Do you completely clean your rat tubs?

Just wondering if everyone actually fully cleans and washes their tubs or if you just wipe out the old bedding and fill with new bedding like ralph davis. Just wondering if I am doing to much work.

I just wipe it out and fill with new. Complete cleans are pointless and take too long.

I dump mine and spray down with water and clean and once a month I spray with water n bleach ..

I dump out old bedding and fill with new bedding. I do wash the tubs every few months though or whenever they're really dirty, which is pretty rare.

I dump and clean well with Clorox wipes every week and add new bedding.

I dump and give them a quick wipe down with vinegar; only adds about 20 seconds per tub.

I only really thoroughly clean if they decided to play poo painter, or if they got urates on the tub itself. Those cake on so hard sometimes.

But other than that they get a dump and refill.


I like my Dubstep to go Wop Wop Wop Wop

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Originally Posted by Expensive hobby

I only really thoroughly clean if they decided to play poo painter, or if they got urates on the tub itself. Those cake on so hard sometimes.

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I didn't know rodents did that? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

I change my bedding weekly and about every 3 or 4 months I bleach and scrub all of them.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

I didn't know rodents did that? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

I change my bedding weekly and about every 3 or 4 months I bleach and scrub all of them.

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HAHAHA! It was late when I replied and I was on my phone. Didn't see what section lol.

In that case I change bedding and add more 6f and water every 3 days, and only if there is a "sticky spot" of dookie do I then use Clorox wipes.


I like my Dubstep to go Wop Wop Wop Wop

I usually dump and just hose out the tubs depending on the mess they make every 7-10 days. I keep 3-4 extra tubs to just swap over to..... cheap $6 cement tubs from Lowes.

I keep 1:3 or 1:4 in breeders in my tubs at all times. The males do not bother the babies at all, so I do not rotate males. I find when the babies are all pulled they make a good mess when the male starts breeding the females again.

I disinfect and hose rat tubs weekly...I never just dump bedding and refill...Nasty!

Seems like alot of you dump and refill which is probably what I am going to start doing. I will maybe get myself some clorox wipes like some of you said to wipe out if it is really bad. Thanks for the opinions guys!

I dump and then wash with dish soap every week when I change em. I think it gives me an extra day or 2 before they start stinking again. then maybe every 2 or 3 months i'll wash them and hose them down with f10.

ASFs here but I dump the bedding, spray diluted bleach, wipe down, spray water, wipe down, refill with new bedding. I prefer when the rats are odorless and the only way thats going to even remotely get close to happening is thoroughly cleaning weekly.

I dump, scrape out with dustpan, and refill. Been doing it that way for years with no problems. Why make extra work for yourself if you don't have to, is what I think about the matter.

If your rat tubs are nasty enough that you think you need to wipe them out and disinfect every week... You either:

A. Have too many rats in the bin.
B. Are using horrible/wrong/not enough bedding.
C. are doing something massively wrong with diet to affect droppings/pissing etc.

Or a) I like my animals to live in the best conditions I can give them even if they are feeders by not letting plastic that has come in contact with pee and poo just sit with residue and b) they are in my small apartment room with me and I like it to not smell like small animals

I don't personally breed rats, but once a week I help out a friend who does. Every week tubs get scrubbed with hot water and dish soap. He's had better luck rotating males than doing harems and keeps at most 3 females in a tub. We clean every Tuesday and it smells pretty ripe by then. We use plenty of bedding but in some tubs the ammonia can be a bit intense, especially if it's a tubs with 3 litters of weanlings that need to be pulled. I can't imagine just dumping the bedding and putting more in on top of all the residue that hasn't been cleaned. They may just be feeders but they deserve to live a good life in a clean home. Since there is usually 2-3 of us we've been able to work out an assembly line type system using a few extra tubs. It only takes us 1.5-2 hours to clean 60+ cages. Even doing it alone it doesn't take that much more time to give the tubs a quick scrub with soap and hot water.

I just take the bottle of chlorhex spray I use on snake tubs into the rat room. Weekly cleanouts. Dump bedding, spray and wipe with chlorhex, refill bedding...

the blood from birthing moms really needs to be disinfected. How many use white tubs? Dark tubs never look dirty, but my white tubs show how much mess is really on the sides of the tubs.


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Originally Posted by Inknsteel

I just take the bottle of chlorhex spray I use on snake tubs into the rat room. Weekly cleanouts. Dump bedding, spray and wipe with chlorhex, refill bedding...

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I do this. It takes... maybe 30 seconds extra per tub than if I just dumped and refilled. I'm surprised at the number of responses that don't clean the tubs all the way. Nasty!

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Nasty!

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I am surprised how many people cant go 5 to 7 days between cleanings?
My only problem in my shed is the amount of dust they make LoL
Guess we all think something of the others.
The only time I have to wipe a tub on cleaning day is if I didn't use enough bedding and they clear out the front right corner and the poop sticks to the tub.

I clean my tubs every weekend. I just dump out the bad and put in the good.

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Originally Posted by toyota89

I clean my tubs every weekend. I just dump out the bad and put in the good.

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Then you're not really cleaning the tubs. You're just replacing the bedding.

I graduated from LLLReptile's rat breeder bins to 32 gallon totes with 1:3 in each bin. Bedding is replaced every 5-7 days with Clorox wipe downs when necessary (i.e. a mound of wet bedding stuck to the bin or after birthing). No odors unless I stick my nose inside the bin, and the bins reside in the living room of a small 2 bedroom apartment. As long as the bin is completely dry on the bottom, and odor is removed with the bedding changes, I don't see the point in risking rat exposure to cleaning products. I have kept my colony for almost one year this way and never had health issues. Fat happy, bright-eyed rats. :)

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

I am surprised how many people cant go 5 to 7 days between cleanings?
My only problem in my shed is the amount of dust they make LoL
Guess we all think something of the others.
The only time I have to wipe a tub on cleaning day is if I didn't use enough bedding and they clear out the front right corner and the poop sticks to the tub.

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I do every 3-7 days with my ASFs depending on how much time i have during the week. They are in the hot room so I prefer to not smell anything but aspen

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

I am surprised how many people cant go 5 to 7 days between cleanings?
My only problem in my shed is the amount of dust they make LoL
Guess we all think something of the others.
The only time I have to wipe a tub on cleaning day is if I didn't use enough bedding and they clear out the front right corner and the poop sticks to the tub.

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I do every 3-7 days with my ASFs depending on how much time i have during the week. They are in the hot room so I prefer to not smell anything but aspen