mercredi 25 février 2015

Disinfecting wooden ledges to combat giardia

Hey ya'll. So, a few days ago I noticed soft/runny/irregular stools littered across the boys' cage shelves. I brought them into the vet the next day and it turns out that the youngest tested positive for Giardia. Both of my boys started their oral medication last night (they live with one another). It's a twice daily, 5 day treatment which I was told to repeat once more in three weeks. I've also been cleaning the cage daily to make sure they won't be reinfected, etc.



Anyway, I'm sure lots of you know what a pain it is when chin stools are irregular. They're smashed ALL over the wooden shelves and its so hard to get all of it off and this is obviously seriously problematic for several reasons. I've had to start wiping off their feet using a wet rag twice a day because the poops get seriously caked on (even after wiping off shelves and changing liners once a day) because I really don't want them to get bumblefoot as a result. They literally hate me right now but oh well, they'll get over it in time.



OK, so, what I'm really getting at here are some questions I have regarding sanitizing the wooden shelving. At this point I decided it would be wise just to temporarily remove all of the ledges in the cage with the exception of two necessary ledges so it's less of a hassle/overwhelming task to clean the shelves and cage daily.



I've sanded down the poop stains on the shelves I've temporarily removed, and am wondering if I should either A) bake them, or B) take a cotton ball saturated in rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide and swab them? I'm actually completely clueless as to whether or not rubbing alcohol is ok to use on ledges, so I guess that's another question I have. If I were to wipe them down, they would have about a week of drying time before being put back into the cage.



In addition, I removed the chin spin a few days ago. Not really sure how to proceed with it, there are tiny little crusted-on poop marks all the way around it from before they began their medication and its seriously hard to get off. I think soaking it would help but I don't want to screw up the wheel itself? Anybody have any tips with how get those crusted-on spots off the wheel without damaging it? Also wondering about baking the wheel once all the poop is scrubbed off and if it's ok to do that.



Sorry this is long! Thanks guys!




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