[Blindtlk] Questions about Cleaning up!

[Heather Field]

Hello Danielle,

I have a pet guinea pig in my classroom.
The cleaning system I use is pretty simple.
I use two litter media.  Corn cob bedding and shredded paper.

The first thing I do, before cleaning, is give William guinea pig three or 
four baby carrots to keep him busy up on his eating platform.
Since the he guinea pig house is a rectangular cage with a slide-out, 
removable tray, I have to pull out the tray to clean it. This makes it 
possible for him to run down his ramp and escape into the kitchen if he 
wants to.
Carrots to munch first thing in the morning usually ensure that he doesn't 
want to.

When I give the tray a full clean each weekend, I sprinkle baking soda all 
over the bottom of the tray to prevent any urine odour.
then, I put shredded paper, about an inch deep and about eight inches wide, 
at each end of the tray, from back to front.
To cover the rest of the tray, I use corn cob bedding. no deeper than an 
inch deep.
William the guinea pig likes to sleep on the shredded paper at either end of 
his house, so this means that this is where he urinates.

So, to spot clean each morning, I use a square-ended, plastic scoop to scoop 
out the paper that is wet. I touch it with my hand since it's usually only 
damp on top. Those of us who have pets are used to touching pet droppings. 
Nothing that a good hand-wash can't sort out.
I scoop the damp paper straight into a plastic grocery bag and throw it out 
when I'm done.
Next, to prevent any odour, I put some fresh baking soda on the space from 
where I took the wet paper, and then I simply put a handful or two of fresh, 
dry paper back in to replace the wet.
I spot clean like this during the week, and replace all the bedding each 
weekend.

I bought a rectangular bin with a flat lid, in which to store the supplies, 
and I keep it right by the cage and, since it has wheels it is easy to roll 
it out for vacuuming. I believe the bin is designed to store dog food, but 
it worked out very well for my purposes.
It came with a plastic scoop for measuring out dog food and a lidded, 
plastic jar for storing dog treats. I use the scoop for cleaning and the jar 
for storing baking soda.]
The bin is large enough to hold an entire large bag of the shredded paper. 
With a little rearranging of the shredded paper tipped out of its bag into 
the bin, scoop, baking soda and corn cob bedding container all pack into the 
bin.
It took me quite a search to find the bin but it was worth it, since all 
supplies are in easy reach and make cleaning each morning quick and easy.
I finally found this bin set at Petsmart. other pet shops had bins but they 
were very unsuitable.
I hope this method will work for you.

Warmly,
Heather Field



-----Original Message----- 
From: Danielle Ledet via blindtlk
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2017 4:37 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users ; acb-l ; 
Blind Talk Mailing List ; gduichat at guidedogusersinc.org
Cc: Danielle Ledet
Subject: [Blindtlk] Questions about Cleaning up!

Hi ya'll.

I'm thinking some of you might have or have had pocket pets and cats.
How do you sift thru the litter box and replace soiled litter with
fresh? I am getting a guinea pig and in the past, I just stripped all
the bedding twice a week. Now the consensus is remove the dirty spots
and refresh total once a week. I kow sometimes people use dog litter
as well. It's in my best interest to replace only what's necessary
right now.

-- 
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and
tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will
have been all of these.
George Washington Carver
Email: singingmywayin at gmail.com

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