# mousey smell



## kelly1982

im finding that i can smell my new mice quite strongly, is there anything anyone can recommend to help with this, i know you can buy scented wood shavings but i would think that may irritate the respiritory systems of the mice, but am unsure. are there any little hints or tips i may find useful in this situation, im cleaning them out every 3 days and after 2 days they are starting to smell out the room again. or do i just put up with it and grow accustomed to my house smelling of these adorable little critters?


----------



## yyoung

It is really odd that I cannot overly smell my meecers but my OH is nearly sick with the smell (not that I care about that :lol: ). When my daughter comes she also comments that the smell is vile and yet I am oblivious to it all.

Having discussed this with several people I have now come to the conclusion that you can either tolerate it or not. I have mine in a bedroom that has a roof window and a side window and on nice days I can get a good through draft and because the tubs are sitting in the eaves the draft doesn't really go directly past the mice but it airs the room well. I know I am really lucky though that I have this 'spare' room just for mice


----------



## Angelmouse

I use Auboise its really good for cutting the smell down, I was finding that shavings were smelling with in a couple of days! but with this Auboise it really does last a week! Unless you have a smelly male, I have got a new male and he really is a smelly boy! I should change him more but I make him wait unless he really is bad.
You can get it from a Feed store.
No amount of smellies will hide mousey smells  I have tried. I have my mice in my conservatory with the door open all day long on hot days and a fan aswell, new mums with babies live in my Living room and get moved out when older.

Good luck with your mousey smells!


----------



## yyoung

I use Aubiose also. I was using megazorb before and then switched to Aubiose. Honestly in terms of smell I cannot notice anything between the two. I haven't used shavings for mice so cannot comment.

Mice just smell..... not a lot you can do about it except make it more tolerable.


----------



## Kage Davies

A new smelly boy, huh? That wouldn't be Belial's sable spawn, would it? They really do hum.

I change mine twice a week, and my grandmother still complains. I can't get hold of aubiose....


----------



## kelly1982

ok learn to live with it it is then! we have only does, no bucks, we used to have a pair of bucks in a 10 gallon but im guessing i just cant remember the smell. havent heard of this auboise stuff, so im going to look into it and see if i can get hold of it. thanks for the help


----------



## yyoung

Actually I got some stuff from [email protected] last night that is supposed to keep the smell down. It is Beaphar Cage Fresh Granules. Cost about £3. Don't know if it's any good but it does say safe for all animals including mice. 
Does anyone have any experience of this before I go and try it ? It smells like shake 'n' vac.......


----------



## kelly1982

im sticking with the woodshavings as we can get them in big bags from just up the road and they are almost dust free from where we get them from, there appears to be enough for around 6 cage clean outs on 3 foot tanks in 1 £2.70 bag, so im just cleaning out every couple of days.

i think the smelly stuff would irritate them, which is why i wasnt sure about using the scented shavings from [email protected] i like what im using so im sticking with that for now.

we have just moved the mice around too so we now have a 2nd 3 foot tank and now have 4 does in one and 5 does in the other, i decided the 4 does looked too cramped in the 2 foot tank, and they have better ventilation in the 3 foot so hopefully it will all help.

im definately loving them too much to rehome them, so even though we didnt expect to end up with 9 new additions, they are all well settled and today my 4 and 5 year old daughters we allowed to sit and hold one each so they are loving the new pets. they are already becoming so much mroe handtame and dont all run for cover as soon as someone comes close to the tank  they are doing really well considering we havent had them even a week yet!


----------



## yyoung

I can completely identify with this given that I got 2 pet shop mice who were preggers.... ended up with 17 instead of 2 !!!

It's all good though... they are great..... even if they are a bit smelly :lol:


----------



## kelly1982

:roll: all these minimice eh, im dreading the day these pop, i just know the pinkies are gona be cute, going to be very hard doing what i know i need to do  at least they wont have to go through pregnancy and birth again after these litters, and they are all in plenty of room instead of 10 crammed into a tupperware tub with a smaller footprint than an a4 piece of paper and only a water bottle for something to play with, i must look at it as these will have a good loving forever home, and that i would have no idea what would happen to their multiple offspring once they are rehomed, if i could rehome them. if i could get away with it i would have more tanks and keep them all, but i know not only would they cost a small fortune to set-up and keep, but the smell would be over powering :?


----------



## yyoung

I have a lot of tanks/boxes to keep mine in. I just couldn't bear to let mine go. I already had mice and these '2' were supposed to be an addition not a multiplication :lol:

It does get a bit smelly but it's not that difficult to keep on top of it. Currently in one room I have 6 Wilkinsons finest plastic boxes (50litre), 1 little aquarium for my pygmy mouse, 1 RUB for my wayward biting aggressive boy. The rest of my mice are housed in a luxury pad in another room. The wilkinsons/rubs tanks aren't expensive and are really easy to handle (ie moving and cleaning). I like them the best of all my tanks even though I have a fantastic one in the other room.

The babies are cute though ..... so cute you won't want to let them go me thinks


----------



## Peteyandthegang

Everyone thinks were really odd, but we honeslty cant smell them...not unless we forget to clean for a while anyway (which, of course we dont tend to do often!) We smell new bucks, for about a week after they first arrive...then I guess we either get used to their smell or they stop stinking *shrug* Not bothered really :lol: Now rats PONG to me...and everyone says they smell less :?

In terms of cutting down, try not to clean too often...I know itll be suffering at first, but if you begin to clean weekly, or at most every 5 days or so, theyll tend to whiff less in the long run as they wont feel the need to put their scent around so much

Also if its really bad dont have too many plastic toys, make sure wheels are wiped every other day (yeah wheels do stink-they love weeing on em and airing the smell around!) No fabrics where wee can soak in

If theyre new though I wouldnt worry too much, it should settle. Especially if its just does. Theyll just be making themselves at home


----------



## kelly1982

interesting, i hadnt thought about it being them marking it all. their wheel is definately the worst thing, im having to wash them daily, they cake them in pee and poop and im guessing tread them down as they run :roll:

as for the babies, i think im going to have to cull them all, although i am considering letting them keep any does from the litters and rehoming them and just culling and bucks. however, i for the life of me cannot tell the sexes in young mice, so pinkies im going to stand no hope at all! so i think im going to have to cull all of them regardless, as i dont want to risk any pregnancies, and dont want to rehome without knowing sexes. also the babies are all inbred so im guessing they wont turn out normal. we know an exotics shop which my husband knows the owner and he has said he can make use of any mice or pinkies we are stuck with  what an awful idea!

oh and ive even looked at the photos of the pinkies on here with the guide to sexing, and still i cant see any differences!


----------



## SarahY

Where abouts do you live? Maybe someone on here who lives near you could pop round and give you a hand sexing.

Inbreeding doesn't mean bad by the way, if you did want to keep some doe kittens they'd be perfectly normal 

Sarah xxx


----------



## kelly1982

im considering letting any does stay with their mums and just culling the bucks now if the inbreeding wont have done too much harm. ive been studying hard and think im starting to be able to tell the sexes apart. im in lincolnshire, hemswell cliff, even if someone lived close it would mean multiple trips out as theres a possibility all 9 are expecting litters,i couldnt and wouldnt expect anyone to do that. will see how it goes, only a few of the mice are starting to look chunkier, so maybe they arent all preg, the buck was very young, maybe just maybe he didnt have his wicked way with them all  fingers crossed. its been a week since the buck was removed, ive checked and re-checked and the remaining 9 mice are all does, so if in another 2 weeks there are no pinkies its all gone perfectly


----------



## Maplewood Stud

hun i havnt read all of the posts on here, but going back to the auboise, i started using it too instead of carefresh and its brilliant. i got mine from a place called spr and all horse places sell it, i got a huge bale of it (something like 25 kilos might be more) and it was £9. the stuff goes on forever.
i currently have my mice in 2 3 foot tanks and 2 18l rubs and ive only used a few handfuls from the bag.

another thing that can help - i know ull laugh. but buy them a toilet. the does, the bucks and both my pet mice all have a toilet and they ALL use it, u even see 1 of my mice, smokey, running for the loo - i only need to clean this out along with the dirty food and this stops the smell - i cant smell mine at all x


----------



## sommy

I get the Back-2-natur recycled cardboard pellets. Really good, dust free and very absorbant but RUBBISH at odour control. So i mix it with Pets at home own wood pellets dust free AMAZING odour control (can not smell the mice) but not absorbant a all. 
The final product is a pretty, absorbant odour controlling bedding... Perfect


----------



## kelly1982

thank you all for your replies, but i think ive found the solution, they are now on [email protected] wood based cat litter, its like wooden pellets, its absorbant, and they have been 3 days now with no smell whatsoever from them. it doesnt look too comfy but they love picking up the pellets and running around with them


----------



## sommy

Thats wat i was talking about in the post above. its got great odour control.


----------



## kelly1982

ok, well i have to agree, its fantastic, noisey when they dig while we are trying to watch tv but so much better. thanks for all the replies everyone


----------



## Le Necrophagist

I've heard a lot about using a couple drops of imitation vanilla extract in their water. I've been doing it for a month and I can't smell any of my 5 mouse tanks in my room. Apparently, it levels down the smell of their urine.


----------



## DomLangowski

Le Necrophagist said:


> I've heard a lot about using a couple drops of imitation vanilla extract in their water. I've been doing it for a month and I can't smell any of my 5 mouse tanks in my room. Apparently, it levels down the smell of their urine.


We tried this and it didn't really work. One thing it did do is make them not drink as much so we stopped it, better to have mice that drink than ones that don't


----------



## kezz

sommy said:


> I get the Back-2-natur recycled cardboard pellets. Really good, dust free and very absorbant but RUBBISH at odour control. So i mix it with Pets at home own wood pellets dust free AMAZING odour control (can not smell the mice) but not absorbant a all.
> The final product is a pretty, absorbant odour controlling bedding... Perfect


Are the wood pellets cat litter?

We got a little boy mouse yesterday from a rescue place. He is very cute and my son is in love with him but he really stinks. I knew he would be a bit smelly but this is really bad :shock: 
Taking him back to the rescue centre is not an option as he is here now but ...

Is he really smelly as he is new and marking his territory? The smell seems to come in waves.
Thanks, I am really new to all this and really appreciate any advice.


----------



## SarahC

when I kept ferrets indoors I used catsan wooden cat litter pellets as the floor covering.Its good safe stuff.To expensive if you have lots of animals but for one mouse it would be excellent.


----------



## april

I recently switched to carefresh and it has been working great so far, but I only have one buck and he is seperated from the does.


----------



## sommy

kezz said:


> sommy said:
> 
> 
> 
> I get the Back-2-natur recycled cardboard pellets. Really good, dust free and very absorbant but RUBBISH at odour control. So i mix it with Pets at home own wood pellets dust free AMAZING odour control (can not smell the mice) but not absorbant a all.
> The final product is a pretty, absorbant odour controlling bedding... Perfect
> 
> 
> 
> Are the wood pellets cat litter?
> 
> We got a little boy mouse yesterday from a rescue place. He is very cute and my son is in love with him but he really stinks. I knew he would be a bit smelly but this is really bad :shock:
> Taking him back to the rescue centre is not an option as he is here now but ...
> 
> Is he really smelly as he is new and marking his territory? The smell seems to come in waves.
> Thanks, I am really new to all this and really appreciate any advice.
Click to expand...

Yes they are cat litter. They have great odour control but when they get peed on they sort of break up which is why i mix it


----------



## kezz

Thanks, I am using a mixture of Carefresh and Catsan wooden pellets and the smell has gone


----------



## patricia93032

Use the word musty to describe *an unclean, stale, and possibly moldy smell*. If something smells musty that means it's probably been sitting in a damp corner without any air for a little too long. Musty smells take time to develop: they're caused by dampness and mold, and signal some amount of decay.


----------

