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How to Clean a Gerbil Cage
How to Clean a Gerbil Cage
Cleanliness is very important, especially for your pets. One way of making sure that the bedding is clean or not is by checking its color. Fresh bedding can always be made out. Fresh bedding is either golden or bright yellow while all other colors ranging from brown to dull yellow is not.
Keeping a pet is a lot of fun but it is also needs a lot of effort. You must keep the cage of your gerbil clean at all times. An average cleaning spree should be undertaken once a week or once every two weeks. Remember that your pet gerbils will start to STINK if you neglect to clean the cage. Another thing that you must remember is to increase the frequency of cleaning if you have more than one gerbil or in case you have them placed in a tank.
When you are cleaning the cage make sure you place them in a secure place so that they cannot escape. You can either put them in a running ball or playpen. Another place where you can place them temporarily is in a bathtub. However you may only do so once you’ve made sure that the bathtub is dry and the drain is blocked.
When on a cleaning spree do not throw all of the old bedding. You can keep some and mix them up with the new one. This allows the gerbil to know that it has its own scent and they will accustom to it easily. The soiled bedding can be mixed with gardening manure to create a fertilizer.
You should use soap and warm water to clean the cage. Make sure there is no lingering smell of soap. If there is then rinse with vinegar water soaked in towels or with moist paper towels in order to get rid of the smell. Dry everything afterwards. There shouldn’t be any dampness in the cage.
Do the same with the water bottle and the food bowl if there is one. Wash, dry and put in fresh water.
Check whether you have put back everything or not. Fresh bedding mixed with a bit of the old, water, food bowl, toys and nesting material
Here is a list of easily available beddings:
Wheat Scoup, Citra-max Critter Comfort, aspen shavings, hemp shavings and Care-Fresh.
Gerbils are very fond of empty paper towel/toilet paper tubes and tissue boxes.
Your pets enjoy activities like running wheels. You must be careful with wheels though as their feet and tails are likely to get caught. The best thing would be to use mesh or the solid wheels.
Any residual soap is harmful to your pet gerbil so you must be careful in removing all traces of it.
DO NOT use any other wood shaving other than aspen for the bedding.
The others are hazardous because of their oil content.
Put in fresh water from time to time. Water left in the bottle gets contaminated easily and you don’t want them drinking that. Buried food doesn’t go bad easily but if it is left out in the open be sure to replenish it with new stock frequently.
You will know its time for a cleaning spree if the gerbils start to stink. Clean the cage if you see that there are droppings everywhere.
If you see that your gerbils are agitated or more active than normal then it is probably time to give their cage a spruce up. They are more active when they do not get their required sleep.
Gerbil pets, Gerbil information, Gerbil tips, Gerbil advice
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