Cleaning POLL: Do you like cleaning your piggies' cage?

I only have one relatively clean piggy in a 2x3 cage with a patio. It takes me about 10 minutes to fully take apart and reassemble her cage. Here is how I do it:

I have a portable washer for my pet laundry so I pop that onto my kitchen counter and fill it with warm water, add laundry soap and vinegar.

Then I start on my cage...

My patio and ramp are removable. My ramp is not attached to my patio, it's attached to a grid which sits on two wonder bars and is clipped to the cage with a carabiner clip. It makes it super easy to remove and also to clean the bottom cage because I can easily access the area under the patio.

I have a home made fleece flipper without the coro insert inside for the patio and a sewn cage pad for the main floor. I take all the stuff out of the cage, shaking out tunnels, potty pads etc. I take out the corner potty. I take out the patio and dump everything onto the bottom coroplast. Everything gets dumped onto the main floor coroplast. Then I give a quick brush to the fleece pad and flipper. I sweep all the poops and other bits into the dust pan and dump that into the corner potty. I spray the coroplast and patio with vinegar and water mixture and wipe it off with a paper towel. I put the new cage pad in. I put the patio back and put the new flipper in it. I add clean tunnels, hideys, fleece forest etc. I refill her food bowl.

Then I take the water bottle, the potty, the dust broom, and all dirty fleece to the kitchen. I put half the dirty fleece into my portable washing machine. I have to do two loads so the other half goes out my back door while it waits its turn. I empty the dirty potty into the trash, squirt some dish soap into the empty potty and my dust pan/ broom and wash them. I put the potty back in the cage with a new fleece potty liner, put the dust pan away, and hang the water bottle.

Right now i really enjoy cleaning her cage because she loves it and I love it to look clean and neat. Also, I do so much sewing that I am always excited about changing out her themes which is a big motivation for cleaning the cage. I usually clean her cage about twice a week.

Spot cleaning my 2x5 cage only takes about 5 to 10 minutes tops, thats because I use a vacuum. on wash day when I do a full cage cleaning it takes an hour and 30 minutes to wash and dry, and then about 10 to 15 minutes to put it all back together.
I don't hate or like cleaning there cage, its just a responsibility that needs to get done to ensure the health of my piggies. I do like adding new fleece and colors and patterns to there cage and seeing the pigs reaction to it all!

Eh....it's okay. But I certainly don't like it as much as I like doing aquarium maintenance. Maybe it's because my fish interact with me when I'm trimming/planting their plants.

My method for cage cleaning is pretty easy tho.
Vacuum or swipe poos(depending on if the pig is in the cage) once daily for 1 pig and twice for 2 pigs.
I feel the pads under hidys and in the kitchen. If it feels damp, I change it out
And of course, once a week the entire bedding gets changed out.

Does anyone actually enjoy cleaning the cage? I hate it. I sweep poopies and hay off the fleece about every three days. Two if I am having a good day. My boys poop SO much, sometimes I wonder if I'm feeding too much.
It hurts my back to bend over the cage like that for the 5 minutes it takes to sweep.
It's a pain, but its part of having them, so I don't mind. It's definitely easier than using the CareFresh.

I don't mind. I have enough liners I only go to laundry mat once a month and I change the liner every 7-10 days. They tend to pee in the litter/hay area more than on the fleece. I spot change the Carefresh in the liter area every few days, change it completely every Monday (trash day). When I change the fleece I wipe down the bottom with vinegar and water, usually while the boys get to run thru dining room.

I sweep the fleece everyday and they get so excited because they know that means veggies are coming. Carlton chases the broom and pumpkin likes to move the little dustpan so its a game to them.

daily cleaning takes about 10 mins, weekly about 30. Not bad all things considered.

I like doing my daily spot cleaning. It only takes me a short while in the morning, and it's also like a form of energizer for me before I prepare for school. I also like the fact that my piggies jump all around when they see their nice, clean cage. Weekly cleaning takes about 30 minutes to 1 hour, and it's fine with me as well. But I don't use fleece like the others though.

I'm not a huge fan of doing it, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! I usually make an afternoon of it so I can take little breaks between steps. I put the pigs out for floortime, brush off the fleece flippers, then throw them in the wash. I'll watch and play with the pigs for awhile, scoop out their Carefresh in the kitchen, put some more Carefresh down, and then throw their fleece in the dryer and beds/snuggle sacks in the washer. It also involves a lot of sweeping because we can't seem to come up with a hay rack idea that doesn't create a mess, but luckily we have hardwood floors. I can't imagine having to deal with that with carpet! By the time I'm done, I'm tired of all the back and forth but like to sit and watch the piggies enjoy their clean home They sniff around, the oldest does his rumbling, and they both popcorn in and out of the beds and snuggle sacks. Sooooo worth it

Sabrina Clayton said:

I'm not a huge fan of doing it, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! I usually make an afternoon of it so I can take little breaks between steps. I put the pigs out for floortime, brush off the fleece flippers, then throw them in the wash. I'll watch and play with the pigs for awhile, scoop out their Carefresh in the kitchen, put some more Carefresh down, and then throw their fleece in the dryer and beds/snuggle sacks in the washer. It also involves a lot of sweeping because we can't seem to come up with a hay rack idea that doesn't create a mess, but luckily we have hardwood floors. I can't imagine having to deal with that with carpet! By the time I'm done, I'm tired of all the back and forth but like to sit and watch the piggies enjoy their clean home They sniff around, the oldest does his rumbling, and they both popcorn in and out of the beds and snuggle sacks. Sooooo worth it

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I agree Sabrina, I agree

I do not enjoy it... BUT it gives me some one-on-one time with my piglets so I can't complain.

I don't like cleaning it lol but the spot cleaning every day isn't too bad. The weekly change out is the worst for me because it is on a table and I am short so I have to get on a chair and bend over the cage.

I used to slack on the daily cleaning, doing it like every other day or so, and my poor piggy suffered from it and has a sore wee-wee and had to go to the vet So now I am very particular about it and making sure his under part are dry and clean.

It's no big deal to me, but I clean my cage every morning when I feed them; the whole thing including new hay, water, food and veggies takes about 10-12 minutes. I might spot clean during the day, but to be honest, spot cleaning and "full cleaning" are virtually the same thing to me. I have a midwest cage and my fleece is in two pieces (they are like pillow cases, holding the uhaul pads inside). I take out the hideys and bowls, shoo the pigs to the other side and pick up and gather all four corners of one piece of fleece together so the poop/hay falls into the center of the "pouch", and then step outside and shake the fleece into a special garbage can I keep outside. The clean fleece goes back in, pigs are shooed to the clean side and I repeat with the other side. Sometimes I clean the bottom of the cage, but not always. I change the fleece out for a new set every other day.

aspecht said:

It's hard to keep cages clean with all that we have going on. It's a chore, but the smell from not doing it is worse lol. I handwash all my fleece and liners so that makes it even harder. It has to be done though lol. Just like changing diapers, it's not pleasant but the outcome is worth it

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Why do you handwash?

LifeAsItMayBe said:

Nope! Hate it! lol

I use Carefresh bedding since I don't have my own washer/dryer and I don't have time/energy to drag fleece down to a laundromat. It takes me about an hour to scoop out the old bedding and hay, scrub down the coroplast with vinegar, and put in new Carefresh. Typically I clean one half of the cage first, then the other half, so I don't have to find another place to put the pigs while I'm cleaning. They're terrible about fighting outside their cage.

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I love cleaning my 13 guinea pig cages although it does take me 3 hours. I use Back to Nature bedding which is brilliant but very expensive. I love the smell as the bedding is on the turn, I cherry pick and replace hay every day and give the cages a good clean with vinegar once a week.
My girls (9) go onto my 6ft. waterbed and run around while I clean them out. The boys (4) in the dining room go onto the floor or table in a wire enclosure. We have a baby of 4 weeks and guineas ranging from 9 weeks to 7 years old. I just love them, they make me happy. Gilli

Like? No, I don't like it but I love to see how happy my piggy's are when they have a fresh cage

Artista said:

Why do you handwash?

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I do not have a washer and dryer right now so I handwash everything.

I hate cleaning it, especially brushing off the fleece outside. it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to practically crawl into it to get all the nooks. (2x7 with loft) I don't mind putting it together because then I try to think of some new way to decorate it and make the piggies popcorn.

This kitchen is the best addition ever. It has made such a difference in hay strewn about the fleece. And I put layers of newspapers first and then add the hay and add more as the day goes on, then just roll it up each day and some days a couple of times and start fresh again. Just a great idea found via this wonderful site. This is Lucy just checking for quality of hay before entering. All five will climb into the kitchen at once throughout the day. This picture is with the herd in another area while their cage is being cleaned/washed. They like the change of rooms and popcorn when they get to another area of the house. So cute.

Need to add to the above that most of the peeing and pooping is done in the kitchen which cuts down on the frequency of the total cage clean up. Of course the cage must be sweep several times a day for poop. Just a super addition to the furry ones' home.

@Razzle - I currently have the same fleece in my kitchen!

You have great taste.