# Seriously Bad Rat Cage Smell



## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

Hello everyone, I'm new here and I have a question for you. My rats cages smell so bad and I don't know why! There is a big ammonia smell coming from the cages, please don't leave any negative comments about ammonia being bad for their health, I have removed rats from their cages and are currently living in our spare room which has Lino on the floor. The boys and girls are separate. I would leave them in that room permanently but my brother has to come and live with us and he's going to have that room. 

So anyway there is a really bad smell coming from the cages and I really don't know why! I clean all cages once per week, the eight girls live in a Ferplast Furet Tower and the two boys love in a Ferplast Jenny. I clean the cage throughly, I take both cages outside, take out bedding, hose down the cages, scrub with disinfectant and warm water, dry, put back in room, put clean bedding in, disinfect toys in warm water, dry, replace toys, put rat in. This usually keeps the smell away for a day then the ammonia smell always comes back. 

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the rats ages:
x2 = 21 months (female)
x1 = 19 months (male)
x4 = 14 months (female & one male) 
x1 = 11 months (female)
x1 = 9 months (female)

They are on Pets at Home rat nuggets and the bedding I use is shredded bank notes and carefresh. 

A few of them have health issues:
x1 = mammory tumour (female)
x3 = URIs (female)
This may have something to do with it.

Please don't say I'm horrible keeping them around ammonia but as I said I have removed rats from their cages and are currently living in our spare room which has Lino on the floor. The boys and girls are separate. I would leave them in that room permanently but my brother has to come and live with us and he's going to have that room. So they are away from the smell. But I can't leave them like that forever.


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## catpud (Nov 9, 2013)

Do you by any chance have any wooden accessories in the cage? Wood absorbs the urine and you can't just clean it off so you might find that is holding onto smells. 

As for bedding, it might be worth trying something different, I have never heard of shredded bank notes as a bedding  perhaps wood / paper based pellets is the way to go.

Are they litter trained? Might be worth trying to work on this if not as it can then just be spot cleaned daily. I would also recommend that you spot clean daily even if not litter trained to remove all wet bedding and poops - but you may already be doing that. 

If none if this works then I would just change them more regularly, there are more animals in a confined space so it makes sense that this also equals more cleaning out to do.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

They do smell...but if you are doing all that cleaning it shouldn't be as bad. 

As far as age is concerned the males are more or less past the "hormonal" stage which I would have thought was more likely to cause scenting problems.

A thought I have just had is maybe if the girls are near the boys, it is causing hormonal surges and maybe they are over-scenting because of that.

Oh and steer clear of wooden toys as they will retain smell.


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## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

Thanks catpud for your very quick response.

In the girls cage the only wooden accessories are hanging gnaw garlands and a wooden ladder. I'll happily bin the ladder right away but I don't want to get rid of the gnaw garlands because I don't want their teeth to be over grown. How can I overcome this situation?

I have some basic cat litter pellets from Pets at Home in my cupboard that I can try. The only problem is with one HUGE cage and another cage it will get used really quickly. But I'll happily try that. Is the carefresh still ok to use?

I cannot get any of them litter trained which is really annoying but I spot clean every other day so I'll do it everyday instead.

Thank you so much for your helpful comment


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## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

Thanks niki87 for your very quick response.
Believe me, they seem to smell worse after I've cleaned them out and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

The girls are kept in the same room as the boys, but they can't really see each other. But that's a really good suggestion. I'll see if there's a way to move them away from each other. I

In the girls cage the only wooden accessories are hanging gnaw garlands and a wooden ladder. I'll happily bin the ladder right away but I don't want to get rid of the gnaw garlands because I don't want their teeth to be over grown. How can I overcome this situation?

Thank you so much for your helpful comment


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## Muze (Nov 30, 2011)

In the heat, I have had to clean all mine at least twice as often, they get very stinky very quickly! 

Even with windows open, fan and air purifier on, it's still a bit whiffy in the mornings. 

Do check the corners of your cages, especially the mesh, urine can dry on and leave that ammonia smell


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## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

Thanks Muze!

I've set up a new rat cleaning schedule to try. What do you guys think of this?
Rat Cleaning Schedule

GIRLS
Monday
Spot clean
Replace hammocks
Hoover room

Tuesday
Spot clean
Clean accessories 
Replace bicarbonate of soda 
Hoover room
Dust room

Wednesday
Spot clean
Hoover room

Thursday
Spot clean
Hoover room

Friday
Full cage clean out 
Replace bicarbonate of soda 
Hoover room
Dust room

Saturday
Spot clean
Hoover room

Sunday 
Spot clean
Replace bicarbonate of soda 
Hoover room
Dust room


BOYS 
Monday
Spot clean
Replace bicarbonate of soda 
Hoover room

Tuesday
Spot clean
Replace hammocks
Hoover room

Wednesday
Spot clean
Clean accessories 
Hoover room

Thursday
Spot clean
Replace bicarbonate of soda 
Hoover room

Friday
Spot clean
Hoover room

Saturday
Full cage clean out 
Replace bicarbonate of soda 
Hoover room

Sunday 
Spot clean
Hoover room

When I say "Replace bicarbonate of soda" I mean I replace the little pot of bicarbonate of soda that sits next to the rats cage


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

You're welcome. 

I haven't noticed it with rats...but with my male mice...the smell never seems to go because after I deep-clean the boys go mad and re-scent everything. So I rarely deep clean. I go in every other day and take out any wet bedding. I clean a few toys at a time. So despite it being a less is more approach...it works as the boys don't over-scent after.


So maybe try that approach with your rats...worth trying.

The other thing is do you wipe down the bars? It might be worth soaking the bars for a bit in a bath?


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## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

Ah thank you niki, I'll try that with the boys


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

I replace my boys' hammocks every other day (e.g. clean out day on Monday, change hammocks on Wednesday, Friday, etc.). If I don't do that (and I am quite busy, so it happens often unfortunately!) the cage begins to really smell way before clean out time. However, if I do replace the hammocks regularly, it does actually seem to keep the smell down. Hope this helps.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Don't use wood pellets, they break down when wet and become dusty.
And they smell piney the phenols would irritate rats respiratory systems.

I've noticed my 4 boys smell more this time of year than when it's cooler.
I only change my hammocks on a Sunday and the corner paper pellet litter tray gets replaced with fresh stuff.
They get a full cage clean out on Thursdays, bars wiped down. Full hammock change over and substrate.
That's it.
Too much cleaning and they will keep re scenting as your taking away there own smell.

As for pets at home nuggets :thumbdown: 
Rats prefer a varied mix, pah nuggets make rats poops smell more as when I got two from the adoption bit there poo stank and was stodgy.
Rat rations online do good varied rat mixes.


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