How to reduce cage smell?

[horselo285]

Hi,

I have three 5 month old girls living in a two level critter nation cage. The bottom level has a base pan which I put eco-bedding in for them. All the other levels have fleece blankets with a towel liner sewed into them. I change all the cage bedding every 2-4 days and by that time it is typically quite stinky.

I wipe down all the levels with nature miracle wipes and try to keep everything as smell free as possible, but within hours of cleaning, it is stinky again. My girls are litter trained and have a litter box on each main level as well as the top small level. I clean and change out the litter every 2-4 days as well. I always ad a small amount of dirty litter back in to remind them that they are supposed to poop there.

Anyway, I was looking for other ideas to keep the cage a bit less smelly. It would be nice if it was at least smell free for a couple of hours after cleaning. :-(

I found a couple of products and would love opinions on them....any other thoughts are also appreciated!

http://www.sugar-gliders.com/clean-and-green.htm ----> This is an Odor Neutralizing spray that seems interesting
http://www.sugar-gliders.com/cage-cleaner.htm -------> a cage wash that is supposed to help to keep bacteria and odors at bay?
http://www.amazon.com/GoodBye-Odor-Smal ... B0002ARQSW ------> is a supplement that is supposed to actually deodorize waste through ingestion? Safe?

Any thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,

Laura

 

[Cinderwolf]

Gonna sound weird but try cleaning less. The more you clean the less it will smell like them and that will cause them to pee way more to make it smell like them again. 3 females in a Double Critter nation is a very small amount of rats for the cage, I would try changing the litter/fabric weekly instead of what you do, and not wipe as often, just to see if it makes a difference. I would also place containers of baking soda near the cage ( out of rat reach). It really helps soak up smell.

 

[Toasty]

Cinderwolf is correct, if you clean a cage *too* often, it encourages the rats to re-mark (i.e. pee) all over everything to make it smell like "home" again. I do have a few other suggestions for you that hopefully might help, they did for me at least.

1) You mentioned you wipe down the levels with Nature's Miracle wipes--how often do you do this? Also, are you just wiping down the levels or are you wiping down the whole cage--such as the bars, the little crevices where gunk collects, etc.?

2) How often do you do a "deep" clean? When I had my DCN I found that the most effective way to keep the cage itself clean and odor-free was to do a thorough cleaning every 1-2 weeks depending on the number of rats housed in it. I would wheel it outside and the cleaning method I found to be most effective (it is also completely safe for ratties), was to first spray the entire cage with regular vinegar, and then spray it down with hydrogen peroxide (the hydrogen peroxide must be stored in an opaque continer)--they also now sell hydrogen peroxide that already comes in spray bottles. Do NOT mix the two together before spraying. I would then let the cage sit for awhile before spraying it down with a hose which easily removed almost all the dirt and build-up. For stubborn dirt you can use a sponge or brush to get rid of the gunk. I would then let the cage dry in the sun, since the bars are hollow you want to make sure you get out as much water as possible to avoid rusting. The vinegar/hydrogen peroxide mix not only does an excellent job of cleaning, it also removes and neutralizes odors.

3) Do you have any accessories in the cage that could possibly be absorbing urine and holding the odor without you realizing it? Is there anything in there made of wood--that is notorious for absorbing and retaining odors. I would be sure to throughly clean all cage accessories on a regular basis also--you can use the same vinegar/hydrogen peroxide method to clean them also.

Hope some of that information might be useful to you! Let us know how it goes!

 

[horselo285]

Gonna sound weird but try cleaning less. The more you clean the less it will smell like them and that will cause them to pee way more to make it smell like them again. 3 females in a Double Critter nation is a very small amount of rats for the cage, I would try changing the litter/fabric weekly instead of what you do, and not wipe as often, just to see if it makes a difference. I would also place containers of baking soda near the cage ( out of rat reach). It really helps soak up smell.

Hi! Thanks for the reply! Up until a few days ago, I was having issues with my girls ripping apart every piece of fabric I put in the cage. Now I have created to towel/fleece combos and velcroed them to the pan so that it is much harder for my girls to get under them and rip them apart. This might make it easier to go a bit longer in cleaning.

However, the actually litter pans are an issue. I use yesterdays news litter and I have not figured out away to scoop the poop out without removing all the litter. Once they start to get full, my girls stop using them. By the third day, the one they use the most is gross, and the other two are well on their way...thats when I begin finding poop around the cage.

I will try the baking soda idea, but im not sure where to put it as I have young children that I need to also keep away from it.

lol

 

[horselo285]

Cinderwolf is correct, if you clean a cage *too* often, it encourages the rats to re-mark (i.e. pee) all over everything to make it smell like "home" again. I do have a few other suggestions for you that hopefully might help, they did for me at least.

Thank you so much!!!!!!!

1) You mentioned you wipe down the levels with Nature's Miracle wipes--how often do you do this? Also, are you just wiping down the levels or are you wiping down the whole cage--such as the bars, the little crevices where gunk collects, etc.?

Everytime change the bedding, I wipe down the pans. I have not wiped down the bars and stuff that much, they didn't look dirty, so I honestly didn't think about it. Woops.

2) How often do you do a "deep" clean? When I had my DCN I found that the most effective way to keep the cage itself clean and odor-free was to do a thorough cleaning every 1-2 weeks depending on the number of rats housed in it. I would wheel it outside and the cleaning method I found to be most effective (it is also completely safe for ratties), was to first spray the entire cage with regular vinegar, and then spray it down with hydrogen peroxide (the hydrogen peroxide must be stored in an opaque continer)--they also now sell hydrogen peroxide that already comes in spray bottles. Do NOT mix the two together before spraying. I would then let the cage sit for awhile before spraying it down with a hose which easily removed almost all the dirt and build-up. For stubborn dirt you can use a sponge or brush to get rid of the gunk. I would then let the cage dry in the sun, since the bars are hollow you want to make sure you get out as much water as possible to avoid rusting. The vinegar/hydrogen peroxide mix not only does an excellent job of cleaning, it also removes and neutralizes odors.

I'm not sure exactly how to do this, as my cage is in my apartment, down a set of stairs and is very hard to move up and down. :-/ It is just a HUGE ordeal. I had been told that as long as I cleaned it regularly, I would only need to take it outside every six months or so. ugh Any ideas on how to do a more thorough cleaning in the house that is safe for the girls (as well as my dogs and children? lol)

3) Do you have any accessories in the cage that could possibly be absorbing urine and holding the odor without you realizing it? Is there anything in there made of wood--that is notorious for absorbing and retaining odors. I would be sure to throughly clean all cage accessories on a regular basis also--you can use the same vinegar/hydrogen peroxide method to clean them also.

The only wood items in the cage are chew toys, which I just replace out when they get yucky. :-/ Other toys, such as their wheel, I wipe down with the wipes occasionally...not every time I change the bedding. I do have some fleece hammocks that probably need to be washed. One cant be as it is a handmade tunnel that I made from cardboard and wrapped in fleece.....I figure i'll just throw it out when it gets yucky.

I love the double critter nation...but im starting to wonder if getting such a large cage was a good idea. Im wondering if im missing spots that would be noticeable if it was smaller. Oh well....irrelevant cause I love the cage and so do the girls! (well...at least two out of three. One doesnt seem to like anything :-( including us. I dont know what to do with her or how to get her social enough to keep her...she has begun nipping and bit my son yesterday. :-( any advice on that would also be greatly appreciated! lol)

Anyway, maybe I should try leaving the fleece in longer and just spot up any urine spots (to keep urine smell down a bit inbetween cleanings) and then change out the litter boxes? Any ideas on a safe scoopable litter? I use the yesterdays news cause my girls def try and eat their litter occasionally, so I was scared to use more typical litters that are easily scoopable.

 

[SQ]

Hosing down your cage will cause it to rust because the CN cages are not powder coated in many places, such as inside the frame.

The use of a permanent hepta air filter (NOT an ionizer) will help.
If the litter boxes smell at 3 days, empty them at 2 days etc, but only wash them once a week.
If the cloths smell, change them but only scrub down your cage once a week.
Many use a toothbrush to clean small places like between bars.
I find it useful to take the cage apart a few times a year to wash out the smelly crud that accumulates between the levels.
People who use the nice thick liners sold by various people on here don't seem to get as much crud building up between the levels.

Spayed girls urine mark less then unspayed girls.

 

[horselo285]

Hosing down your cage will cause it to rust because the CN cages are not powder coated in many places, such as inside the frame.

The use of a permanent hepta air filter (NOT an ionizer) will help.
If the litter boxes smell at 3 days, empty them at 2 days etc, but only wash them once a week.
If the cloths smell, change them but only scrub down your cage once a week.
Many use a toothbrush to clean small places like between bars.
I find it useful to take the cage apart a few times a year to wash out the smelly crud that accumulates between the levels.
People who use the nice thick liners sold by various people on here don't seem to get as much crud building up between the levels.

Spayed girls urine mark less then unspayed girls.

Thank you for the advice!! I will definitely follow it!

 

[Bundyrats]

I'm not sure if anyone else would agree with me but I found the younger rats are a bit stinkier. As they get older they seem to smell less, I have no idea why or if this is unique to me but I recently got a 7 month old and she stank her cage out and it made me remember how stinky my three girls were when they were little.

 

[Petunia]

I'm not sure if anyone else would agree with me but I found the younger rats are a bit stinkier. As they get older they seem to smell less, I have no idea why or if this is unique to me but I recently got a 7 month old and she stank her cage out and it made me remember how stinky my three girls were when they were little.

I've found the younger girls have been smellier too. Not sure about boys as mine were nearly a year old when I got them but all of my girls have been little pee monsters when young, and then for some reason the smell diminished as they aged

 

[RattieLover<3]

I'm not sure if anyone else would agree with me but I found the younger rats are a bit stinkier. As they get older they seem to smell less, I have no idea why or if this is unique to me but I recently got a 7 month old and she stank her cage out and it made me remember how stinky my three girls were when they were little.

Huh..... Maybe thats why my girls are nastier than my boys. :gaah: I just thought maybe my recent group of girls were dirty butts. :laugh4:
They are WAY stinkier and WAY dirtier than my boys. I thought it was very strange and actually wanted to post a thread on it.