Rodent Smell?

[Zoe]

Hey,

I know there's been a post about this before but I couldn't find it so I'm posting again...

Anyway, what do you all do to keep the smell of rats/mice down?? Air fresheners? Fans? Windows? Something in the substrate? etc... let me know, it'll help when it's winter and I can't have the window open anymore...

Thanks!
Zoe

[Darlene]

I have had some luck with the mouse sprays available at most pet stores. I also use pet fresh on the bottom of the enclosure, then a layer of newspaper & finally the bedding which is sprayed. I spray my mice as well but if you have a lot it is a nuisance as you should wash it off before feeding. I remove the top newspaper sheet each day as well. A bit more work but a lot less smell. Next week I'm trying a new bedding & I'll let you know if it's any good. I also hope to soon get some desert mice. They are supposed to be odorless. I'm looking into Egyptian Spinys & Zebras. I'll let you know how that goes, too.

[Linds]

Originally posted by Darlene
I also hope to soon get some desert mice. They are supposed to be odorless. I'm looking into Egyptian Spinys & Zebras. I'll let you know how that goes, too.

I've been breeding Spiny mice for 4 years now. They do not smell at all and are quite clean. However they chew like MAD. I had some chew the metal tip right off a bottle. You cannot use any water bottles in the enclosure if there is anything at all they can chew because they will. I clean my spiny mice enclosure every 2 months probably and they don't even stink when I get to the point of cleaning them. Your not going to be using the spinies as feeders are you?

[Jayson]

I built a building separate from the house for them.
the only way to keep the smell down is to clean them daily. I use to use shredded news paper as substrate, with that i had to clean every other day min. Now I switched to pine shavings and can get away with up to five days but keep in mind that mine are not in my house.

Jason

[Linds]

Right now they are in the basment so I have to clean them frequently to prevent it coming up through the vents. Once the basment is finished they will be getting a very *tiny* room in which I am having to install an exhaust fan. If your looking for an inexpensive air cleaner, I'd recommend trying the TruAir plug-in wall filter. It works pretty good and only costs about $25 (right now it is on at Wal-Mart buy one get one free ). I use this in my bedroom. There is an aircleaner that will completely rid the room of odour, but it also runs a hefty price tag of something like $1500 USD If you don't mind paying out extra for bedding, Carefresh works well. I use it on my two pet rats in my bedroom and I only clean their cage once every 2 weeks.

[Steele]

I use a spray caled ozium it is for hospitles but you can buy it at the store

[Edwin]

I find carefresh can help control odour, also if you use those laboratory style cages, it keeps extra food/spilled water from dirtying the substrate. I also have a bag of zeolite (sp?) crystals above their cage, and it supposedly helps control odours. It is rechargable by placing the bag in the sun, and will last for a few years. I don't remember where I bought mine, but Big Apple Herp sells something similar.

Hope this helps.

[Stockwell]

I only clean every two or three weeks, and there is no odor in the house.. The whole key is to have them in an isolated room, and have fans in the window to discharge the stink outside. My room is downstairs, and there is a window which is covered by my deck, so no light comes through it anyway.
I removed the window and replaced it with a solid board with a bathroom type fan installed. This discharges the smell outside into the middle of my lot under my deck.. It makes for smelly BBQ's but we don't use the yard much anyway
I also installed a one way louver hood, to prevent air from changing direction and blowing back in during a storm.

The smell problem has to do with 3 factors
1.Frequency of cleaning
2.Number of rodents
3.Whether there is a fan.

Sprays have little effect, and only mask the smell. Pretty floural fragrances don't elliminate Ammonia gas

I must caution all herpers, that Rodent smell is the biggest factor that results in herpers ending up in trouble with the authorities

More herpers end up in hot water due to rodent smell than any other factors (except taking snakes outside.)

It is crutial that odor is not detected by neighbours, and this applies whether you're in an apartment, condo, or detached home.
I keep my rodent collection small...12 trays, as any more results in smell to the fence line.
I recommend that herpers keep rodent collections small, and those that don't have detached homes with large lots, shouldn't keep them at all.
Keeping rodent labs in apartments is pretty much herper suicide

[V.hb]

wasnt there something you can put in their water that tones down the smell of their urine?? I cant remember what it was, its some kind of extract...... maybe vanilla, i dont remember.. Look more into that sort of thing, I know ive read it before.

[reptilesalonica]

I leave in an apartment and i breed my rodents in the next room. I breed mice since 2001 and recently i've got 1.4 hoppers rats.
I found three keys not to reduce rodents smell but to eradicate

1. I change the substrate every 15 days
2. I have an ionizer plugged to a timer switch
3. I add vinegar in the water bottles

This way you cannot smell a think, even in the rodents room
~Greg~

[Linds]

Originally posted by V.hb
wasnt there something you can put in their water that tones down the smell of their urine?? I cant remember what it was, its some kind of extract...... maybe vanilla, i dont remember.. Look more into that sort of thing, I know ive read it before.

You remember right. Many people use vanilla extract in their water for mice, though people do not seem to use it for rats, I'm not sure what the reason is for this. I tried it with my mice for a while and didn't notice much, if any, difference so I stopped.

[Lisa]

Grapeseed extract
I haven't tried it yet but i will when i find some

currently we're in an appt. and they have a room to them selves that is vented out side. After we move we'll be looking at an outbuilding of some sort.

[Darlene]

Has anyone ever tried keeping them on kitty litter ? The deodorized scoopable kind may work.

[unknownclown]

I have about 60 rats in my room right now and it doesnt stink at all. I clean out the cages every 3-4 days by scooping out the shavings and when that is outta there I just spray it with the mixture of RID that you have on your site for mites Zoe.

I started off with a case of mites now I just do it cause it kills the smell quick, its extremely cheap, smells decent, safe, and preventive in case one of them buggers ever makes its way into my apartment again.

[Zoe]

Really? You mean diluted nix sprayed on the empty tubs before refilling kills the smell??

Wow!

Zoe