Do Rats really smell?

[Sprockety]

Ok, so I'm getting 2 baby male rats in 2 weeks, but after more research it seems there is a very large debate on if rats smell.
Some people say the odor is unbearable while others say they can't smell it at all.
I'm in Australia, (so no critter nations) however i have a cage similar to the size for my two rats. I will use some substrate bedding on the lower floor and fleece on the higher floor, as well as on the platforms. I am going to try and litter train them.
I would like some honest advice on how badly male rats+their cage smell. If they do smell bad, is their any way to reduce it without an air purifier.
I will be cleaning litter tray every other day and cleaning out whole cage once every 7-10 days, with spot cleaning throughout the week.
Advice needed!!!!!!

 

[Coffee Babies]

Rats themselves don;t give off any smell, as long as you keep the cage clean you should be fine

 

[Sprockety]

@Coffee Babies, ok thankyou!

 

[RatsDrawBlood]

Why are you so defensive? You’ve just argued with every point that everyone’s made.

No, most rats don’t stink: they naturally have a smell, as all mammals do, but in good health and conditions it should be slight.
Rats are rather clean animals, and unless they’re kept in conditions that will transfer more into them, they will clean off what dirt and urine they have on them regularly. Male rodents have a stronger scented urine in order to mark, but with regular cleaning this is completely manageable

 

[Jadyn45]

The boy rats tend to be more smelly than the females! But as long as you clean the cage often you shouldn’t have any problems with the smell


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOuGztMPSbKpjaR8_cSO9WA

 

[RatsDrawBlood]

One male is the same as a hundred females.

 

[Coffee Babies]

I don't understand why your rats and rats cage smells so bad, from my experience and everything I've read and heard from fellow rat owners shows that rats have little to no smell, especially my females don't smell.

 

[RatsDrawBlood]

Why are you so defensive? You’ve just argued with every point that everyone’s made.

No, most rats don’t stink: they naturally have a smell, as all mammals do, but in good health and conditions it should be slight.
Rats are rather clean animals, and unless they’re kept in conditions that will transfer more into them, they will clean off what dirt and urine they have on them regularly. Male rodents have a stronger scented urine in order to mark, but with regular cleaning this is completely manageable

 

[x-Ratties-x]

One male is the same as a hundred females.

After some time, i've gathered that maybe your rats are one in a million, very smelly, cause mine are fine.

After having my boys, i successfully litter trained without a pee rock, however i added one later, to cut down on the pee marking around their cage, i clean the litter tray every other day, and its perfectly fine.

I have heard from many places that vanilla especially is bad for rats, (please correct me if im wrong, I just did research on it before getting my rats, as i was concerned about smell.)

They don't smell very bad, the rats smell when you push up your nose into their fur, and the cage, with fleece only smells after a week, and thats mostly from the cardboard boxes that soak their smell.

I'm not sure why yours smell so bad- mine are fine, maybe try airing out the room they are in, such as with a open window or air purifier.

Anyway- the baby boys are dong awesome, (not so baby anymore)

 

[RatsDrawBlood]

Mine have no smell. Everyone who posted in this thread, including me, is smelling nothing from their rats, so I don't know if parts of my posts weren't showing up.

 

[heatherton]

No not mine. All rats stink. Mine have no smell. They'd stink if I did let them. People smell nothing but they're breathing rat stench. I guess you meant you're the same person, as the OP's screen name. The scientists used their measuring equipment. They're who discovered that a baby or neutered male's urine (and females, I just now re-read) definitely does contain 100 times less allergen, than a male's does. When they've matured (which could be at 3 months or 7 months), only then could you collect and send in a sample, of the air where they are, to a lab to ask how much smell is in it, except that there isn't just one substance giving off one smell. Or what the millions of rat owners in the world did, when they had rat stink problem and wanted their stinking rats to not stink. Collecting tips, checking for safety, try out till solved. And no, was rat himself, the air in the house was perfect. Everyone who posted in this thread, including me, is smelling nothing from their rats, so I don't know if parts of my posts weren't showing up. But the answer to the OQ is: yes your current rats very easily might, and very easily might not, smell very strongly to you (in good, neutral and/or bad ways) in the future.

Why are you so defensive? You’ve just argued with every point that everyone’s made.

No, most rats don’t stink: they naturally have a smell, as all mammals do, but in good health and conditions it should be slight.
Rats are rather clean animals, and unless they’re kept in conditions that will transfer more into them, they will clean off what dirt and urine they have on them regularly. Male rodents have a stronger scented urine in order to mark, but with regular cleaning this is completely manageable

 

[RatsDrawBlood]

What are you talking about? Who are you addressing?

people say the odor is unbearable

say they can't smell

would like some honest advice

If they do smell bad, is their any way to reduce it

boy rats tend to be more smelly

rats and rats cage smells so bad

rats are one in a million, very smelly

smell very bad, the rats smell

smells after a week

smell so bad

 

[RatsDrawBlood]

I always agree with everyone, so since you thought I said the opposite of what I said, I removed the ambiguous parts. Then just now I realized that the reason why, must be that you're all younger than me. So I'll try to remember to use more modern English from now on.

 

[Deislyn]

If your rats smell... what do they smell like? Urine? or something else? Chances are the cage needs to be cleaned more often. I change all the pads and fluff in my rat habitat 2x a week and never have any noticeable smells coming from it or them. Sometimes I notice a smell when they are really close up in my face (or on my shoulders) that is similar to human sweat smell. This is rare and not very noticeable when it happens. But when I do notice it, letting them play in an inch or 2 of warm water in a basin fixes the issue instantly.