# Stinky!



## ShameOnSnakeFood (Jul 25, 2013)

Ok. So I have 2 dumbo rats, both male, about 6 weeks old now. I got them about a week ago.I just cleaned their cage like two days ago and today oh my goodness it smelled terrible! Their cage is in my bedroom and I don't want to sleep with that smell drifting all over while I sleep I know pets smell. I know rodents smell. But I've heard rats smell less but really I smell it before I even stepped in my room! I know males smell more than the females. I know I will never erase their smell 100% Did they just pee on each other!? How can I get rid of this? Will they be affected if I put some scentcy in there or something? Is it necassary to give them a bath? Their really small and new and I don't want a bath to affect them. Should I just clean the cage again?I really hate this smell  how can I get rid of it?


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## TexasRatties (Jun 2, 2013)

I have male rats and they hardly ever smell. Are your rats litter box trained or do you let them use the whole cage? OK so here is what I do for my cage when I clean it. I only clean their cage thoroughly once a week besides spot cleaning and litter boxes which I do twice a week. I strip all the bedding down cloth toys, fleece, hammocks, etc...... I put them all in the washing machine with free and clear laundry soap and a couple splashes of vinegar. Then I scrub down the bottom pan and all the rest of the stuff with anywhere spray or in the bath tub with soap. I scrub down the main walls and all the non washer safe toys. I will often smell different parts of the cage they use the most and if it doesn't smell good then I keep scrubbing. After that I put all their washed and dried stuff back or rotate stuff and put a towel underneath the fleece sprinkled with baking soda. I also keep a box of baking soda behind their cage. I also for feed them oxbow rat food and smell them occasionally to make sure they smell good. Since they are young they might not smell great yet but later they will smell better. You can over clean the cage and that will make them mark it just depends. With all this the cage stays pretty fresh in between cleanings and is worth it. Hope this helps. I wouldn't recommend bathing them yet though.


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## Glwolf (Aug 2, 2013)

I have been having the same problem. I got 3 males 2 weeks ago. I was using carefresh and that smelled horrible. I switched to fleece and changed it out every other day but man it smelled like pee all the time. I just got paper litter from Petco that has baking soda in it and its awesome. It's paper pellets and it doesn't make them sneeze and the baking soda must be helping with the smell. I put corn cob bedding in the litter box and clean that ou at night. It's been 3 days and I didn't get to change the cage today but its still ok.


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## Xerneas (Aug 6, 2013)

I have also had problems with rodent cages getting dirty even when I cleaned them liberally and something I have found works is to take a few handfuls from the old dirty bedding and put it into the new one. This way the rats will be less tempted to pee on everything and scent mark it again. I would scrub everything down and use vinegar and all kinds of pet wipes and it would smell great and then three hours later it reeked again. So I tried this method and it has worked quite well and now it stays fresher for longer.

Does your cage have wood ledges/ramps? They will also absorb urine well and in many cases with wood in cages it's not the pan that smells but the wood. I learned this the hard way haha. Also I have recently discovered that Carefresh does absorb well but boy it sure does have an odour. I also recommend the litter that Glwolf posted about which I believe is this: http://www.petco.com/product/106817/Planet-Petco-Small-Animal-Paper-Pellet-Litter.aspx


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## AJ Black-Savage (Aug 6, 2013)

Is it safe to use baking soda with their bedding to reduce smell? Ours never smells that bad but every now and then we get a whiff from it... Our rats themselves never smell (well they do but I love their smell- it reminds me of grape soda if I am honest which must be a good thing) xxxxxxx


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## Xerneas (Aug 6, 2013)

AJ Black-Savage said:


> Is it safe to use baking soda with their bedding to reduce smell? Ours never smells that bad but every now and then we get a whiff from it... Our rats themselves never smell (well they do but I love their smell- it reminds me of grape soda if I am honest which must be a good thing) xxxxxxx


Honestly I don't think putting baking soda on top of the bedding you already use is safe. My rats like to pick up their bedding in their mouth and carry it inside their little hides to nest with it and I'm sure they could accidentally ingest loose particles. I would use bedding that already has baking soda compressed into it like those pellets. Also putting an open box of baking soda right next to the cage works just as well.


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

I use baking soda in my cage but I know they can't get to it. I have a scatterless litter box and I sprinkle it under the towels underbmy fleece lol 

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## Mball77 (Jul 3, 2013)

Glwolf said:


> I have been having the same problem. I got 3 males 2 weeks ago. I was using carefresh and that smelled horrible. I switched to fleece and changed it out every other day but man it smelled like pee all the time. I just got paper litter from Petco that has baking soda in it and its awesome. It's paper pellets and it doesn't make them sneeze and the baking soda must be helping with the smell. I put corn cob bedding in the litter box and clean that ou at night. It's been 3 days and I didn't get to change the cage today but its still ok.


Planet Petco! Its awesome. I've used other paper pellet bedding too, its a smell sponge. I normally spot clean everyday but on the off day I can't its not a big deal. I use baby wipes on the shelves. Carefresh, wood, all very smelly after two days. Paper pellet with Carefresh Crinkles (which is shredded paper) and I hardly notice a smell.


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## AJ Black-Savage (Aug 6, 2013)

Yeah, that's what I thought which is why I thought I would ask. Xxxxxx


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## JBird (May 23, 2013)

Is baking soda toxic for rats to ingest? I figured since it was safe for people to ingest that the rats would be fine if they got a bit accidentally. I keep a cup of baking soda on top of the cage to see if it helps with odor, and every time they are out I'll catch one of them bee-lining toward the cup and shoveling a bunch in their mouth. Smh.... (of course I don't allow it!! And move the cup as soon as I remember) 

On that note though, I sprinkle baking soda in between the fleece liners and rub it in pretty good, it's REALLY helped!! I'm surprised!  
Another thing I always recommend is using a good litter in your litter box. In my opinion, the box isn't worth it's salt if it still reeks. Get a good natural cat litter that's safe for rats. I use Blue Buffalo walnut based cat litter. It's amazing for odors and has virtually no dust.


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## Xerneas (Aug 6, 2013)

JBird said:


> Is baking soda toxic for rats to ingest? I figured since it was safe for people to ingest that the rats would be fine if they got a bit accidentally. I keep a cup of baking soda on top of the cage to see if it helps with odor, and every time they are out I'll catch one of them bee-lining toward the cup and shoveling a bunch in their mouth. Smh.... (of course I don't allow it!! And move the cup as soon as I remember)
> 
> On that note though, I sprinkle baking soda in between the fleece liners and rub it in pretty good, it's REALLY helped!! I'm surprised!
> Another thing I always recommend is using a good litter in your litter box. In my opinion, the box isn't worth it's salt if it still reeks. Get a good natural cat litter that's safe for rats. I use Blue Buffalo walnut based cat litter. It's amazing for odors and has virtually no dust.


I was looking it up for a while this morning and all I got were mixed opinions, however I found that baking soda is used in a lot of homemade rat traps so that was enough to scare me into not putting it into the cage. I also read on a forum about someone who was breeding rats and lost about nine of them to baking soda. I also know that baking soda can be harmful in large quantities to humans due to the high sodium content, so I don't feel too good having rats possibly ingest it. And on the contrary to all of this I also found tons of people who said they used baking soda with zero problems and it was fine, their rats have licked it up etc etc with no problems. 

So maybe it's a matter of quantity. All in all I say if you've been using it for a while and haven't seen any problems I see no harm in it (can't argue with success ) but the risks are still there. Personally I think I would be more concerned about my rats sticking their nose into it and breathing in the particles as I came across a few things about it causing RIs easily so personally I would stick to compressed baking soda and keeping a cup near the cage. To each their own though


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## dr.zapp (Dec 24, 2012)

I have 2 males and also have them in my bedroom. I use ether planet Petco paper pellets or Yesterday's News (cat litter paper pellets) and they both work great for odor control. I clean the litter box every 3 days, the whole cage every weekend. Another thing that helped a lot- Neutering. No more territory marking or peeing all over each other.


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