How to Clean Your Rabbit's Cage or Play Area

By eHow Pets Editor

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Rabbits are very clean animals, but their urine can acquire a strong, ammonialike smell in a matter of hours. This odor can damage your rabbit's respiratory system and cause pneumonia, which can be fatal. Be sure to clean your rabbit's cage, play area and litter box every one to two days.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Step1
Mix equal portions of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle; label the bottle.
Step2
Rinse and scrub your rabbit's play area thoroughly with this vinegar and water solution to keep calcium residues down and help control odors.
Step3
Rinse thoroughly with water to eliminate the white vinegar smell. Many rabbits don't like the smell of vinegar, so they won't urinate in an area where they smell it. Use paper towels to scrub and dry the area.
Step4
Make sure no urine has seeped under your rabbit's litter box. Clean this area as well as the litter box (see "How to Clean Your Rabbit's Litter Box," under Related eHows).
Step5
Clean any areas where the urine has seeped using the white vinegar and warm water solution, then rinse thoroughly to remove the vinegar smell.
Step6
Use the same solution to blot any urine stains on your carpet, upholstery or clothing, or use straight white vinegar.
Step7
Use a broom or a vacuum cleaner to clean up any droppings or fur that your rabbit leaves as he hops about the room. Rabbits tend to be territorial and often deposit droppings as they hop about in an effort to declare the area their territory.

Tips & Warnings

  • Place a few handfuls of timothy hay in your rabbit's litter box. Rabbits like to munch on hay and use the litter box at the same time. This will encourage your rabbit to use his litter box more often.
  • Praise your rabbit for using the litter box, but don't use treats as a bribe to get him to use it. Praise him lavishly to let him know that you're pleased with his actions.

Comments

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bgfeldm said

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on 1/12/2008 Here is an good site about pros/con of different litter types:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

bgfeldm said

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on 1/12/2008 Dust is bad for the respiratory system of your rabbit. Litter needs to be Dust and chemical free (no dye, artificial colors or artificial fragrance). DO NOT use baking soda, talc or anything dusty. DO NOT use Wood shavings. regular ceramic kitty litter is unhealthy if eaten and sometimes dusty. Vinegar is safe for cleaning if you don't like the smell you can add some essential oils and/or some lemon juice to the vinegar water mix; it will also enhance the cleaning power a bit.

bgfeldm said

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on 1/12/2008 Dust is bad for the respiratory system of your rabbit. Litter needs to be Dust and chemical free (no dye, artificial colors or artificial fragrance). DO NOT use baking soda, talc or anything dusty. DO NOT use Wood shavings. regular ceramic kitty litter is unhealthy if eaten and sometimes dusty. Vinegar is safe for cleaning if you don't like the smell you can add some essential oils and/or some lemon juice to the vinegar water mix; it will also enhance the cleaning power a bit.

Anonymous

Anonymous said

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on 9/17/2006 I've used what would normally be considered a cat/dog food bowl as my bunny's litter box (I have a dwarf) and put kitty litter in, along with the Carefresh bedding.

Anonymous

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 I line the bottom of the cage with one layer of newspaper, sprinkle a layer of pure baking soda on top of the newspaper, place two layers of newspaper on top of that, and then I put her hamster/rabbit shavings on top of that. The cage stays fresh and there is not one trace of odor/smell. It's also very cheap.

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eHow Article:  How to Clean Your Rabbit's Cage or Play Area

eHow Pets Editor

eHow Pets Editor

Category: Pets

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