# My Rat Cage Stinks!



## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

Hello everyone! My rat cage stinks real badly recently. I cleaned them out on Saturday and by Sunday they smelt like they hadn't been cleaned out for weeks! 
They used to smell really nice when I moved them onto fleece and I couldn't smell them at all. But now it's awful. My parents don't go in my room anymore and I can't invite friends round because they complain it smells. Before, I had them on a paper based substrate and they smelt. I changed them to fleece and they smelt nice. Now I don't know what to do.
They are litter trained when on fleece but refuse when on substrate. 
I have eight rats (seven girls and a neutered boy) living in a ferplast furet tower. They range between 12 - 24 months.

What can I do to stop the smell and should I take them off fleece? What should I put them on instead of fleece. I'll need something really good that stops the cage smelling if I have to change substrate.

Thank you


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

I use finacard and my boys do poo in there litter tray and some on the floor.
How often do you change the hammocks?
My boys (4) live in a freddy max cage and by Wednesday they are getting whiffy, Thursday is full cage clean out.
But your bound to get a certain ratty smell anyway.
Is it a wee smell or more of a ratty musky smell or poo smell?


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## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

I change them once a week but I'll probably start changing them twice a week maybe. I think the smell is a bit of wee and poo smell.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

I change the most used hammocks twice a week.
And I fluff up the finacard as well as it gets flattened.
Litter tray gets changed twice a week too.

See how things go.


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## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

Do you get the papelit for the litter trays?


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## Kittenfostermummy (Jul 25, 2011)

I gather you wash your fleece for cleans but have you actually got totally new fresh fleece recently? After a while I notice that even washing doesn't fully take smells away and as soon as they are damp again they smell like they need a wash straight away!


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Have you changed their diet at all recently? have they been given any more protein or cat biscuits? This can have a huge effect on urine smell.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

TheLittleBigPetZoo said:


> Do you get the papelit for the litter trays?


I buy breeder celect paper pellets.
Do you wipe the bars down of the cage too?

I wash fleece hammocks on a 60c wash with only non bio, no softener as it acts as a barrier and won't soak up wee.


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## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

Kittenfostermummy said:


> I gather you wash your fleece for cleans but have you actually got totally new fresh fleece recently? After a while I notice that even washing doesn't fully take smells away and as soon as they are damp again they smell like they need a wash straight away!


Yes I do wash them for cleans and this lot of fleece I got three/four weeks ago. Yeah, I did think it would last longer that it has.



emzybabe said:


> Have you changed their diet at all recently? have they been given any more protein or cat biscuits? This can have a huge effect on urine smell.


Not recently but they're on a mix of Harrisons Banana Brunch and No. 11 A - Complete for All Adults and barley rings a couple of times a week from ratRations. As well as veg and occasional fruit. I changed their main diet over last month.



blade100 said:


> I buy breeder celect paper pellets.
> Do you wipe the bars down of the cage too?
> 
> I wash fleece hammocks on a 60c wash with only non bio, no softener as it acts as a barrier and won't soak up wee.


Ah yes, I've heard of them before. 
Yes, usually once per week or maybe once per two weeks depending on how messy they are. I do it when I do their main weekly clean out.

Thank you!


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

I found my rats didn't smell nearly as bad in a freddy cage as in a hamberley cage. The hamberley just seemed to soak up all smells and hold on to them-have you tried taking the entire cage apart and washing it thoroughly?


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## TheLittleBigPetZoo (Jul 24, 2014)

polishrose said:


> I found my rats didn't smell nearly as bad in a freddy cage as in a hamberley cage. The hamberley just seemed to soak up all smells and hold on to them-have you tried taking the entire cage apart and washing it thoroughly?


Yep, I did that last week.


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