Best way to do this...?

[HorseyMandz]

It's that time of the week... cage cleaning time!
This will be the first time I've ever had to do this with Minnie (I got her a week ago), and here's my plan of action-
Stage 1- Take Minnie and her cage upstairs.
Stage 2- Put the cage in the bath and open the door/take the entire wire part off. Put a bit of old bedding in the bath alongside her favourite cage accessory. Hopefully Minnie will climb out to explore.
Stage 3- Get mum to watch her (armed with a pair of gardening gloves and a carry box just in case!) while I quickly clean the base and put in fresh bedding.
Stage 4. Put cage back in bath with door open and encourage Minnie in with a treat or something. If this doesn't work, I'll remove the wire top and hope she doesn't try to escape while i'm putting it back on.

Does this sound like a good plan? What can I do to make this less stressful for her? Is there anything I should change about the plan/anything I can make simpler?

[HorseyMandz]

Any ideas?

[mangoandmimi]

Sounds fine, none of ours have ever been stressed out about cage changes. just keep the set up similar and she'll be just fine

[fluffymunchkins]

Its up to you when you clean, but I tend to leave new hams cages a bit longer so they don't get too unsettled. Or you can do a partial change of the bedding so its cleaned but mostly still smells like her

I think she'll enjoy having an explore around the bath, you can give her something tasty to eat and something sheltered to sit in to make it more comfortable. Have fun x

[HorseyMandz]

A partial change sounds like a good plan. I still haven't established which is her loo corner, so I'll clean all the corners and mix in some fresh bedding to stop any mankiness. I hope she will like exploring the bath- I brought a little toy that doesn't fit in her cage so maybe she can use it in there.
If the experiment is a success, she'll be spending a bit of time in there every few days to give her a runaround

[Willow's mummy!]

What we do when we clean Willow out is, get everything ready to use, fresh bedding, compost bag in the bin ready for the refuse, etc. Then put Willow in her ball & let her play in that while I clean the cage quickly. I always put a treat in for her to find when she gets back in to encourage her back into the cage.

Let us know how you get on - I'm sure you'll be fine, but I know you will get more confident the more you do it

[HorseyMandz]

It went really well. I did exactly as I said and she doesn't seem too stressed out, a little bit of fast grooming but she seemed to enjoy herself a lot in her big wheel (it doesn't fit in her cage) and her little seesaw tunnel while running round the bath
Hopefully it will go as well next time!

[Arraminta]

Hi, it might be worth keeping a bit of bedding and wee sawdust back and when it's cleaned put them back in the cage.. That way the cage is 99% clean but still smells of them in the important areas..
Good luck and hope Minnie ok xx

[HollyHamster]

I have a large tank for my syrian, Holly's, cage and I just leave her in whilst I scoop out the bedding. She wanders around looking confused while I do it but she isn't stressed whatsoever.