countering the smell

[hawtdawg]

hey everybody. i convinced my grandma to finally allow me to raise mice.


she donsen't like the smell of mice pee, so here i am today to ask y'all on how to make the smell... vanish!!!

how DO you make the smell go away?

 

[susang]

clean the cage :sidestep:

 

[hawtdawg]

anything else?

 

[susang]

I'm no joking with you if you keep it clean it shouldn't smell much if at all.

 

[hawtdawg]

how often would i need to clean it? would once a week be ok?

 

[susang]

OK depends on how many you have? If you watch they seem to pee in the same spot so you could jsut scoop that out daily. Some people use vanilla to water but ???? What kidn of bedding do you use?

 

[hawtdawg]

I haven't started yet. but i think i'd use newspaper or sawdust. im planning to buy 1.2 mice

 

[Flagg]

Newspaper will just make them smell worse. Weekly cleaning is ok, but the best bedding to counter the smell is some kind of pelleted bedding. I don;t know what is available in your country, but wood stove pellets work well, wood pellets sold for animal bedding, or even rabbit food (alfalfa) pellets work quite well and are cheap if you buy a large bag.

barring that, try wood shavings, or even sawdust if nothing else is available I guess. shredded newspaper is the absolute worst you can use.

 

[Jessicat]

Layer of Cat Litter underneath their substrate. Get the multi cat instant odor control kind. It works great.

Also, males tend to stink up the cage more. You may want to get a smaller separate cage for the male and clean it more frequently.

 

[Double het]

I used to breed mice. Took the males less then an hour to stink horribly again. A long time ago i wanted to keep 2 females as pet mice. After 1 day my whole room stunk of them. Mice urinate uncontrollably. Leaving a urine trail. So spot cleaning won't help much

If you want to breed mice i recommend a shed or something. Mice smell horrible. Nothing to be done really.

 

[rip_tupac]

I used to breed mice. Took the males less then an hour to stink horribly again. A long time ago i wanted to keep 2 females as pet mice. After 1 day my whole room stunk of them. Mice urinate uncontrollably. Leaving a urine trail. So spot cleaning won't help much

If you want to breed mice i recommend a shed or something. Mice smell horrible. Nothing to be done really.

I have to disagree because the females are odorless and the males leave fermone piss trails to mark their territory. (They do it for the female)

 

[toyah]

Female mice are not odourless ... but they do tend to smell less than the males.

It seems counter-intuitive, but don't clean the males too much or they will smell more. The harder you try to make it smell clean, the harder they'll work to make it stink like them - a mouse quite likes his own smell. I clean the cages weekly, but for males I don't properly clean the hides etc. within the cage, I make sure it still smells like mouse. This means they don't work so hard to rescent everything.

 

[rip_tupac]

Well with only one male it shouldnt smell at all. You male might be marking youe females and thats why it smells. It might also depend on colors. Mine are all PEWs.

 

[Double het]

Female mice are not odourless ... but they do tend to smell less than the males.

And concidering how much the male smells, that doesn't say anything
:grin01:

 

[TandJ]

Clean the cages more often.. I find twice weekly works well.. Shees, we might have 10 or so colonies.. 150 mice or so...

Regards.. Tim of T and J

 

[Austin M]

The substrate you use will make a huge difference. I use a layer of shavings on the bottom and critter care on top. That seems to hold the stench down for a week. Although it is not economical for large colonies.

I think some people have a higher tolerance for the smell, because after two days of mice on just pine shavings and I can't stand it. I know a guy that breeds mice and his house smells awefull to me and he says he can't smell it.

The a bottom layer of kitty litter is a great idea. I think I'll try it.

 

[LeeC]

We use a product called Bi-oder (spelling?), with our rats and mice. You put a few drops in ther water bottle, and it helps alot, combinded with a weekly cleaning we have no oder problems what-so-ever. In fact our room with mice and many rats sometimes smells better then the rest of the house... =D:laugh01:

 

[rip_tupac]

I guess thats it, I smoke so I think my nose gets used to bad smells really quick. I dont smell my mouse colony even if I dont clean it for over a week sometimes. I would use that Bi-odor stuff if the rats coming in add on alot to the smell. Its going to be a 1.2 colony that Im getting for 15$ canadian comparing to 60$ at the pet store...Can you beleive that?