# Good fleece/bad fleece/Zilla liners



## SherylM (Jun 18, 2013)

For those of you who use fleece in their cages, is there such a thing as good fleece and bad fleece? I started using it a couple weeks ago after switching from Care Fresh Ultra. Yesterday I completely cleaned the cage, washed it with vinegar and water and changed the liners. On my top shelf I have a towel underneath the fleece, on the bottom I have Zilla liners under the fleece. This morning when I got home from work I could smell the guys as soon as I walked in the door. It was horrible!

My question is, is there a difference between good fleece and bad fleece? I bought a very large fleece blanket from a discount store and cut it up to fit the shelves. It was only $8.00 and I got
4 sets of liners from it. Is this bad fleece? Should I be buying from a fabric store more quality material? 

Also for those that use fleece, do you use Zilla liners and if so do you notice a "smell" about them?

Any suggestions would really be appreciated as my husband is starting to insist the guys go in a back bedroom by themselves because of the smell. Its causing arguments here!

Oh, and the guys are about 4 - 5 months old, maybe a little older

Thanks so much!


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

I use fleece from joanns for the most part. My rule of thumb is if I can see light through it I'll have to double layer it. Do you have cardboard wood or hammocks in your cage that is absorbing smell? What litter do you use? Is your cage big enough? 



I just copied and pasted this from where I posted in another thread.

I clean my cage in phases to keep them from scent marking too much. 

One day I'll wipe down the tiles I keep in the corners all things plastic (igloos baskets etc)and empty the litter box. A few days later I'll change out half the fleece and do a sniff test of hammocks and boxes (mine honestly don't smell that often). If they are stinky I throw out or wash. 

The next day I wipe down all plastic again and empty the litter boxes. 

The next day I change the other half of the fleece. 

After that I wait 3 days to begin the cycle again. 

I use yesterdays news bedding with a tsp of baking soda in a scatterless covered litterpan. 

I put a pee rock on top of that which gets soaked in soapy water everytime I empty the litter. 

My level covers is 3 layers. Layer one is a sprinkling of baking soda level two is a microfiber hand towel and level 3 is fleece. IF their is any chance your rats will get a hold of the baking soda do not use it because it will give them a tummy ache. 

I keep a tub of baking soda near the cage to absorb odor and I wipe down the walls and spray the carpet with natures miracle every couple of months. 

I also got a wet dry hand vac to suck up all the raisins in and around the cage. 

I keep all my dirty fleece in a bin in the basement and I wash it with home made detergent at the laundry mat once a month. 


I had guests over a few weeks ago and it was toward the end of my cleaning cycle and they said they were surprised they can't smell anything. Walking in my house they don't get the smell of animals. I have 3 cats and 4 rats. One litterbox and the rat cage is in my livingroom which the front door opens into. I never use air fresheners and my windows are always closed due to allergies. 





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## SherylM (Jun 18, 2013)

Zurfaces thanks, I did read your post the other day. I did leave a bit of dirt behind, as in a hammock and some dirty litter from the litter box. I have a single CN cage. There is no cardboard or wood in it. I have three litterboxes, all of which I have Yesterday's News litter in them. The upper box and one lower box have pee rocks. The odor I'm smelling is very strange, so I'm not sure if its rat odor or something else. I can smell urine when I stand over the cage and breath deep but that's not what I'm smelling when I come in the door. Its very hard to describe the smell, other than to say it's pretty nasty!


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Might it be their doody? When I adopted my two girls their doody was rank compared to the ones I had already. After a change in diet and probiotics they smelled better. The poo looked fine but stank. If they still keep stinking get a air filter and set it next to the cage. It will be healthier for them and you lol

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## Risika (Jun 22, 2013)

Or maybe it is them? They may need a bath


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

Is it warm at your house? Because I noticed now that its summer an it's Warmer my rats cage has to be cleaned more often because the warm weather makes their pee and poo smell stronger then when it's cool. I find if I clean up around their cage and change the fleece more often the smell isn't there. Also does the shelfs or shelf in your cage lift up? There could be pee trapped under the shelfs on the part that holds it up. My cage the floors lift and I wipe them down aswell because the pee gets trapped on the lip that holds the floor up.


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## SherylM (Jun 18, 2013)

I'm feeding the guys a mix of the home made food I got from the breeder and Oxbow rat. I think it's a pretty good food, right? Yes, it is warmer now and that definitely is adding to the problem. I'm in the process of ordering from Tap a Drop and I'm going to add baking soda under the liners to see if that helps. Thanks for all your suggestions!


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## JBird (May 23, 2013)

I think putting baking soda on the liners or using vinegar in the wash would help a lot. I spritzed down my rat's fleece blanket with vinegar/water every once in a while, and wash it with my own laundry (rinse & wash in the sink beforehand). 
Another thing is the litter you're using. I know that when I was using a regular paper litter in their box it just smelled more. The whole cage reeked of pee, and they managed to track it everywhere, making them smell like pee. It was so gross! 

Have you tried the Blue Buffalo Walnut litter? I bought a bag of it on a whim and I'm blown away by it. It's the only litter I'll use for cats or rats anymore. It smells awesome out of the bag (like fresh wood & walnuts, of course) and the litter completely absorbs any urine odor. It literally works so well I forget to change their box because I can't smell it!  It's amazing. I'd give it a try, it's cheap and lasts a long time (also totally refundable). My rats love it, it seems. They no longer pee on everything else in their cage, or at least I don't smell it or see it. I've never been happier walking into my room, lol. It just smells like rat, not like pee & poo! 

The cage I use doesn't work well with fleece, so I just use a crumbled paper litter on the floor to catch and hide any stray poos or pees. It works loads better than the fleece+puppy pad combo I was using before. Not only did it reek to high heaven, my girls just burrowed underneath it anyway, making them stink as well. Our new cage doesn't allow for litter so we will see how it works with fleece.


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