how often should I clean my pet rats hammock in their cage?
They sleep on it all the time and they also pee on it. How often should I clean and how should it be done so that it doesn’t cause any harm to them?
The problem is that there is metal clips on each side (so 4 clips) that I can’t remove. Does it matter what soap I would use to clean it as well?
Let your nose be your guide in this case. Our rats’ hammocks get changed when the cages are cleaned. We’d been using the premade hammocks with clips & they go through the wash just fine, but now we buy fleece by the yard when it’s on sale, which costs much less (our girls tend to destroy their hammocks fairly quickly).
Use a mild laundry soap withour bleach or other irritants. Something hypo-allergenic or suitable for babies is perfect. We use those spiky plastic dryer balls instead of fabric softener for our rats’ "laundry" to avoid exposing them to chemicals.
Pet rats are actually very clean animals and love clean bedding. I change my rat bedding everyday. I think the hammock should be cleaned every few days and can be thrown in the washer if it is fabric. Not only do the linens start to smell after a day or two, when they pee on them, but changing out their bedding keeps them from getting infections, infestation of mites and makes them happy all around.