# New, much bigger cage smells worse?



## wendyrblack (Jan 7, 2011)

Hey everyone! My 2 boys have moved from a tiny frankencage to a HUUUUUUGE cage and they're really happy but I've noticed the cage smells worse...I think it might be because the smaller cage had a deep pan at the bottom which I lined with pellets and some hay and a top floor which I lined with paper towels which I changed daily, whereas I've been using fleece to cover the shallow trays at the bottom of the new cage. I guess they must have marked the new cage on their first night, so I wiped it all down with a water&vinegar solution, I've washed the liners with some detergent and bicarbonate of soda and remove any raisins which are outside of the box (which are often a lot more than the ones IN the box, but hopefully one day they'll learn :) but I'm wondering if I'm doing anything wrong...

Do I have to put anything under the liners? Because the pee filters down and still gets onto the tray...isn't it the same to just not have liners and wipe down daily? Or should I keep using the pellets? I just thought the fleece seemed tidier and might be less dusty for them (they still sneeze every now and again). 
Any suggestions? Thanks! Oh, the cage is a Savic Royal Suite and the trays and levels are in some kind of hard plastic (not smooth)


----------



## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

I'd keep one dirty item in the cage, so they can smell it. They tend to overmark if you overclean. They also have a new territory which can cause an increase in marking.

Not using bedding cages get dirty much much sooner! If you have sewn liners, I suggest purchasing some batting and sewing liners with batting, or purchasing. If you just wrap fleece around the pan, I suggest putting towel down under it, it works better than fleece alone.

Is this a CN? If so, you might be interested in bass pans, they are metal pans for CN's and FN's that allow you to use bedding. They are sold by bass pan equipment, they are "ferret pan 1 and 2" for a double CN, or ferret pan 1 only for a single. They do need to be spray painted with rustoleum painters touch (its nontoxic when cured) and let to dry for 14 days. I bought bass pans and LOVE it.

Oh and if you're still using newspaper for shelves, that stinks so quick, I'd use liners.


----------



## Snippet (Dec 30, 2010)

I don't like liners as one of a rat' natural behaviours is to dig. And substrates are better at keeping smell down then fleece is. I'd carry on using the pellets. You can also use substrate on the shelves, but it might get kicked out of the cage. And as stupid as it might sound, don't clean them out as often. They like their cage to smell of rat, and if you remove all the smell then they'll go crazy scent marking it untill it smells like home again. 


@ Smesyna, the SRS is very similar to a CN, but it has splash guards and deep bases.


----------



## wendyrblack (Jan 7, 2011)

OK thanks for the advice , I've been leaving their toilet tray a bit smelly for them, as well as a wooden hut and grass nest but maybe it's not enough. I'm going to try putting pellets on the bottom of the top half of the cage, which is where they spend most of their time, and using fleece liners on the bottom half of the cage, which is practically empty anyway...so they can run around in the bottom and dig on the top. I was looking forward to using liners because they seem so much cleaner...also, getting that huge tray out of the cage isn't really easy but I guess it can last 3 days, right? And...um...what is batting??? :-\

I'm also trying to muster the courage to give them their first bath...they don't seem to mind getting their feet in water, an experiment involving a wet flannel went OK and I managed to clean their tails very easily, but I'm terrified that a full bath might make me lose ground in the trust training. But I don't want to go OT so never mind! :


----------



## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

Oops, I missed that it was the savic, duh! Gotcha. My rats adore digging too, that was part of my decision in buying deeper pans for my cage.

Sounds like you're keeping enough smelly stuff in there. Have you added a towel under the fleece?

Batting is..welll it's this fabric material made of usually cotton or poly, sold by the yard, that you can use to make liners more absorbent. I thought liners would be good at first too, and some people swear by them, but I use them for my shelves and nothing else.

Was it used when you got it? If so it may need a good deep scrub, urine can build up.


----------



## wendyrblack (Jan 7, 2011)

No it's new. Last night and this morning i noticed some pee on the back or sides of the bigger brother...can the smaller one be trying out some kind of dominance game and going urine-crazy? Could that explain the smell too?


----------



## wendyrblack (Jan 7, 2011)

Okaaaaaaaaay I think I need some more help. I took out the fleece, wiped down the tray with hot water and poured on the pellets. Then I realized that to make a nice, diggable layer I would have to empty the entire 5kg bag onto it, so I only put half. But the tray is so big that the pellet layer isn't really deep and if they run and move the pellets around, a patch of plastic will peep through here and there. They also make a lot of noise when they run on the pellets...but my biggest problem with all this is that a bag of pellets costs about 6 euros...I mean, I don't want to be stingy with my beloved ratties by all means, but it seems like a lot of money :-\, so I'm wondering what your thoughts are about it??? Can I put a towel under the pellets or something? Help!


----------



## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

Here aspen is dirt cheap, I get 8 cubic feet for 12 I think. Is that an option? I understand you are in the UK and have access to hemp bedding too (its sold for horses, which need a LOT of bedding, so I doubt its that expensive), which I hear is a great choice, but I don't know about prices.


----------



## wendyrblack (Jan 7, 2011)

I WISH I lived in the UK...crumpets, hot cross buns and salt 'n vinegar crisps available every day! LOL no, I live in Italy, where my breeder actually recommended corn cob bedding, which I was using before I read it's not safe. No, I'm afraid my options are quite limited. However I'm planning a trip to a little town outside Milan (where I live) to a huge animal centre, it apparently caters to vets and shops and stuff and they sell Oxbow Regal Rat so I'm goint there to buy some...maybe I'll find some cheaper bedding there. The smell is MUCH better (actually, non-existent at the moment) with the pellets and some hay down. I've used fleece over a towel on the shelves and left the bottom cage as it was. I guess it'll take some experimenting with bedding/toys/food etc until I find what works for me and the boys. Thanks for all the advice!


----------



## Autumnrose (Jan 24, 2011)

Actually, I heard that Aspen, or any wood based bedding is bad for small animals. Aspen is supposed to be the best out of all the wood based options, but I know it's terribly cheap. Right now, I'm using recycled paper bedding... which is a bit more expensive. It works though, hopefully you can find a cheaper alternative though.


----------



## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

Autumn Rose said:


> Actually, I heard that Aspen, or any wood based bedding is bad for small animals. Aspen is supposed to be the best out of all the wood based options, but I know it's terribly cheap. Right now, I'm using recycled paper bedding... which is a bit more expensive. It works though, hopefully you can find a cheaper alternative though.


No, Aspen is perfectly safe. It is only softwoods that are dangerous, because of the phenols they contain. Hardwoods, like Aspen, contain none. I wouldn't use something dangerous no matter how cheap. Some people hear that pine and cedar are bad and so assume all wood is bad, but it is absolutely not the case.

Wendy, sorry, my mistake. Hmm well good luck finding a cheaper alternative.


----------



## Snippet (Dec 30, 2010)

If you can get to a horse shop then you might be able to buy a bale of suitable bedding. I use shredded card for my girls. A bale costs £13 (I buy it online) and lasts me between 4 and 6 months.

And living in the UK isn't that great! It's cold and wet, the area I live in (Dartmoor) is one shade of grey all year round and petrol is stupidly expensive (currently £1.28 a litre).


----------

