# UGH! They stink so bad!



## Karagraaf (Oct 14, 2011)

I had a rat in the past and it didn't stink much but the ones I have now do. I feel like I have read up on everything about stinking and haven't found any solutions that helped us. My husband is pretty grossed out and it's embarreseing when I have people over. Luckily my sense of smell isn't so great but I even smell it terribly when I walk past the cage. 

I have 3 females..I just got a new cage and I do a good cleaning once a week- wipe everything down, the wire, the shelves and the pan, change the bedding (carefresh ultra- not the natural kind),clean the litter pan(use the papaer pellets), clean the igloo and wash hammock(that is always so peed up on!) I only do that once a week, as to not make them want to mark their scent too much. but I wipe pee/poop off the shelves as I see it, and empty out the little pan about every 2-3 days but leave a tiny bit of poop in there. I feel like I am doing everything right but they still stink. Last night I did all that and gave them a bath (i don't do this often but they smelled so bad) and it already is awful smelling. I expect smell, I'm not unreasonable, but this is too much. I had guinea pigs in the past and they never stunk as much as this! I also used pine bedding for the guinea pigs, which probably help with the smell. 

I was laying down fleece instead of bedding but now with my new cage I cant do that because they can lift it up and it just lays in a corner in 5 minutes.. I have no way of securing it down (superpets exotics, i think) I wonder if i could do that if it would help any. they were never fully litter trained- peed everywhere and stray poops.. and my newest and youngest one is not litter trained at all. with the bedding, there is poop everywhere but they still go in the litter pan a good bit too, so it helps. 

What am I doing wrong, what can I do to solve this?


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## sonicboom (Sep 3, 2011)

What sort of cage do you have? Because of urine, Galvanised cages smell more than powder coated cages, which in turn, smell more than powder coated.

Possibly, cleaning more often is the key. Change out the bedding and the hammock that get's peed on more frequently - they often pee on bedding like crazy, and there is little you can do other than change it.

You could try getting rid of the plastic shelves if they are peeing on them, and replace them for something such as cat litter trays 1 cm full of litter either cable-tied or wired on to the cage.

What I find to be the smelliest in my rats cage is the bedding where they pee, and the bottom of the cage where they poo a lot, however, I changed both of these yesterday, and it still smells, so I suspect my powder coated cage itself is starting to smell. They often run up and down and on top of the cage, and they pee drops or urine a fair bit, and this lays on the cage bars, probably soaking in nicely. You'll soon know if the cage is the smelly problem after you give it a really good clean next, and if the smell is back within a few hours you'll know why.

I've been recommended the Ferplast Jenny KD cage (newer version) for the fact it is plastic coated, and won't smell in the same way.


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## sonicboom (Sep 3, 2011)

Actually, just checked. Their sputnik houses with the squares of fleece blankets, which I changed yesterday, have been peed on and are nice and smelly.


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## Karagraaf (Oct 14, 2011)

I was wrong in what cage i got.. I have this one.. http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/202198/product.web it's only about a month old. the cage it's self really doesn't smell.because it's ok right after I clean it. it's after the rats have lived in it for a few hours. I heard if you clean it too often then they try to mark their scent more.

has anyone tried that bi odor stuff? I wonder if something like that is safe.


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## Karagraaf (Oct 14, 2011)

I'm sorry for my ignorance but what is a galvanised cage? how does it look like vs a powder coated cage? Mine is coated with something but I do have mesh wire over it because my youngest kept escaping and that is not coated with anything. I hope to take that off once she gets bigger. But it was still smelling before I did that.


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## sonicboom (Sep 3, 2011)

http://www.lulusoso.com/upload/20110803/Rabbit_Cage.jpg

Galvanised is not coated with anything.


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## Karagraaf (Oct 14, 2011)

ok, that's what I thought, thanks.. 

.


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## 1a1a (May 6, 2011)

Is it predominantly a pee or poo smell?


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## binkyhoo (Sep 28, 2008)

That is the exact same pen I have. My stunk too, even after cleaning. I would walk onto my appt and PU! I did get it fixed. This is what I did and it solved my problem. When cleaning, make up a bucket of hot water, dish suds and half cup or tea cup( for you UK'ers) of Baking soda. dump out the old litter and Put the bottom tray in the bath tub and let it soak in the solution for a bit. Half hour. 
Then wipe a bit and rinse rinse rinse with hot water. Need to rinse the Baking soda away. 

Its the urine that smells and It can get into the plastic basin. This works for me. after 2yrs of stinky pens...no more stinky pens for my last 2 years.


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## sonicboom (Sep 3, 2011)

binkyhoo said:


> That is the exact same pen I have. My stunk too, even after cleaning. I would walk onto my appt and PU! I did get it fixed. This is what I did and it solved my problem. When cleaning, make up a bucket of hot water, dish suds and half cup or tea cup( for you UK'ers) of Baking soda. dump out the old litter and Put the bottom tray in the bath tub and let it soak in the solution for a bit. Half hour.
> Then wipe a bit and rinse rinse rinse with hot water. Need to rinse the Baking soda away.
> 
> Its the urine that smells and It can get into the plastic basin. This works for me. after 2yrs of stinky pens...no more stinky pens for my last 2 years.


which cage do you have?


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## binkyhoo (Sep 28, 2008)

Its a super pet, my first home. Its a ferret pen but only large enough for 2 rats, 3 would be a sqeeze but not 4 at all. There is a link to it inthe first post. I like it enough , it is easy to move around, nice for a small appt.


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## blenderpie (Sep 10, 2009)

Super Pet Cages are notorious for smelling, as the plastic absorbs odor. The baking soda is a good suggestion, but I'd try vinegar, too. You need to dilute it with water, but it gets all the urine out of the little crevices. Also, babies STINK. So if your rats are young, the smell should go down as they age up a bit.


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## sonicboom (Sep 3, 2011)

blenderpie said:


> Super Pet Cages are notorious for smelling, as the plastic absorbs odor. The baking soda is a good suggestion, but I'd try vinegar, too. You need to dilute it with water, but it gets all the urine out of the little crevices. Also, babies STINK. So if your rats are young, the smell should go down as they age up a bit.


The age bit is good to know!


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## Karagraaf (Oct 14, 2011)

Ahh, sorry, havent been on for awhile. THanks for advice. My cage: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/202198/product.web


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## wheeljack (Mar 17, 2011)

Your cage is a superpet so the advice given earlier may help you out. Probably goes without saying, but obviously make sure you are washing down the wall behind the cage, the table it's on and if it's sitting on carpet, put down a plastic runner.


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## stephaniechung (Mar 9, 2010)

I have the same super pets cage but I don't have any smell issues. I took out all the shelves because it only got covered with pee and poop. I just threw in more fleece hammocks and I have a big sheet (folded up) laying on the bottom floor. For some reason, my rats don't mess that up at all. Probaly because it's so big.I've found that carefresh can also cause stuff to smell more and it's quite dusty. You might want to try throwing old towels in instead (fleece might not be absorbent enough). Then just wash it every 2-3 days.


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## HighwayStar (Aug 20, 2010)

Actually, that's the same cage I use also. I don't have smell problems either. I use a Kaytee softsorbent bedding with shredded paper thrown in. Three girls and no smell issues here.


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

I used to have a FN with 4 females and it always smelled bad, no matter the bedding or how often I cleaned. Now I have two females in a Petco Rat Manor with shavings in the bottom tray, newspaper on the shelves and there is no problem anymore.


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## wheeljack (Mar 17, 2011)

HighwayStar said:


> Actually, that's the same cage I use also. I don't have smell problems either. I use a Kaytee softsorbent bedding with shredded paper thrown in. Three girls and no smell issues here.


I never had a problem with the shelves on my SP absorbing odor either but there are dozens of people who have reported it on different forums so maybe there is a lack of quality control when they manufacture the shelves or something.


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