Boys Marinating each other - yuck!

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crazylicious85

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2008
Messages
73
Location
Washington, North Carolina
My boys, Kaos & Fruit Loop pee on each other & smell awful! Not to mention the yucky rusty orange colored buck grease in their skin/fur! I've tried giving them bathes, but they HATE it. Kaos (usually the friendliest)hisses at me when I put him in the tub, so the only time I've been able to bathe them was with me holding them on my shoulder while sitting on the bathroom floor & my sister pouring water from a cup on them (and me) and well you get the point...

Any suggestions on how to keep them clean and less smelly? I've heard of getting the doggy/cat cleansing wipes, but wasn't sure if it was really ok to use them?

Thanks in advance :)
 
I think your best bet is changing their favourite sleeping places every single day

Silly marinating boys.... LOL
 
That's the problem! I put clean towels/fleece in their cage every day, yet they are still stinky! I took their cage (FN) outside the other day and hosed it down and scrubbed it with dawn dish washing liquid. Hopefully that will help with my room smelling so bad. I love my stinky boys, but I'd like for them to be a lil' less smelly :)
 
I once had to experiment with cleaning the cage a little less well; if I got it "too clean" (by their standards) they peed all the harder to mark the cage as theirs. It's really hard to find the right balance: clean enough that you can stand it, dirty enough that they feel at home.
LOL!

Good luck!
 
You have 2 rats in an FN? It shouldn't smell bad at all. And you change their linens every day? Do you have litter pans with Yesterday's News in the cage as well? I find that my Yesterday's News control odor very well.
 
I use Critter Care bedding in a litter pan & they use it (for the most part for poo & sometimes peeing, but they really enjoy spraying the outside of the cage and shower curtain on my wall :doh: I've thought about trying YN, but not only would I have to go to a town 35 min. away, it also costs more money. If I decide to try YN, should I get the YN Cat litter (i've heard it's cheaper for a bigger amount, yet it's the same exact thing in the small animals aisle)?

Thanks :)
 
Yesterdays News cat litter is the right stuff, and it's a reasonable price in the big 30lb bag.

Yuck is right if they are spraying the walls! That's probably where the smell is coming from. It's one of the hazards of having un-neutered boys, I bet. I have all girls, except for one neutered boy, so I don't have any words of wisdom for you unfortunately.
 
jorats said:
You have 2 rats in an FN? It shouldn't smell bad at all. And you change their linens every day? Do you have litter pans with Yesterday's News in the cage as well? I find that my Yesterday's News control odor very well.
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Oh & yes Fruit Loop & Kaos are the only rats in my FN - until I can get Kahlua spayed, she's in a separate habitat. She smells great by herself, but the boys are just terrible smelling! & I change their linens everyday (for the most part). If it isn't too bad I just spot clean and if any towels are wet, I replace it. It's pretty much an every day thing though! My room smells awful, but I'm use to it now, so the only person that complains is my mother! LOL
 
Godmother said:
Yesterdays News cat litter is the right stuff, and it's a reasonable price in the big 30lb bag.

Yuck is right if they are spraying the walls! That's probably where the smell is coming from. It's one of the hazards of having un-neutered boys, I bet. I have all girls, except for one neutered boy, so I don't have any words of wisdom for you unfortunately.
Click to expand...

It's not as bad since I hosed the cage down and wiped the shower curtain on the wall down. It's just THEM that smell so bad now *shakes head* silly boys!
 
Your males might be more "active" too because they smell the little girl. Once she is spayed they will stop a lot of spraying.
 
oh my >.< this reminds me of when I brought my boys home at 8 weeks old...they HONKED for like....three months....it could partly be the baby diet too y'know...but I think that and everything mentioned before me could be the problem...maybe just try keeping your room aired out with a window open a bit?
 
jorats said:
I wonder if you are just not liking their natural musky smell?
Try the YN cat litter and see if you still have a problem.
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I'm pretty sure it's not just their musky smell, I know boys smell worse than girls, but Kahlua doesn't smell bad at all. She has the regular rat smell, but she kinda smells like grapes! I'm thinking it might be that since their sister is across the room from them, they might be spraying more than normal or something. The cage itself doesn't smell that bad, it's just when I'm holding them they smell like they've been marinating in urine for a week LOL When I gave them their first (and only) bath, they smelled much better (although others probably wouldn't agree, but I don't mind the "rat smell" - I just hate for them to have pee on them all the time!
 
Argent said:
oh my >.< this reminds me of when I brought my boys home at 8 weeks old...they HONKED for like....three months....it could partly be the baby diet too y'know...but I think that and everything mentioned before me could be the problem...maybe just try keeping your room aired out with a window open a bit?
Click to expand...

I think they just enjoy spraying each other LOL. Kahlua smells fine (like grape soda or something) & she eats the same things they do! Hopefully once she is spayed they won't marinate each other so much :)
 
Before I got my boys neutered I would tell the girls everynight....stop thinking those thought....they are your brothers!!!!!!! But they never wanted to listen....bad girls...
 
I have always had two or three boys at a time and they have always given each other the old "fire hydrant treatment". But they also groomed each other . Sometimes obsessively, but sometimes they are kinda lax on the grooming. Do your boys groom each other much?
 

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