Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Clean Hutches For Healthy Pet Rabbits

By David Pike


The health of pets is one very important aspect to look after, and you can do this by maintaining a clean environment where your rabbits are being housed. For rabbit hutches, regular cleaning is necessary to kill parasites and inhibit bacterial growth that can cause your rabbits various diseases.

Rabbits expel wastes everyday; that is why cleaning the cage and frequently removing the rabbit's wastes daily are important tasks to do. Hutches that have screened flooring, wastes must be removed right away because this can be infested with various parasites and bacteria. The droppings can be easily removed with the use of a shovel. For hutches that are built with solid bottoms, soap and water are needed to thoroughly clean and rinsed well.

Sanitation is usually done on a weekly basis. Mix one part bleach and 10 parts water in order to come up with a bleaching solution. You will need a disposable sponge and a brush to complete the process. After sanitizing the hutch, discard the used sponge and soak the scrub in bleaching solution to kill the bacteria that are left adhering to it. Don't place your rabbit back to its cage if the latter hasn't dried up completely.

Rabbit nests and boxes are to be kept clean and you can do this once a week. Most rabbits do not defecate in nests and boxes, but in any case that you see wastes inside it, sanitize it right away. For the boxes that don't have wastes, sanitizing it together with the whole cage is better. If the bedding is soiled and wet, remove it and put in clean bedding for fresher feeling.

Food and water containers must be kept clean as much as possible to avoid ingestion of harmful parasites and bacteria. Growth of various bacteria can take place if water containers are left unclean and unchanged even on a 24-hour period only. Natural soaps are usually used to clean containers because rabbits have very sensitive digestive system; but some prefer to use bleach solution. If containers are cleaned daily, then bleaching is not that necessary.

Fabric bedding should be washed and changed regularly or as needed. The litter-boxes are to be cleaned and replaced daily. You may bleach litter-boxes if necessary.

Every pet you own would need attention and care. A dirty hutch shouldn't be further used or even used at all for protection purposes. This way you can promote your pet's health and prevent certain illnesses.




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