Although we change the bedding every week, I'd like to give our gerbil cage a thorough clean. I know normal disinfectant would be too much; is there any special stuff we could buy? Or would it be ok to dilute the regular stuff? Any advice/experiences welcome.

Thanks in advance.

You really shouldn't do a full clean at all, gerbils use scent to communicate and it can stress them when these are removed, you should never clean more than about 1/3 out of the tank at a time, a full clean will send them do-lally.

as above, but if you really must do it, then you can use a normal disinfectant, but make sure to thoroughly rinse afterwards.
and also save some old bedding to sprinkle around once the cage is set back up.

a product called F10 is available, it's a high level disinfectant and destroys just about every nasty going, but it's incredibly safe too and non irritant.
it only has a mild smell which is quite fresh too.
it has a contact time of 30 minutes or so. or up to an hour to destroy fungal spores and the most resilient viruses.

with my mice, my poison of choice at the moment is bleach, as it will disinfect fully, and also kill any mites that may have been on the cage.

i just make sure to rinse incredibly well afterwards.

a more natural product you could use is white vinegar mixed with water.
or pets at home sell a green spray by johnsons called "clean & safe"
which isn't as effective as the F10 or bleach, but does an okay job.

Thanks both. We've always left some marked stones in the cage whilst cleaning but I will take everything you have said on board. Thanks loads.

You can buy special pet friendly discinfectant from pet shops that doesn't have that overpowering bleach type smell.