# Tips for controlling odor?



## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

This is a multiple animal question as I have quite a few pets, but since mice are what I have the most of I am seeking a bit of advice here.

I am a college student and still live with my parents, therefore all of the animals that I have live in my bedroom. That's thirty-five mice, two spiny mice, two african soft furred rats, two guinea pigs, and (at night) two dogs. My bedroom is not large- I'll be the first one to admit that it absolutely reeks at times.

Everyone except the guinea pigs is housed on aspen bedding. The guinea pigs are housed on fleece. I know the bulk of the smell is actually coming from the pigs since they are both boars. I also have eight adult bucks though, and I'm sure that isn't helping the issue any.

So my question is this: has anybody come up with a really solid method for controlling odor? I've tried a few things- coffee grounds don't seem to be strong enough to overpower the number of animals I have in one space and incense works but isn't fantastic for all the little respiratory systems in the room (and only works when it is burning, not afterward).

Cutting down on the number of bucks is an option since I definitely don't need as many as I have.

Anyone have any tricks they use for odor control?


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Lucky gal - my parents are asking me to rehome my buck, completely unaware that I have a female and three babies in my room. Good sign.  (no, he won't be rehomed, they don't even live here so c'mon).

Have you tried newspaper pellets? I mix that with shavings and my breeder tank hasn't been cleaned in a week and a half and all smells just fine. Vanilla drops (pure) in their water bottles I'm told makes a difference, I will have to actually try it but I'm sure there's merit to it.

Back when I had 6 rats in a tiny apartment bedroom, I used a Honeywell air purifier. That worked pretty well too.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Frequent cleanings make a huge difference for me. If it smells at all, it gets cleaned. Maybe washing the fleeces daily would be enough?


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## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

Laigaie said:


> Frequent cleanings make a huge difference for me. If it smells at all, it gets cleaned. Maybe washing the fleeces daily would be enough?


I definitely agree with this- I'm already cleaning the guinea pig cage daily though, and spot cleaning the mice twice a week in addition to weekly bedding changes. :/ I'm just trying to cover up that lingering odor.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Somewhere I read that cleaning too frequently (bucks) can trigger a more intense marking period. Is this not true? I've been saving a small handful from each dirtied litter so the clean cage smells like the boy trying to prevent this. Maybe that's where I go wrong?


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## candycorn (Oct 31, 2011)

Vanilla extract in the water helps. Thinning your bucks will help. But you definatly need to leave something they peed on in the cage so they don't mark like crazy after a cleaning. I let them keep one hide filthy! LOL! And I use aspen on my pigs and it seems to be fine. The rabbits are litter box trained and that REALLY helped! Not sure if pigs will do it though. I have not tried.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Also I know nothing about ASF rats but "regular" rats can be litter trained too.  Spot cleaning with rats was super easy as they were in a Ferret Nation cage so their bedding was just fleece - easy to pick up droppings each night. My father actually was completely okay with my having rats due to how little they smelled. And he is not a rodent guy.


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## littlelovesmousery (May 19, 2012)

candycorn said:


> *Vanilla extract in the water helps.* Thinning your bucks will help. But you definatly need to leave something they peed on in the cage so they don't mark like crazy after a cleaning. I let them keep one hide filthy! LOL! And I use aspen on my pigs and it seems to be fine. The rabbits are litter box trained and that REALLY helped! Not sure if pigs will do it though. I have not tried.


How does the vanilla extract work?


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

I think you just put 5 drops or so of pure vanilla extract in the water bottle.


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## candycorn (Oct 31, 2011)

Well the amount of drops depends on the water bottle size...but yep. just a few drops. It can't be the immitation though...has to be the real deal!


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## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

I just remembered that this was a week I was going to try things without vanilla extract and see how it goes- obviously that was a bad idea!! Yes, the vanilla extract works very well- no wonder it smells so bad right now!

I had no idea about letting the bucks keep some dirty bedding- thank you for all the insight 

I actually haven't noticed any odor from the ASFs. And the spiny mice are wonderful about not stinking up the room. I think it's mostly the bucks and the guinea pigs.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

I hope I got that right, haha, it's what I've been doing. Today I just left his nest alone and dumped the rest so hopefully he's satisfied with that! Part of his issue is his wheel - it cakes up.


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## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

I haven't had a lot of problems with the bucks on their wheels, actually. What I have had an issue with is a girl in her bowl. One of my does pees in her bowl and makes a huge mess every day. I haven't figured out exactly who it is yet, though I have my suspicions!


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Get rid of the bowl and feed them on the floor 

I am curious as to why you bed your pigs on fleece? I have a guinea pig and I've never known an animal toilet as much! I couldn't imagine bedding her on fleece, she's too disgusting :lol:


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

The Ferret Nation cage doesn't have a tray of any sort so fleece is the only option! But you can get it from the Dollar Store and either launder or toss out entirely.  With spot cleaning I find laundering works just fine! I just...don't put my own clothes in with it.


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

That's the same cage my guinea pig is in, but my supercool husband made a tray to go in out of laminated floorboards!


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## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

My cavies are in a 7.5 square food C&C cage:










Technically the cage is too small for two boars, but my boys seem to get along okay. I'm extending it anyway though, hence the half-made second level. I'm hoping against hope that the extra space will not cause arguments to occur (fighting over space since there would be more now), but I can't stand them being in such a small area all day because the urine and feces really does add up.

As to why I house them on fleece- I was going through an unreasonable about of shavings and figured fleece would be cheaper and cleaner. I put paper puppy pads under the fleece and change it out daily. I could be using U-HAUL pads, as apparently that is a lot cheaper and lasts longer, but I haven't made the switch yet. If the fleece gets full of poop before I'm going to change it, I just vacuum it up with a shop vac. No issues there 

I will say, it probably smells a little more than having the shavings there did. But compared to the mess of dumping all the shavings, cleaning up fleece is a heck of a lot easier. Their daily cage cleaning takes me about five minutes to complete- I just plop them on my bed for a few minutes and remove everything, add new pads and fleece, and put them back in the cage. No problem


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Fair enough, put like that it certainly sounds easier


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

SarahY said:


> That's the same cage my guinea pig is in, but my supercool husband made a tray to go in out of laminated floorboards!


Lucky! My friend's fiance did something similar with their double FN because they had eight rats in there and needed something more absorbent. She missed the convenience of cleaning but said it smelled better to have the home built trays!


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## luvcats22 (May 20, 2012)

my piggies are both boys living in my lounge, i use vetbed it wicks the pee down similar to fleece but doesnt seem to allow any whiffs to escape. its currently being washed every third day (poop scooped a few times a day) i also have a male mouse living in my lounge and he can be a bit pongy especially as he is new so he is scentmarking like mad at the moment.


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

how does vanilla in the water work? does it make their pee smell less or something?


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## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

Morning-star, that's what I've heard (and experienced) with the mice.


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## Serena (Dec 29, 2011)

candycorn said:


> Well the amount of drops depends on the water bottle size


how many would you put in ~100 ml?


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