# Male Rats- cage odor?



## vnguyen1218 (Aug 14, 2016)

I wanted to know how strong your male rats and their cage smell on a day to day basis? I haven't adopted my pair yet, but my sister has quite a sensitive nose for smells. I'm trying to get ahead! So far, I know diet, routine cleaning, bedding, and litter training are large contributor to smells. 

I'm planning on feeding them Oxbow Regal Rat food and using Zilla Liners for their powder-coated cage. As for cleaning, I wanted to do daily cleaning for poop and weekly cleaning for their cage with hot water and white vinegar. For litter training, I plan to use Blue Buffalo Walnut Litter.

I'm not entirely sure if this is sufficient with two intact males. Is urine marking very excessive?


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

I don't notice any more odor from my boys then I do my girls.

Not all males mark the same, some may mark alot, some may only mark alittle. There is really no way to know until you get them.

Odor is always going to depend on how large of a cage you have vs how many rats are in it, what type of bedding you use, what items are in the cage and how often you clean.

Your cage should be large enough and not over crowded at all.
I am not familiar with those liners myself so I can't speak on if they are good or bad. You want to use something that controls odor well and can neutralize the ammonia IMO.
Know that not all rats can be litter trained fully. It just depends on the rat. Some just take right to it, most are hit and miss and others just have zero interest. Definitely try to litter train and using a pee rock will help but it may never be great or perfect.


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

I recently read a tip about having an uncovered bowl/cup of vinegar near the cage to eliminate odors. Not sure how well that works - never personally tried it. 

My male is neutered and doesn't smell bad. My girls are a disaster. They pee on the bars and I have to clean the bars with a soapy wet toothbrush frequently because of that.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

What cage do you have?


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## vnguyen1218 (Aug 14, 2016)

Thanks moonkissed! I think I have to realize that I can't prepare for everything! It's true that all rats are different and thus will smell and be different. 

I also appreciate the input Grotesque! I've never heard of that idea before, and I'll definitely write that down. It's worth a shot if I end up having a problem with odor!

As for the cage, I'm leaning toward the single critter nation for two male rats.


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## AmbientWanderer (Sep 16, 2016)

vnguyen1218 said:


> Thanks moonkissed! I think I have to realize that I can't prepare for everything! It's true that all rats are different and thus will smell and be different.
> 
> I also appreciate the input Grotesque! I've never heard of that idea before, and I'll definitely write that down. It's worth a shot if I end up having a problem with odor!
> 
> As for the cage, I'm leaning toward the single critter nation for two male rats.


I've got four females now, but previously I had four in a single critter nation with lots of play time out. They smelt horrendously when I was using fleece as a bedding, it's only when I decided to use tiles on the floor rather than a "bedding" that I noticed the difference. I also spent a lot of time working with my rats to encourage them to use their litter tray, it was very hit and miss but some took to it straight away.

It made it a heck of a lot easier, and the tiles in the bottom of the Critter Nation did as well. It meant that I could clean away the poops every day, wipe down the floor with white wine vinegar and water and then dry it and do a quick wipe down of everything else and changing their litter tray depending on how bad it was. Cleaning the whole cage was probably done once a week, once every ten days (as in like, take everything out, wash it all, rearrange the cage).

Critter Nations are brilliant cages, I can't speak highly enough of them. They're easy to get into, you could climb in the thing if you wanted! No awkwardly trying to reach rats that don't want to come out.


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## Lucozade126 (Jul 31, 2016)

Girls pee mark too, don't think it is just boys. Our girls pee mark quite a bit.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I used to use Zilla liners in my critter nation cafes before I switched to Aspen. Actually between Zilla liners and Aspen, I also use some indoor/outdoor 5 feet may that I would cut to fit my cage. The mat worked even better than the Zilla liners (thicker, absorbed pee well), but wouldn't recommend if you don't keep your rats' nails short ans nice. Back to the Zilla liners...they worked much better than fleece or fleece and Uhaul pad underneath it. The Zilla liners absorbed the pee well...it also has something that neutralize odors, although I always washed them on hot so I don't think it was there very long...still worked well. The rats ended for chewing them a little after maybe 4-6 months of use- they would destroy the fleece pretty much right away. Even with a few holes in them, I was able to still use them. It really depends on your rats. If you use Aspen in the lab, and your rats drag it on the Zilla liners, it will be a pain in the neck to get it off the liners- so you know


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## CraniumRex (Aug 20, 2016)

AmbientWanderer said:


> They smelt horrendously when I was using fleece as a bedding, it's only when I decided to use tiles on the floor rather than a "bedding" that I noticed the difference. I also spent a lot of time working with my rats to encourage them to use their litter tray, it was very hit and miss but some took to it straight away.
> 
> It made it a heck of a lot easier, and the tiles in the bottom of the Critter Nation did as well. It meant that I could clean away the poops every day, wipe down the floor with white wine vinegar and water and then dry it and do a quick wipe down of everything else and changing their litter tray depending on how bad it was.


Hi Ambient - just wondering what sort of tiles. Like ceramic tiles from the building store? Were they glazed? Did you lay them across the entire area of the cage? Sorry for all the questions - looking for options! I had read about tiles in the corners when using fleece but not a completely tiled floor!


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## vnguyen1218 (Aug 14, 2016)

AmbientWanderer said:


> vnguyen1218 said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks moonkissed! I think I have to realize that I can't prepare for everything! It's true that all rats are different and thus will smell and be different.
> ...


That's great! You made me even more excited to be getting the Critter Nation  And I hadn't even thought of tiles!


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## vnguyen1218 (Aug 14, 2016)

Gribouilli said:


> I used to use Zilla liners in my critter nation cafes before I switched to Aspen. Actually between Zilla liners and Aspen, I also use some indoor/outdoor 5 feet may that I would cut to fit my cage. The mat worked even better than the Zilla liners (thicker, absorbed pee well), but wouldn't recommend if you don't keep your rats' nails short ans nice. Back to the Zilla liners...they worked much better than fleece or fleece and Uhaul pad underneath it. The Zilla liners absorbed the pee well...it also has something that neutralize odors, although I always washed them on hot so I don't think it was there very long...still worked well. The rats ended for chewing them a little after maybe 4-6 months of use- they would destroy the fleece pretty much right away. Even with a few holes in them, I was able to still use them. It really depends on your rats. If you use Aspen in the lab, and your rats drag it on the Zilla liners, it will be a pain in the neck to get it off the liners- so you know


That's the most informative testimonial I've come across with the Zilla Liners. Thank you!


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

vnguyen1218 said:


> That's the most informative testimonial I've come across with the Zilla Liners. Thank you!


You're welcome About the Zilla liners...I should add that they come in different sizes and only one fit best a critter nation...although even that one means that the lower shelves will have two pieces. Maybe they have more sizes avail now...that was the main reason why I switched to the mat I could cut to fit my DCN: so each lower level liner could be made out of only one piece. My rats never slept under the Zilla liners or mat (they would under the fleece liners), so that was great to decrease the chances of respiratory infections.


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