How to reduce male rat odor?

[Boo<3]

My boys smell far more then I ever remembered rats to smell.... Everyone in the house is complaining and wanting me to get rid of them. Sadly My mother in law lives here atm and she is afraid of them.
I bath them every week, and change their cage every 4 days or so. I use aspen as I find the fleece stinks WAY to much. I wash the cage with a small animal safe cleaning and deoderizer spray. Seems to work good for the first day. I am really busy, and I only have time to play with them every day, barely. Any tricks on how you guys keep your boys from stinking to much?

 

[KatTheHippie]

The first trick would be getting them neutered. Once all of those hormones are gone, they don't produce as much of a musk, and their buck grease lessens too. Also, what sort of cage do you have them in? If it's galvanized, the odour may be coming from the cage itself, it tends to soak up the scent of rat urine, and there's really no way to get rid of the smell unless you either get it powder coated, or you buy another cage.

 

[xxchelle]

Bathing causes rats to produce MORE buck grease - they hate not smelling like themselves so they go into overtime producing buck grease. So I'd cut bathing out entirely (to give you an idea, out of all the rescues I've gone through, I've only ever had to bath one rat and that was because he had HED and dragged himself through runny poop). Cleaning the cage TOO often will also cause males to go crazy marking everything (again, not smelling like themselves - it stresses them out).

And I don't know about the deodorizer spray but it might be making the rats want to mark more - even if we can't smell it rats probably can - their noses are so sensitive. I've never used anything but baby wipes, and a water and vinegar mixture on my cages.

You could also look into getting an air purifier. But I think the main source of the smell is the over-bathing.

 

[victoria]

What kind of bedding/cage are you using? It's possible you are cleaning too much and they are going into marking overdrive. Neutering is by far the best solution to smell but if you can't afford it an air purifier or odour eliminators can help a lot too.

Edit: I missed the part about you bathing them. Really bad idea. They are going into overdrive trying to replace their own smell. If they get too greasy you can try to wipe them with a wet cloth or a baby wipe but I would not bathe them.

 

[SQ]

bathing rats is a bad idea.
I don't think you are cleaning too often but perhaps too throughly.
I frequeently empty litter boxes but do not scrub them so although their cage has been cleaned, it still smells a bit like them.
Air puifiers help as does neutering.
Air flow is important. I find that having rats in an enclosed room smells.

 

[xKrAzEdShOoTeRx]

smelling, thats what boys do!

 

[Boo<3]

I started bathing them because of the smell in the first place. I dont notice them smelling more because of bathing. I just started doing so about 2 weeks ago.... and before that they smelled horrible also. I diddnt clean their hammocks this time when I cleaned the cage, so hopefully that will keep they from going overdrive and scent marking everything. I am going to try to get them fixed, Finances are not there at the moment and it isnt an emergency. As for the mite issue on douglas, I got the ivemectin for now and have been bathing him in hypoallergenic soothing oatmeal bath for babies, scabs seem to be getting better. I have been cleaning the cage well because of the mite issue also. Trying to keep the problem under wraps.

 

[Boo<3]

What kind of bedding/cage are you using?

I am using Aspen bedding, it isnt dusty the brand I buy and I find it smells far less than fleece. plus they always mess the fleece up and poop on the plastic, they arent litter trained. lol

 

[SQ]

bathing will dry out their skin, make them produce more buck grease etc
Glad the oatmeal is helping. Ivemectin isn't very effective with mites.
They both need to be treated with revolution.
Are you freezing aspen for 72 hours?

 

[1928joanne]

I bought this product from PetSmart called Odor BeGone. You put it in your rat's water bottle with their water and it cuts the odor completely. It is a safe and natural product and vet recommended. You use three squirts to every 8 ounces of water. I have been using it for a few months now and I must tell you, if you put your nose to the rat's cages or litter, you can't smell anything at all. I noticed when I brought home Charlotte on Monday night and brought home our two adoptees, Moose and Jinx, they all stunk. This product makes it so their urine and feces have no odor. I highly recommend it. I love the stuff. One thing though, you have to continuously use it, otherwise they will stink again. You can't miss a day.... it costs about $14.99 a bottle, but that lasts a long time and is well worth the money.

Joanne,

Mom to Gus, Jinx, Moose, Chester, Dolly, Maizy, Lilly, Charlotte

 

[jorats]

The problem with adding something in their drinking water can and might make rats stop drinking. Not all are like this but some will and it's not a risk I'm willing to take. Dehydration kills. Rats, all animals should have access to fresh clean drinking water.
Bathing your rat often is a very bad idea... the skin will dry out, they need their natural oils.
Have you thought of getting an air filter? Also, try adding some Yesterday's News mixed in with the aspen, it absorbs odours far better.