# Natural disinfectant for hutches



## cookie2006 (Jun 23, 2006)

I am just cleaning Twix's hutch and have run out of disinfectant. Is there something around the house that may be possible to use to clean/disinfect her hutch?? I don'twant to just used anything incase it is harmful to her. Now that she is spayed, I REALLY need to get her litter trained. Thankfully Cookie was very easy to little train, even before he was neutered.


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jun 23, 2006)

I use a bleach, water, and dish soap conbination to clean outside hutches. Bleach is ok to use and so is dish soap. Just make sure you spray it down after srubbing it to ensure any soap suds are gone. I've heard that bleach is ok to be ingested in small amounts but at any rate, I always rinse anything I clean with bleach very well. Not to mention the sun has natural bleaching properties so after I clean the hutches, I let the sun shine inside for a few hours (also helps dry it).


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## honeybunnie8 (Jun 23, 2006)

I always use vinegar and peroxide... just spray them on, let them sit and rinse and it takes away smell and any build up... you only have to remember to keep them separate before you use them... i just keep them in separate spray bottles.

I use to have rats and it was the only thing that got out the smell of there pee and since its vinegar it disinfects also...


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## JimD (Jun 23, 2006)

I use white vinegar for cleaning/disinfecting/deodorizing. 

Straight up for tough jobs, and 50/50 mixture of water and vinegar for the day-to-day stuff.

Good for: Plastic litter and/or drop pans, metal wire cages and/or bottoms, ceramic food bowls, wooden sleepie boxes, plactic water bottles (breaks up mineral deposits in the tubes and on the fonts), peed-on carpets/floors. Works good on the soap scum on the shower doors, too!!! And much, much more.

The only other cleaning product I use is Dawn dishsoap. This is even good for safely cleaning dirty bunnies. It's what was recommended to clean the grease off of Rosie-roo after she was abandoned at the gas staion.

~Jim


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## JimD (Jun 23, 2006)

*honeybunnie8 wrote: *


> I use to have rats and it was the only thing that got out the smell of there pee and since its vinegar it disinfects also...


 It's amazing how stinkie the little furries can get.:yuck


We had over a dozen hamsters at one point and until we discovered vinegar it was STINNNNNKIE!!!


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## maherwoman (Jun 23, 2006)

Oh, VERY cool...I was wondering this myself, as when we first got Flower, she REALLY wasn't litter-trained and there are a couple spots of buildup on her floor (currently under her litterbox, so she's not stepping in it or anything, don't worry...and it was dry, so no mold, either). I'll buy some white vinegar and a spray bottle to handle it. 

Good topic!!


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## JimD (Jun 23, 2006)

*maherwoman wrote: *


> Oh, VERY cool...I was wondering this myself, as when we first got Flower, she REALLY wasn't litter-trained and there are a couple spots of buildup on her floor (currently under her litterbox, so she's not stepping in it or anything, don't worry...and it was dry, so no mold, either). I'll buy some white vinegar and a spray bottle to handle it.
> 
> Good topic!!


 

I had plastic drop pans that were CRUSTY in certain areas because I couldn't scrape off the crystalized urine...not even with a metal putty knife.
I filled them with straight vinegar and let them sit for about 30 minutes. I then washed them using Dawn dish soap. They all looked like new when I was done.

~Jim


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## maherwoman (Jun 23, 2006)

Oh, wow...awesome recommendation!!


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## MyBoyHarper (Jun 23, 2006)

Can I use Apple Cider vinegar, instead of regular? It's all I have, and I'm on my way out the door to clean cages. I bleach them with Clorox each week. I need to get the crystalized pee-pee off the cage bottoms, LOL!


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## JimD (Jun 23, 2006)

*MyBoyHarper wrote: *


> Can I use Apple Cider vinegar, instead of regular? It's all I have, and I'm on my way out the door to clean cages. I bleach them with Clorox each week. I need to get the crystalized pee-pee off the cage bottoms, LOL!


 

I never tried apple cider vinegar for cleaning. It might work.
Try it on a small area first and see.

~Jim


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## bunnydude (Jun 23, 2006)

Vinegar... a rabbit owner's best friend! Seriously, it can get through any bunny mess without a problem


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## JimD (Jun 23, 2006)

*bunnydude wrote: *


> Vinegar... a rabbit owner's best friend! Seriously, it can get through any bunny mess without a problem


 It also, _inadvertently_, got rid of the mineral deposits on the kitchen fuacet (that's where the litter pans get cleaned....vinegar overspray)....looks like new!!

~Jim


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jun 23, 2006)

Vinegar is NOT a good idea on wood hutches, even if they're painted. I found that out first hand, the vinegar eats away at the paint and slowly deteriorates the wood and it seems to eat away at the wire. :?I've not had a problem sinceI stopped using it.


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## bunnydude (Jun 23, 2006)

Good point! I didn't even think about that. I use vinegar on my indoor NIC cages.


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## MyBoyHarper (Jun 23, 2006)

WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Vinegar is AWESOME! Thanks for the heads up on the stuff! I went out and bought a gallon, LOL! It took away pee stains that NOTHING could ever get out, not even scraping it. The cages look new!


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## Spring (Jun 23, 2006)

I swear by vinegar.. 

I ran out of vinegar the other day, and I used some baking soda. I usually sprinkle some on the bottem of the cage to keep it fresh and on the wood so the pee stentch for Pepsi's cage isn't so strong. I found it worked good as a dedorizer, but didn't work as good as vinegar to get the pee stains away. 

Anyone have any ideas to get the soaked in pee stains out of starting to rot a bit wood? I'm never using wood as the bottem of a cage ever again! Baking soda has worked a bit to absorb some of the pee on the top layer of the wood, but it doesn't go too deep.


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## Mrpumpkinbunny (Jun 24, 2006)

I use vinegar too.I have used apple cider vinegar in a pinch. However white vinegar is better and less expensive.

On really tough stains I use baking soda and vinegar it bubbles things away and if you use a rag to rub it over the bottom of the litter pan the baking sodais gritty& helps scrub everything away.


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## Runestonez (Jun 24, 2006)

Uhm...for those of you who have wood in the bottom of your hutches I had a suggestion...When we built our hutch we made it out of wood. But to make the floors easy to clean we used contact cement and put arborite on it. It practically lasts forever and is super easy to clean. If you aren't picky about colour you can find some sheets that are dirt cheap! We got our sheets for $1.50 each, much cheaper than replacing the wood floor!! Just an idea.


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## Spring (Jun 24, 2006)

Oooo! I should look into that.. Her cage is built on a table so I think I'll have to go the route of putting peel n stick tiles on though.


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## Pet_Bunny (Jun 24, 2006)

Good Idea Runestonez.
I'm going to copy your post and paste it into another thread...

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=10792&forum_id=1&page=3

Rainbows!


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jun 24, 2006)

That is a great idea! Except I think my bunnies would hate it, they will not walk or even consider walking on tile/arborite/linolium because it's slippery. Not that I could do it anyways, my hutches are wire bottom and the only wood on the bottom is on the sides to attach the wire to.


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