# Help with rat potty smell



## ParrotRat (May 16, 2015)

My girls have a good sized tray in their house that they go potty in and I try to change that every 3-4 days and fleece bedding that I swap out for clean ones around the same time. However, it doesn't take more than a day until their cadge just has this strong urine smell wafting from it. It's not the worst thing ever but I can't afford bedding to change it every day. I was wondering if anyone knew any products that were safe and effective for dealing with this. They sell sprays and deodorizers at my local pet store but I worry those won't be good for my ratties. Thank you so much for your help!


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

How big is your cage and how many rats do you have in it? If the cage is on the smaller size with too many rats it is going to smell very quickly.

What type of litter are you using? Try placing a rock in the litter box as they honestly will pee on the rock and it helps keep things in the litterbox.

What are you using under the fleece? You need something absorbent under the fleece. make sure you are not drying the fleece with dryer sheets as it takes away the wicking aspect.

I would not use sprays or deodorizers. You can try placing a bowl of bakign powder near the cage...some say it helps. I havent tried. An air purifier can help too


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## Rattenstein (Nov 14, 2014)

What is their cage made out of? If it has plastic shelves those can absorb pee smell, washing it will help if that's it. 

Using diluted white vinegar to wipe down the cage can help also, I use 1:3 dilution. 

Something I've found out by accident is that a few drops of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar on their daily vegetables seems to reduce the smell of their pee/poop, they also really like it haha.


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## ParrotRat (May 16, 2015)

Their house is 2x2.5 ft and 2 ft tall with metal bars so it's got enough space for my three girls. I use the care fresh paper littler but I will try a pee rock for sure because I'm positive they pee outside of their pee box. Under the fleece is just a hard plastic tray so it doesn't absorb the smell I just wipe it down when I clean it. I'll try both the baking soda and the apple cider vinegar and hopefully that will help. Thank you so much or your suggestions!


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## ParrotRat (May 16, 2015)

Low quality photo of their set up


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## ParrotRat (May 16, 2015)




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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

Aluminum foil balls in the dryer are a good alternative to the dryer sheets. I don't think they have the negative effect on the fleece like the dryer sheets too.


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

We'll rats just naturally smell anyway and maybe it is the fleece toys that smell.


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## Rattenstein (Nov 14, 2014)

JAnimal said:


> We'll rats just naturally smell anyway and maybe it is the fleece toys that smell.


... My rats don't stink, if you sniff them they smell like fresh warm kettle corn and something fresh; sort of like rain? Their cage smells like this too. Their pee and poop just smell like pee and poop, but not very strongly. And if I feed them cinnamon they smell like caramel sticky rolls for a bit.  

I'd put something under the fleece also. With feeding the raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar it's just 2-3 drops per rat, at least that's what I do, for immune support and gut flora, and apparently de-stinking also lol.


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## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

I use Zorb diaper material under my fleece and the cage doesn't smell until 5-6 days after cleaning. Even then, it's not really the smell as much as a sort of sense that I have that the cage needs to be cleaned. You can buy the zorb here if you want to use that:
http://wazoodle.com/index.php/zorb.html


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## ParrotRat (May 16, 2015)

Tbh there really isn't that much of a "smell" to them, really all that smells is the liter when you get up close to it... But me mum has a super sensitive nose and every time I open the door to the bedroom she starts yelling that she can "smell those darn rats again". But again thank you all so much for your suggestions!


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

I don't mean like actual stink I meant they have this kind of musky natural odour. Some people don't like this aka my mother but I don't mind it.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

I have had hamsters, gerbils and a roommate had a ferret. All of these smell worse and much faster than rats. Even when everyone else in the household is agreed that they can't smell anything, my nephew insists he can smell the rats from behind closed doors. I think some people smell the idea of rats and there is likely nothing that can be done about it for them.


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## JigglyPuffy (Apr 21, 2015)

We use fleece for our bedding here. Something we have been trying that works well is this:

- First we put down absorbent automotive shammy-thing. It's a special cloth made for washing cars and stuff (I think). It's really absorbent. In high traffic areas we put a second layer of that (such as under their grass hut). 
- Sprinkle a little bit of baking soda, paying closer attention to the before mentioned high traffic areas. Not a lot, just a light dusting.
- Fleece over top that. 
Each individual layer is taped down so it's all tight.

We haven't been doing this too long now, but so far so good! We tried fleece without any sort of lining... and that was disastrous. My partner almost died when he tried to wash the fleece.


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