Cage cleaning

by River Tue 11 Oct 2016, 4:09 pm

I thought this had been asked before, but according to the forums search: it hasn't. If it had and I'm missing it, do forgive me.

Anyways. I know that in hamsters, cleaning once a week is more harm than good - a few hamster forums confirmed this for me. According to those owners, cleaning every 2-3 weeks is best, for a variety of reasons. I don't know if the same goes for mice, and found that I never really questioned it, and by default cleaned them once a week. How often should mice be cleaned? Is once a week correct, and if so, why?

by CanadianExport Tue 11 Oct 2016, 4:29 pm

I am by no means an expert but I find cleaning out once a week for me works well for two reasons. 1) The smell by then depending on the bedding I am using can start to get noticeable, I hate the smell and my partner is not an animal person so I do not want to give him a reason to be annoyed at my mice. 2) They seem to get bored with the set up by the end of the week and a lot of their toys are ready for a scrub so for mine it is a way to keep them mentally stimulated. I always try to keep their nest intact so they always have stuff that smells like them.

Just my two cents. I am by no means super knowledgeable as these are my first mice and this is what seems to work for my 4 girls.

by MesaMouse Tue 11 Oct 2016, 7:03 pm

A weekly deep-clean is advised, River. Mice are insanely clean animals and do not like to have to live with soiled bedding (spilled and hidden food caches are something else, though Laughing

). Daily spot-cleaning (removal of "yellow" bedding and easy to get at poop) helps keep things manageable but, even when I was down to one elderly mouse, she still appreciated having everything fresh once a week. As CanadianExport said, they do get bored with the same set-up and toys so the weekly deep-clean is a good way to change things around; my girls were always very excited and sparking when they'd come back to a clean and changed tank each week.

by EverythingAnimal Tue 11 Oct 2016, 7:49 pm

I think it is also different because hamsters need more space than mice. In a big cage with lots of bedding and not many mice you can probably get away with every 2-3 weeks assuming that you are spot cleaning regularly, and move a couple things around. But when you have 3 mice in a ten gallon, for example, that's a lot different than one hamster in a 20.

by scaredymouse Tue 11 Oct 2016, 8:34 pm

Mice need to be cleaned one a week. Everything out and tank scrubed with soap/water or another safe cleaner, new bedding, plastic toys washed, wood toys wiped down and can reused until they are too soiled. The "why" part is that mice prefer a clean environment, they poop/pee on everything including their food, their bedding gets soiled. You see how they clean themselves all the time, they don't want soiled bedding all over themselves.

Hamsters have bigger tanks, their urine isn't stinky and sticky, they don't poop as often, and they should still be spot cleaned every week.

by CallaLily Wed 12 Oct 2016, 9:48 am

I agree with everyone else, mice cages need to be fully cleaned out once a week. They do a good job of keeping themselves clean, but like Scaredy said they poo and pee a lot more and on everything. Hamsters I've had in the past were a lot more careful to just go in one designated area - never failed. Very easy to spot clean and wheels and toys stay much cleaner for longer. All the mice I've had go just about anywhere in the cage - toys, bedding, nests, hammocks, food dish, walls (lol), wheels. More pee/poo = more bacteria and ammonia build up = more smell plus unhealthy environment.

And as the others pointed out, mice do really really enjoy a clean cage with new and switched around toys. Where I believe many hamsters get a bit stressed over too much change too often (just my experience, others may not have noticed the same with their hamsters).

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