Post by 3piggles on Feb 6, 2013 18:48:22 GMT
Two concerns regularly posted are dealing with odor, and dealing with keeping the cage clean, if someone else had to do it for a week or so.
My cage is a little over 14 square feet with an overhead hay loft in the kitchen section and a play loft in the main area. The kitchen and living areas are divided by a low coroplast wall. The kitchen section has a layer of absorbent material, a layer of fiberglass window screen and a layer of old hay from the overhead hay loft. The main section has a layer of absorbent material, a layer of fiberglass window screen and a layer of fleece pad.(my pads are fleece attached to a layer of Uhaul packing blanket).
Cleaning the cage consists of removing the screen in the kitchen section, dumping all the loose hay/poos/hair and cleaning/replacing the absorbent material as needed. The fleece bedding in the main section is vacuumed daily and replaced weekly. The absorbent material is removed/replaced as needed. After several years of trying different combinations of products, we eliminated all but kitty litter and pine pellet horse bedding for the absorbent layer.
Scent/dust free clumping kitty litter cost about $10/25 lb box. Needed about 2 boxes/mo to keep the cage fresh. The pine pellet horse bedding costs about $5/40 pound bag, takes about a bag every couple of months, needs a 1" layer.
In controlled tests we found the kitty litter lasted relatively odor free for about 10 days. The fleece had started smelling, and needed to be washed.
The pine pellet bedding lasted 3 weeks before the fleece bedding started to smell. The pellets didn't need to be changed in the main section, and needed a bit more added in the kitchen section.
Different places have different products, so I advise people to search for the best products in their area, test them, and find what works best. However, we have proven that it is possible, in a pinch, to have an odor free cage with minimal effort, for extended periods. Even an unreliable family member could do this level of cleaning, and if a day were missed, it probably wouldn't matter.
My cage is a little over 14 square feet with an overhead hay loft in the kitchen section and a play loft in the main area. The kitchen and living areas are divided by a low coroplast wall. The kitchen section has a layer of absorbent material, a layer of fiberglass window screen and a layer of old hay from the overhead hay loft. The main section has a layer of absorbent material, a layer of fiberglass window screen and a layer of fleece pad.(my pads are fleece attached to a layer of Uhaul packing blanket).
Cleaning the cage consists of removing the screen in the kitchen section, dumping all the loose hay/poos/hair and cleaning/replacing the absorbent material as needed. The fleece bedding in the main section is vacuumed daily and replaced weekly. The absorbent material is removed/replaced as needed. After several years of trying different combinations of products, we eliminated all but kitty litter and pine pellet horse bedding for the absorbent layer.
Scent/dust free clumping kitty litter cost about $10/25 lb box. Needed about 2 boxes/mo to keep the cage fresh. The pine pellet horse bedding costs about $5/40 pound bag, takes about a bag every couple of months, needs a 1" layer.
In controlled tests we found the kitty litter lasted relatively odor free for about 10 days. The fleece had started smelling, and needed to be washed.
The pine pellet bedding lasted 3 weeks before the fleece bedding started to smell. The pellets didn't need to be changed in the main section, and needed a bit more added in the kitchen section.
Different places have different products, so I advise people to search for the best products in their area, test them, and find what works best. However, we have proven that it is possible, in a pinch, to have an odor free cage with minimal effort, for extended periods. Even an unreliable family member could do this level of cleaning, and if a day were missed, it probably wouldn't matter.