# how to disinfect a sick rabbit's cage



## SnowyShiloh (Apr 21, 2008)

I need advice on how to disinfect a cage! We're driving home with Mylo today and he will be moving into a temporary cage that Tallulah's been in the past few days. Tallulah is currently being treated for coccidea, and coccidea is spread by fecal-oral contact, so I want to make sure the cage and cage bars are really clean and safe for little Mylo to move into. Things to consider: We don't have a hose or a bath tub and it's likely to be below freezing so cleaning the cage outside might not be possible. Feel free to give tips on how to clean outside though, too!

Thank you :biggrin2:


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## AngelnSnuffy (Apr 21, 2008)

If it were me, I'd use a sponge and some bleach water. You can wipe the bars off with the sponge too. Should work well. Or also, you could use Clorox sanitizing wipes, that'd work well too.


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## Ivory (Apr 21, 2008)

Try to get your hands on some chlorohexaderm. Bleach doesn't kill coccidia very well.


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## SnowyShiloh (Apr 22, 2008)

Chlorohexaderm, you say? Where do I find this? Thanks for letting me know the bleach doesn't work well! Also, do you know how long the coccidea protozoa lives outside the body? The vet mentioned that it dies pretty fast, but I didn't ask how quickly. Maybe if I clean the cage with soap and water like usual, then let it sit undisturbed for two or three days, the coccidea will be dead so I could go on ahead and use bleach water to clean it? I think I'll call the vet in the morning to ask her what I should do. Also, for the bleach water, how much ultra strength bleach per gallon and do I need to let it sit for a few minutes after putting it on? Do I need to rinse the cage afterwards?

Sorry so many questions! Thanks for helping  And Mylo is staying in a temporary NIC cage in the kitchen until we get this other temporary cage cleaned out. Poor guy is moving around to all sorts of different cages lately!


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## Bo B Bunny (Apr 22, 2008)

I wonder if the cold would kill it? You could maybe set the cage outside for a time?


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## slavetoabunny (Apr 22, 2008)

If you can get ahold of some Vanodine, it is a great disinfectant. It's used in a lot of rabbitries.

http://www.vanodine.com/


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## Ivory (Apr 22, 2008)

Coccidia can live in the enviroment for a while, if I remember correctly. I could be mistaken. 

You can get chlorohexaderm or another surgical scrub at a medical supply store.


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## SnowyShiloh (Apr 22, 2008)

Thanks for all the help, everyone  We don't have any medical supply stores and vanodine isn't available in Alaska, so I'd have to ship it here. I'm considering just going back to the feed store and buying another cage! They're those really big Super Pet My First Cages, big enough that I could sit down in it with my legs extended and still have another foot of space. Not bad for a temporary cage! The feed store is selling them for $30, and I'm willing to bed the cleaner would cost at least $20 to ship here. It can't hurt to have ANOTHER cage sitting around, can it? And they collapse down well. If the 3 buns ever need to go to someone else's house to be taken care of, we could just take them and the Super Pet cages (assuming Tallulah and Mylo will eventually bond and only need 1 cage), since their normal cages are wayyyy too big to be moved around.


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## Bunnicula (Apr 22, 2008)

*SnowyShiloh wrote: *


> Thanks for all the help, everyone  We don't have any medical supply stores and vanodine isn't available in Alaska, so I'd have to ship it here. I'm considering just going back to the feed store and buying another cage! They're those really big Super Pet My First Cages, big enough that I could sit down in it with my legs extended and still have another foot of space. Not bad for a temporary cage! The feed store is selling them for $30, and I'm willing to bed the cleaner would cost at least $20 to ship here. It can't hurt to have ANOTHER cage sitting around, can it? And they collapse down well. If the 3 buns ever need to go to someone else's house to be taken care of, we could just take them and the Super Pet cages (assuming Tallulah and Mylo will eventually bond and only need 1 cage), since their normal cages are wayyyy too big to be moved around.



I think I'd get another cage, too. If the expense is going to be about the same, anyway. We have 3 cages here that none of our buns are currently using (they live in NIC condos :biggrin2. It is so helpful to have those cages, though. The small wire-bottom one works great if we need to take a bun along with us to family on weekend visits. The two larger cages will be outfitted on our screen porch in the summer while the NIC condos remain intact inside. Our bunnies will live on the porch in pleasant weather, but it'll be convenient to be able to bring them in when it's hot, cold, or wet and not have to tote the entire cage in, too.

Hugs to Mylo and the gang for me!

~Mary Ellen


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## SnowyShiloh (Apr 23, 2008)

Mary Ellen, that sounds like a really nice set up! We bought Mylo his temporary cage today and I'm about to move him into it. It's purple, hope he doesn't mind! The other one we bought that Tallulah was in was blue because we thought it was going to be Mylo's. Shall I post a picture of him in his pretty cage?


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## AngelnSnuffy (Apr 24, 2008)

*SnowyShiloh wrote: *


> Shall I post a picture of him in his pretty cage?



Of course you should!:biggrin2:

I'm glad you decided to get another one. Good idea. Now you can take time to get the other one cleaned. I still think bleach would be okay, me and my husband talked about the night I posted as I read what Ivory said (not disagreeing with Ivory at all, but if you can't get ahold of what she suggested, this might be a good route). 

My husband works with strong chemicals and told me the parts per million to use, I don't recall now, but I can ask him again if that's what you want to use. He says it kills everything if condensed correctly.


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## Jenk (Apr 26, 2008)

*Ivory wrote: *


> Try to get your hands on some chlorohexaderm. Bleach doesn't kill coccidia very well.


Do you mean chlorhexidine, also know by the brand name Nolvasan?

Jenk


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## cheryl (Apr 27, 2008)

Chlorhexidine(surgical scrub)is awesome stuff...Dr Leehad given me some when Pippi had his abscess...i had to flush his abscess out with it and it was just amazing stuff....and i also had it for Daisy for when she first had her op to remove her hip joint...i just had to apply it to her stitches after she had pulled a couple of them out...it's a good antiseptic and it comes as a concentrate.

You can clean cages with it also....it's a bit expensive to buy though but well worth it.

I still have mine left over from Pippi

Cheryl


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