# Ever get complaints about the "smell"?



## artgecko

This isn't really so much of a rant as it is an annoying recurring issues. 

We all know that rats smell and no matter how much you clean, they can undo that couple hours hard work with a few minutes of scent marking. I love my rats dearly, but have issues with their smelliness myself. 

That said, I keep them clean and in a room downstairs with my other critters. You can't smell them in the rest of the house and the smell is only noticable when you go in the room. 

My issue is that when others come over, mainly my parents, my mother MUST comment every time about how they smell. She claims that she can even smell them in other parts of the house. At this point I think it must be psychological or something. Because she's my mothers, I don't say anything, but it really annoys me that she doesn't realize that I do try my best to keep the smell down and that commenting on it each time she comes will not make me reconsider keeping them and won't make it any better.... When I had guinea pigs, granted they didn't smell as badly, but she didn't make it such a habit to comment about them.

Do any of you guys experience comments about your rats similar to the ones I'm getting? Just curious if this is a common problem.


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## kksrats

Only when I have to let cages go for another day or two due to not having time for a proper cleaning (which is rare). And even then, it's only my husband. We share our office with the rats, so we're in the room constantly. But even if the office door is open and I'm coming home from school (so not desensitized to the rat smell at that moment) I can't smell them in the hallway or even right outside the door. I live with my in-laws and my mother-in-law is a clean freak. The only time she's ever mentioned anything about the smell is when I had to leave for DC for 5 days and she was watching them for me. She said it started getting stinky at around day 4 (I usually clean every 3-4 days), so I really think it depends on how people feel about your rats whether they'll complain or not. She wasn't exactly a huge fan of them when I left for DC, but they grew on her and she even got one of my more docile girls out to play  She didn't realize that they all knew their names and would respond to her being in the room lol I think by the end they were all begging her to let them out and she felt bad that she couldn't (I told her not to because I didn't want any to be rascals and try to avoid being put away).


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## Daize

It could be you've gone "nose blind". You could be "used" to the smell. So, to you, it's not as bad as it really is. 

Put an air purifier right next to their cage. You can also put "Good-bye Odor" in their water. You can get the Good-bye Odor at Petsmart of Petco. You can also purchase it on Ebay. 

I've only got 1 rat. I clean her cage daily and she doesn't smell at all. The air purifier and Good-bye odor works "GREAT"!! 

BTW When my friends come to visit, I always ask them if my rat smells. I actually have them go "smell" for any unpleasant odors. LOL 

So far, there's never been a complaint about odor. 

If your mother is so "concerned" about the smell. Try asking her for advice about how to keep the odor down. Let her know, you'll be accepting of her advice..... As long as it doesn't include "getting rid of your rats".... Because getting rid of them "is NOT an option". 

If she comes up with something that's actually helpful and works, then tell her "thank you". It's always nice when parents give helpful advice that actually works. 

If not..... Politely tell her that complaining isn't very helpful or polite and you'd appreciate it if she'd keep any rude comments to herself.


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## nanashi7

I get complaints of "animal smell", that I can't smell. But guess what? Don't tell people that I have animals or where I keep them and "oh wow I couldn't even tell they were here". I think a lot of it comes from it being "rats" since no one complained about my sisters "guinea pigs", even though lord knows they smell.


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## artgecko

Thanks! I've been thinking about an air purifier. I know someone that made their own DIY version from a box fan and a home air filter (the kind that you replace in your central air system). They claim it works really well... I may try that. I used to have a small air filter but it didn't do much.


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## Grotesque

There is actually a liquid that you can put in their water that neutralizes their smell from the inside. I hear it is completely safe. I suppose if it is an issue, you can try that. 

I don't have company over often enough to hear complaints, because my family won't come over because of the rats. Friends that come over always compliment the smell of the house, I suppose mainly because I always have scented candles burning in the all the rooms except the rat room. I do wonder if anyone else can "smell" them when they are around the cage or I went noseblind. LoL


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## kksrats

The water additives are fine, just make sure your rats are still drinking. Rats are naturally suspicious of new things, so you don't want them to just stop drinking.


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## artgecko

I use vanilla extract in their water and I think it helps. I am aware that there is some smell, I just don't think it's quite as bad as she thinks. *shrug* 

Thanks for the input!


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## xStatic

I HATE this! 

My dad is apparently exceedingly "sensitive" to the rat smell, but I can tell it's all psychological. He has threatened several times to make me get rid of my rats because "the whole family" could smell them and the whole house smelled like them. But this only happened when I decided to upgrade my girls from their smaller cage to their double critter nation. In the smaller cage the rats smeller worse faster, but my dad never noticed. For whatever unexplainable reason my dad hates the DCN because it's so huge. He always calls it my "wall of animals" and talks about it as if he's disgusted. This makes no sense to me whatsoever because buying the DCN has allowed me to install 2 litter pans that my girls almost always use (and I clean frequently), as well as switch from using carefresh and towels to fleece liners. I can tell that any odor has been drastically decreased since buying the DCN but my dad only started complaining about the smell after I bought the DCN. 

He notices the scent becoming bad at totally random intervals. The cage is in my room upstairs and he never goes up there. Sometimes he'll complain about a smell downstairs the day after I just deep cleaned the cage, other times I get busy and have to go an extra day without cleaning (at which point even I start noticing a smell while in my bedroom) but he magically doesn't seem to be able to detect the smell of the dirty cage on that day. He's just making it up/convincing himself he's smelling something on days when he's crabby and wants to get after me for some reason. I hate it, it makes me feel so anxious because I never know when he's going to be mad again and start threatening to make me get rid of my rats. 

I've thought about buying an air purifier to see if that helps but since I'm sure he's just smelling phantom scents whenever its convenient for him, I don't want to have to spend $50-100 on an air purifier that doesn't do anything to solve the actual problem - my dad himself.


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## Malarz

Of course rats smell! Very nice! Just lift one up and sniff... Aaah...


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## CleverRat

Yes whenever my mom walks into my room she comments on how horrendously smelly the cage is. :


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## TheAlchemist

Thought I'd weigh in on this topic : ) honestly none of us are bothered by ratty "smells" to be honest, our little terrier, God love him, smells a lot worse than the 4 girls. We have people by all the time and so far the only comment was from my daughter saying she could smell the aspen bedding when we left for a few hours on errands then returned. Trust me, my grandma who we live with, is a major neat freak and can't stand dirt or smelly things etc she LOVE the rats and NEVER has had a complaint about the ratty smells. Anyone who complains is being ridiculous


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## ellebelleeee

I've never heard of that "googbye odor" stuff, sounds really great though! has anyone had any health issues with it though? kinda makes me nervous to be honest!


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## Velo

I've never had anyone except my boyfriend complain of the smell. And he only does it on the days that I clean the cage (as in after I clean it, not before) which really makes no sense. XD


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## artgecko

I've just switched to aspen bedding again in my DCN (thanks to new deep pans!) and think this will greatly help with my odor issues. I have been using vanilla extract in their water bottles for a long time and I think it helps a little, but some don't think it works. Apparently it works as well as "goodbye odor" according to those that have used both, so maybe try the vanilla extract instead and see how it goes? I have had no health issues due to using it.


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## Maddie

The only time I get complaints about a "smell" is cage cleaning day or if I'm a day or two behind on cleaning. I don't know the set up for your critters but mine are in a carpeted room that they run around in. To sort of counter the rats marking my carpet I use a floor powder deodorizer when I vacuum and then do an overall carpet cleaning. Honestly the carpet smells faintly nice in there most people tell me how their room smells really nice.


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## ilovescience

I LOVE the way my girls smell <3

Regarding the 'phantom odors', especially on cage cleaning day.. if you've ever cleaned a kitchen that hasnt been cleaned in a while, you'll kind of understand. It might be the rehydrating of dried urine and scrubbing and such (just like u cant really smell a dried spot of pasta sauce, but if you wet it and scrub at it to get it off, you get a whiff of the smell). 

Also, sometimes I wonder whether some odor molecules get trapped amongst nose hairs, only to be dislodged/inhaled at a later time..? Because I get those phantom scents too. Like after I blow my nose, I'll smell something that I shudve smelled earlier.. and it would really confuse me like no other for years, until I finally noticed a pattern, heh.


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## Grawrisher

My roommate complains about the smell sometimes

I was so concerned about it when my boyfriend first came over but I was super relieved because I warned him and when he was in my room he said "reminds me if when I had gerbils" and got nostalgic about it, I was so relieved
But my roommate still complains...I usually just bring up the fact that I'm the only one who will touch the fish (we don't have a big enough net for 6 of them)


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## QueenBea

I agree with this!


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