# Smell!



## doctorowl (Sep 2, 2015)

Hey guys, it's been a LONG time since I've posted, but I have a small issue I'd like some opinions on regarding cage stink.

I have 2 females around 8 months old, both unspayed. This problem has happened rather suddenly. For a long time I never smelled ANYTHING until it was close to cleaning time, then it would smell a bit like pee. (I used to have 2 intact males and their pee used to smell all the time, always, no matter what... at least my girls aren't as bad!)

The weird thing is now, for the last few weeks, the cage really stinks. But it's NOT urine smell. It's something else. I swear it smells like wet dog. Anyone else ever smell this?? It's a really bad, musty, wet fur smell... Honestly it stinks awful. I can't even walk past the cage without getting a whiff anymore. Embarrassing when my mom comes over, as she already thinks rats are disgusting and smelly despite my objections...

They're in a Petco Rat Manor, it has 2 main levels and a few small shelves. I don't know if the bars are galvonized. It might be the metal is absorbing the odor? They're also on recycled paper pellets cat litter for their bottom tray. Nothing on the shelves. I never wanted to go through the hassle of cage liners so I keep them bare.

They do pee and poo on the shelves, I pick up poo daily and I wipe it down with baby wipes or a bit of water/vinegar spray every few days. I do a "full clean" every 7-10 days, where I spray the entire thing with water/vinegar and wipe it down. Once a month I hose the entire thing off with soapy water just to make sure it's clean. I also wash their hammocks every week or so depending if they smell or not.

Am I over cleaning?? I know that can cause them to stink up more... but this weird smell is NOT urine. I don't know why it reeks so bad. I'm having to wipe it down with vinegar daily now just to combat it. My boys never had this smell.

The girls themselves are happy and healthy -- mostly-- they smell good! They smell like grape soda haha. My one girl is going through some skin issue, I THINK she has mites so I started her on Ivermectin, she's scratched up her neck and face and has nasty scabs that look exactly like mite scratches. But I doubt that's causing the smell... otherwise they are healthy.

Sorry for the long post, TLDR my cage smells like wet dog and I don't know why.


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

things i would consider:

Look around the cage, is there something near that could be getting pee/old food/poo on it? Like something wooden, carpet, ect? 

What are you feeding them? I know we over gave are boys chicken bones when we were doing a lot of barbecues and they ended up smelling like maple syrup really strongly. That was a bit too much protein in their diet I'm sure.

The skin issue-some skin issues can cause smell. A lot of dogs have skin disorders as well that is mistaken for normal dog smell, so the skin issue made me think of that.

Lastly you might want to do a really good spray down with an enzyme cleaner, like natures miracle. Make it really drip down and let it dry before you wash it off.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I would use Revolution. Just 1 drop between shoulder blades. Ivermectin is not safe as overdosing can easily happen, and it works only on the adult mites. Revolution will work for a full month so all mites (adult, larvae, and eggs) will be taken care of. If you rat is less than 1 lb, use Revolution cat, kitten, or puppy. All 3 have the same concentration. Revolution for dogs is twice as concentrated and might be too much for a rat less than 1lb.


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## Zanie (Dec 30, 2015)

Hm.. I bought a rat that smelled like that when I got her..she smelled, her pee and poop smelled, everything just smelled..
A couple of weeks later it ended and she smelled like my other girls. I believe it was the change of feed that helped.

Have you switched feed?


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

It's a good idea to try to remember any changes you have made recently. Changes in their food or environment could be the root of this. Also, take the cage apart carefully and smell each part - each shelf, toy, hammock, and whatever else. If you can't pinpoint a source that way, move the cage away from the wall and smell the wall, floor, carpet in the area to see if any of those is the source of the odor. If you locate the source of the odor, then you can treat that area. Nature's Miracle makes a "urine destroyer" that might help you to get rid of the odor when you locate its source. 

You should always treat all rats for mites when you treat one. Just because only one shows symptoms doesn't mean all aren't affected.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Is there any coating missing on your Rat Manor cage or the on its tray? If not, the smell isn't coming from the cage itself. I agree with people saying it could be the walk behind the cage, the floor, the furniture your cage is standing on...I would do a full cage clean every 4-5 days with daily spot cleaning of course.


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## CourteesRatties (Feb 23, 2016)

The urine could be soaking into the tray since you keep it bare


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## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

Is it the cage or your girls? Check them extremely well for cuts or bumble foot. (You may have already, IDK.) Look for infections. They're good at hiding things. That's a nasty smell. 

Maybe it's stress poop? Has anything changed lately? I know it doesn't really fit the smell, but I'm just brainstorming.

Old food. Did they stash anything away from you?

Wire floors, I've found, absorb odor. Doesn't matter if you scrub them or if they're powder coated. You'll probably want to cover them with something anyway since there's debate about them causing bumble foot. 

Is it actually even the cage? Are they near furniture where they could have thrown things? Is there something that happens to be vaguely in the vicinity of them? Do you have any other pets? 

If it _is_ the cage, then you can use Nature's Miracle, which is, well, miraculous. But you can also bleach it if you leave it sitting in direct sunlight for at least 48 hours. (It's winter where I am, so this probably isn't an option.) The only problem is you likely won't find out the origin. You need the UV rays/heat in order to destroy any remaining bleach, so don't skimp on that last part.


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## doctorowl (Sep 2, 2015)

Wow guys, I didn't expect so many replies. Thank you all for the help! It took me forever to get back online haha.

I read all of your replies and ended up doing a REALLY DEEP clean of the entire cage. I scrubbed it all in the shower with Dawn soap (as per my usual "full clean") but then also bleach. Let it sit for a while before rinsing, THEN also vinegar! Then of course let it dry completely. Also did the same with the pan bottom, and scrubbed all their toys which could possibly be scrubbed, switched out hammocks again... the works.

I sniffed around the whole cage and, as per usual, there is NO odor after I clean it. That's what always happens- the smell disappears after I clean it, but then 2 or 3 days later it comes back. I've had rats for a while now and I've never had such a bad, funky, musty smell show up after cleaning like that. Especially one that is clearly not ammonia or poop. It's really baffling. There's also no furniture anywhere near the cage. Just the wall, which is actually clean. The cage is sitting on a box covered with a blanket (very fancy I know) and it also has absolutely no odor! 

Right now I don't smell a thing. Seriously, you could blindfold someone and put their head in the cage and they wouldn't know! It's spotless. Let's see if the bleach and hard scrub worked... if the smell comes back again, I guess I will have to go grab some Nature's Miracle and soak the whole thing overnight... Not sure what else to do at this point.

The girls themselves are so clean and wonderful smelling. Their food and water is always fresh (only a day or two old at most) and my entire apartment is clean! I clean all the time haha. I do have a cat but it's not coming from her.

The smell honestly just comes from the cage itself I think. It's really weird. Like I said it's gone for now but we'll see... maybe I'll have to break down and buy a new cage


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

What cage do you have? Is your cage paint coated or just bare metal?


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

One more thing you could try if the smell comes back...........If the base of the cage is plastic and old, odors are much more difficult to get rid of. Odors may seem to be gone, but the bacteria isn't. 

I have cats. Older cat litter boxes still smell after being cleaned. And it doesn't smell like normal urine or poo either. If I just clean the boxes with dish soap, they will smell bad again a couple of days later. Same thing with bleach. It seems like this shouldn't be the case, but it is. 

The ONLY thing I've found that actually takes the odor out of the box itself is peroxide. I use one entire bottle of peroxide and enough water to fill it up the box. Let it sit for about a day. 

The smell is completely gone when I do that.


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