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Hi! I didn’t experience that so I can’t give you advices but where did you get them ? Because in a couple of months I’m getting other babies at the same place as I did previously (it’s an animal association) and they do already vet checks that’s why I’m wondering why you didn’t know beforehand ?
I know some products (like hypochlorous acid) are supposed to be safe to wipe your pets with, but honestly I've never done that, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so. The giardia live in the feces anyway so I reckon if everything is throughly cleaned and they're killed off with meds, the remaining ones won't survive in the fur for too long. I'm not a vet though!! The medication I've been getting is Fenbendazol btw, not metronidazole. AFAIK metronidazole is considered to be stronger? I used to have a cleaning product with formic acid and am thinking of buying again because it's supposed to be as effective as bleach-based products but without the smell. I don't trust the smell, even if it's pet-safe hypochlorous acid, it still smells like bleach and I don't like it around the rats' stuff. (Also considering how often I clean with vinegar, it's an accident waiting to happen if I ever accidentally mix those. Bleach + vinegar is dangerous!) My procedure is basically what you said, throw out stuff if necessary, clean thoroughly during each round of treatment, launder things at the highest possible temperature, be even more meticulous washing my hands than usual, change my clothes after cleaning the cage. Also, even though giardia can survive for a while without a host, they can't forever. Some items can be cleaned then left outside or in a laundry room or whatever space available, and will be safe after a month or so even if not washed in high temperature. But your best bet is to throw out whatever you can do without.
Since you asked what others have done — this was our approach:
We had 14 boys at the time. I still remember that by the end of the two cycles we were scratched up all over, because the boys did not find the medication tasty at all. Thankfully we got a negative test afterwards, and a later check-up came back negative too. Mentally, we probably couldn't have managed a third round. (Well, of course we would have. They're our little ones, after all. But I think we would have cried if the test had still come back positive.)
The thought that I'll have to do it all over again if I don't do it right also motivates me. I'd cry, too. Just be careful, giardia survives freezing, so freezing it is useless.
In Germany, all foster homes take stool samples from new arrivals. Almost all of them have giardia, worms, or other parasites. I give them fenbendazole for 10 consecutive days. Starting 24 hours after the first dose, they live on paper or fabric, which is completely replaced every 1–2 days. I use cardboard boxes as houses, which are replaced every 2 days. I change the litter boxes 1–2 times a day. Anything that can’t go in the trash or be washed at high temperatures, I pour boiling water over. I may dispose of textiles if they can’t be washed. Usually, I try to see if they survive the wash; I can always throw them away afterward. I bake the wood in the oven and leave it out until everything is over. I wipe down the cage with soapy water every 1–2 days. Every other time, I steam it with a steam cleaner (be careful, not all of them get hot enough!). The most important part is the cleaning on the last day. Every bar, every corner, everything must be clean. During treatment, the goal is to reduce the load in the cage. So you don’t need to wash the rats themselves. Last time, I wiped mine down with a damp cloth after the final cleaning, but I don’t think that made any difference. The only thing that works against Giardia is enough (!) heat. Everything should be dry and free from poop. You should always have a follow-up check done by a vet lab using a 3-day fecal sample. Vets usually only have rapid tests or microscopes, it's possible they miss something. (It is cheaper if you send it in by yourself. I found a university that has a lab for this and is also conducting research, it's really affordable through them.)
Important: Champagne and hand cream to wrap up the treatment. After these days, I always end up with rat burnout, dry hands, back pain from cleaning acrobatics and I really need a vacation. Somehow, you get better and faster with each passing day. I mark off the days on my calendar to see how many more days I have to go through this ordeal.
In Germany, all foster homes take stool samples from new arrivals.
I wish. 😐