Cleaning and Disinfecting

I had to take a little break from the blog while getting over losing Pirate. It is always hard when one of the little guys go. Their lives are so short and yet they touch us in such a powerful way that it takes a few days to get back in the swing of things.

I have been doing a lot of fall rat cleaning over the last week or so. I am taking advantage of the nice weather before colder fall weather sets in to hose down cages and accessories outside and allow them to dry in the sunshine (sunlight is a natural disinfectant). It just seemed natural to talk about cleaning and disinfecting a little.

Cleaning is what needs to be done on a regular basis. Disinfecting is what we do when our rats' environment has been exposed to a pathogen and you need to eliminate that pathogen from the home to prevent reinfection or spread. Disinfecting can be done on a preventative basis as well, but in those cases, I usually recommend a mild disinfectant. Vinegar, for example, is a mild and natural disinfectant that has antimicrobial properties, but is safe to use around rats and other animals. I have always believed that keeping animals in a perfectly sterile environment weakens their immune systems and makes them more vulnerable if they ever are exposed to something hazardous. So I don't believe in the sterile environment philosophy. It is better for them to be exposed to things in small doses that they can easily fight off and then build up their immunities to these things.


Cages

Cleaning
To thoroughly clean our cages, I use dawn dish soap and water. To do a wipe down, I use vinegar and water. Vinegar is both a mild disinfectant that is useful for cleaning, and also is an odor neutralizer. Vinegar is especially useful for eliminating urine odor, which is essential when you keep rats.

The Martin's cage can be taken into our downstairs shower or brought outside and hosed down, but the Critter Nation needs to be cleaned in place. On rare occasions, the Critter Nation needs to be taken apart and cleaned as urine and grime can get in between the panels. I never hose down the Critter Nation because the inside of the metal frame is hollow and untreated and will quickly rust if exposed to water and not immediately dried.

If the weather is nice, allowing the cage to dry outside will also provide some preventative disinfecting - as sunshine is a natural and effective disinfectant for many pathogens.

Disinfecting
When disinfecting a cage because of a known exposure to a pathogen, it is important to know what that pathogen is susceptible to. Bleach is effective against many pathogens, is cheap, and easy to use. When using bleach, you must remove the rats to another cage and disinfect the cage in another room or outside. Bleach is less effective in the presence of organic matter, so the cage or item to be disinfected must first be cleaned to thoroughly remove any residue of urine, fecal matter, blood, mucus, hair, etc. I mix up bleach at a concentration of 10 parts water to 1 part bleach unless the literature regarding the pathogen I am trying to eliminate recommends some other concentration. If possible, keep the surfaces in contact with the bleach for 10 minutes before rinsing. Make sure to thoroughly rinse and then dry the cage before returning the rats to the cage. Bleach fumes can be extremely harsh on their lungs. Make sure the cage does not smell like bleach when you return it to use. Drying the cage in sunlight can be extra helpful.

Some pathogens, like coccidia and giardia, are less susceptible to bleach. In that case, another disinfectant may be called for. Coccidia, for example, is supposed to be susceptible to ammonia (never mix ammonia and bleach - the combination releases a toxic gas). Heat is also often used to safely disinfect when bleach is not effective. While rat cages are too large to disinfect in a dishwasher at antibacterial settings, soaking the cage parts in water that has been heated to boiling may kill off any pathogens. Exposed carriers may be able to be disinfected in the dishwasher on the antibacterial cycle.

Note that you do not have to disinfect cages because of exposure to respiratory infections caused by mycoplasma. All rats carry this bacteria, and thus we do not need to worry about spread from the environment. Rats become ill when their immune system is weakened, not from re-exposure to the mycoplasma itself.

Glass
Glass is fairly easy to clean and disinfect, so I always use glass water bottles instead of plastic ones. Because the water bottles are always exposed to water and air, they can be quick to harbor bacteria.

Cleaning
I clean glass water bottles in the dishwasher on the regular setting. I first do a quick rub down with a bottle brush, as the dishwasher may not reach inside the narrow opening as well as I would like.

Disinfecting
I disinfect glass water bottles on the antibacterial cycle of my dishwasher or by soaking in a bleach solution and then thoroughly rinsing. I like to dry in the sunlight if the weather cooperates.

Plastic
Plastic is easy to clean but actually is pretty hard to disinfect (one reason I use glass water bottles instead of plastic ones).

Cleaning
For regular cleaning of plastic, I just use Dawn dish soap and water (or wipe down with vinegar for a quick touch up).

Disinfecting
For disinfecting, I first clean the item to remove urine residue and debris, then soak in a bleach water solution for 10 minutes. Alternatively, I have a dishwasher that has an antibacterial cycle that runs at an extremely high temperature to kill most bacteria/spores/parasite eggs, etc. However, some plastics cannot handle temperatures so high and can melt or warp in that cycle - others are tougher and do fine. I have used that cycle with success to kill coccidia oocysts in a hospital cage/pan/drinkers/seed trays that held infected birds.

Wood
Wood is hard to clean and to disinfect because it is so porous.

Cleaning
I soak wood in a vinegar water solution to clean it. When it has been around for a while, I replace it.

Disinfecting
Pitch everything made of wood and replace it - wood just cannot be thoroughly disinfected and it is better to just get rid of it than risk re-exposure or spread of disease.

Lava Ledges
Lava ledges are pumice stone and are also very porous.

Cleaning
I also clean these by soaking in vinegar/water solution.

Disinfecting
I would replace these in case of a contagion as well - just because there are so many holes and crevices for bacteria to hide in. Soaking in bleach solution may be effective, but I personally would probably not risk it. Also, I don't like soaking anything in bleach that the rats like to chew on - and my rats chew the lava ledges.

Fabric
Cleaning
I wash my hammocks and liners using a dye-free and fragrance-free detergent (I use Tide Free and Gentle, but any brand would do). I wash on hot to kill any bacteria present and use vinegar in the rinse cycle, running a second rinse cycle to make sure everything rinses out thoroughly. If urine odor is a problem for you and you are not worried about pathogens, you may want to wash in cold water, as urine stains are protein stains and cold water is more effective at eliminating them. However, I have found that as long as I use vinegar in the rinse, I don't have a problem with urine odor in the hammocks and liners - even when I wash on hot - so I prefer to kill off anything that might be lurking in there by using the hot cycle.

Disinfecting.

Washing in hot water and drying on the highest heat setting will kill most things (this is effective against ringworm, for example). My machine also has a sanitary cycle (extremely hot) with a Steam option that would probably be helpful if I am ever hit with something nasty that I want to make sure I get rid of. However, if I were dealing with something that bad, I would pitch the hammocks afterwards anyway. They chew through them quickly - no sense keeping them around if there is a chance they might get reinfected with something nasty.

The good thing is that because our rats don't usually go outside where they are exposed to bird and animal droppings and they don't usually eat live food like insects (unless you feed them mealworms), they are very unlikely to be exposed to many of these problems. It is much more important to know this stuff with birds/reptiles that eat live insects or that live in outdoor aviaries, than with rats who are usually sheltered in our homes. Still - it is always possible that they could catch these things if they do eat the occasional bug or if they go outside on occasion or if they are exposed to wild rats/mice in the house or a new rat that has been exposed to these things. Feeding mealworms is usually okay because most insectaries test for these problems and somehow manage to control them - however, I have seen mealworms crushed open and the innards examined under the microscope only to find worm eggs inside - so this risk is always possible if you feed live insects to your animals. For animals with insectivorous diets (many birds and reptiles), you have no choice, but for rats, I don't risk it, since there are other options to meet their dietary requirement.

Probably the main thing that people do a deep clean for is when they find mites or lice on their rats - but using Revolution makes it less important because one dose will last the entire life cycle, so any eggs will hatch and die out before they can be reinfected (as long as you treat all of the rats). I would also probably do a deep clean for a virus like Sendai or SDA - although I believe these viruses only live on surfaces for up to 3 hours, so time would likely render exposed items safe. Still - anything that serious, I wouldn't mess around.