Cleaning Setups

Clean outs are one of the less fun aspects of keeping rats. It can be tiring, especially when doing a deep clean! I've found that having an active layout and only having shelves for litter trays has cut down my cleaning time. Going bioactive has also reduced my time and energy spent cleaning out as well as reducing the amount of waste produced.

Frequency

This will depend on the size of your set up, number and size of litter trays, depth of substrate and the number of rats. Go by when the litter tray starts to become full and/or when the set up starts to smell. You don't want to clean out too often as the rats will actually smell more than if you didn't clean as frequently! Weekly clean outs and hammock changes tend to suit most people. If you have deeper substrate, you may be able to get away with leaving it for longer between clean outs. If you have small litter trays, you may choose to change them more frequently. Sometimes these things come with a bit of trial and error!

Monthly deep cleans tend to suit most setups, where everything is cleaned thoroughly and ropes and other enrichment is switched around. Deep cleans are a great opportunity to change their layout. If you find deep cleans all at once too tiring or time-consuming, you could rotate jobs like cleaning bars and changing enrichment items between each week. This may also suit rats who become unsettled when everything is deep cleaned all at once.

What to Use

Cleaning products:

Washing up liquid - accessible and good for removing stubborn poo. Add to a bucket then fill with warm water.
Disinfectant - F10, Safe4, Johnson's Clean and Safe, etc. Can be bought concentrated then diluted at home into a spray bottle. Use at least every other clean out. Can be used to clean, then washed off, and/or sprayed onto surfaces and left to dry.
White vinegar - accessible and good for removing bad smells. Add to a bucket of warm water or to rat laundry. Can smell after use, but soon dissipates.

I use kitchen roll for any particularly bad spots, then have a cleaning cloth that I wash after use. I wash hammocks, ropes, tie holders (with the hooks cut off) in the washing machine on an allergy wash on low spin (then do another drain and low spin cycle after that) with fragrance-free Leaf detergent sheets and some white vinegar. Some people prefer to soak then scrub ropes etc in the bath with white vinegar.