the same thing in common. They aren't soaps, and they aren't disinfectants. A mild mixture of just about any dishwashing soap is more effective at cleaning, and many now have a mild disinfectant in them (not that it's proven to be effective on animal enclosures).

However, your wish to avoid chemicals is laudable. Unfortunately, if you want effective cleaners and (particularly) disinfectants, you have to use chemicals. If you want really effective disinfectants, you need serious chemicals to do the job. There is no such thing as a "mild", but effective, disinfectant. At least not if you want to kill persistent bugs like non-enveloped viruses.

One you might consider is Benefect, it's based on Thymol, which is derived from Thyme. Here is a link to the Benefect Home Page

Here is a page where you can order it.

Thymol is classified as a phenol, they are somewhat effective against the most common household germs, but not really as good against some of the more serious things you might run into when dealing with animals. However, it's a great deal better than anything you might have in your cupboard (except for bleach).

Hope that helps....

Bob

 

[kathydip]

Bob you are making me into a germaphobe! I now have the urge to scour my entire house with bleach.
I guess I should thank you. I will get my cleaning done.

 

[kathydip]

I just ordered some thing from QVC that is supposed to break down odors. It's the stuff they spray on curdled milk and then they sniff it. They say I will have it on the 30th.
I got it because the kitty urine is so stinky. I scoop every day but it can knock you head off. I think it maybe Tyler.
Oh and when the kitties poo - man oh man it's bad! I would like something to spritz before I scoop and to get rid of the odor while the bags are inside waiting for trash day.
I will let you know how it works. It's not for disinfecting but odor control.
I cannot wait to get it. It's the Don Aslet (sp?) brand in case you wondered.

 

[Dragonrain]

I think people are misinterpreting what I meant by my original post...

I clean my rabbit cages everyday, I guess what you would call 'spot cleaning' even though everyday I open up the cages, whipe all the surfaces down, and clean out the litterboxes. For this I usually just use cage whipes. Once a week I take the cages outside and wash them (with soap).

Thanks for the links though! I'm definatly going to look into them!

Bunny pee is just a little smelly and my boyfriend notices the smell even though I clean the cages everyday. I was asking if I could use baking soda instead of the cage wipes I've been using to help with the smell for my everyday cleaning - not to replace my weekly cleaning/disinfecting.

I did try baking soda in the litterbox the other day and it worked really well - I still want to try vinager though!

Actually I think my problem is what I've been using in my littlerbox. I put a couple of layers of old newspaper on the bottom of the box and then cover that with timathy hay. I don't think the newspaper is absorbant enough to soak in all the pee and that's why it starts to smell? What do other people use in their boxes? I can't use carefresh or wood shavings or things like that because of Barnaby's fur - it gets stuck in his long hair had he HATES it! Is there anything that I can use that's more absorbant then regular paper but won't get caught in his hair??

 

[MeggieQC]

Agreed-VINEGAR

 

[Dragonrain]

Has anyone tried using Yesterday's News litter for rabbits? How is that at absorbing pee? I don't think that would get cought in Barnaby's fur, but I'm not sure?

 

[kathydip]

I use wood stove pellets. It doesn't do too much for the cat pee but it seems to be good for the bunny pee. Feline pine is much better for odor control. I asked the vet and he said it was fine to use. Its just way more expensive than the wood stove pellets and with one HUGE box and 3 large boxes and one small box I could never afford feline pine for all of them.
I also dump the boxes every day and wipe them out. I cannot really wash down their cage with too much since the cage is so large. That is why I use the Food Surface sanitizer stuff. It says it kills 99.9% of household germs.
I try to alternate between that and the vinager when wiping down the bottom of the cage and the boxes. The vinager really works great.
I cannot wait to try the Don Aslett stuff. I don't dump the cat box I just scoop it do it gets stinkier than the bunny boxes.

 

[Sasami]

Has anyone tried using Yesterday's News litter for rabbits? How is that at absorbing pee? I don't think that would get cought in Barnaby's fur, but I'm not sure?

I use Yesterday's News and it's WONDERFUL. I seriously love the stuff :lol:. I started using it when I got my Angora since anything else would probably get caught in her fur.

The kind I use is the unscented original texture.

 

[Dragonrain]

Yay! Thanks - I wanted to try it but wanted to get some feedback about it first in case it wasn't good or anything, but it doesn't seem that expensize and if it works then awesome! Do you use the kind designed for bunnies or is it all the same? Maybe I'll just try the original one to start out.

 

[Sasami]

Yay! Thanks - I wanted to try it but wanted to get some feedback about it first in case it wasn't good or anything, but it doesn't seem that expensize and if it works then awesome! Do you use the kind designed for bunnies or is it all the same? Maybe I'll just try the original one to start out.

It seems to be the same only the cat one is easier to find, a bit cheaper, and comes in huge bags . Definitely don't waste your money on the "special" one for small animals.

 

[moonchild]

I have been on vacation so I am way behind on reading these posts. Vanodine is the best solution for cleaning cages. You can check it out at: Vanodine. Vanodine V18 FAM Animal Disinfectant Non toxic and safe for birds reptiles and farm animals. Kills viruse fungus and bacteria

It is safe to breath or drink. You can soak sore hock in the stuff or use it as a mist to kill airborne viruses. It is effective against bacteria, viruses, pasturella, fungus, E. Coli, salmonella etc. You can spray your rabbit's food bowls, and just wipe them out and then you don't need to put them through the dishwasher. Use it on litter pans. I was watching Animal Cops on A.P. and they sprayed it on a large wound on a horse to treat the infection. Check out Vanodine. Breeders that I have talked to swear by the stuff.

 

[kathydip]

This stuff looks really awesome. I think I am going to have to get some.

As for the XO stuff from QVC - it seems to be working well for odor on the cat litter. I sprayed the litter itself. It no longer knocks me over when scooping the box.

 

[Dragonrain]

That stuff does look good, thanks for the link!

 

[Merield]

Since no one mentioned it – you can get stuff very much like “feline pine” (pellets that fall into sawdust when wet) in bulk in a place like tractor supply that sells bedding for barn animals. Feline Pine used to be my favorite…but I can get the horse stall pellets, twice as much for the same price and they work as well if not better. I highly recommend them. (I change the litter box every 5 days and no one can ever smell my pair…but they don’t pee anywhere except in the box.)

 

[Merield]

Since no one mentioned it – you can get stuff very much like “feline pine” (pellets that fall into sawdust when wet) in bulk in a place like tractor supply that sells bedding for barn animals. Feline Pine used to be my favorite…but I can get the horse stall pellets, twice as much for the same price and they work as well if not better. I highly recommend them. (I change the litter box every 5 days and no one can ever smell my pair…but they don’t pee anywhere except in the box.)