Stupid question? Need help with the rat smell.

[Poisoned]

I use Aspen bedding. And OH the smell. Every other day I wipe the different levels off, I use gloves and pick out poops and dirty spots in the bedding almost daily, and totally change it out once a week or so, unless they spill food/water or are sick etc. but I cannot stay on top of the smell. If it was just me, I wouldn't care too much because they're in their own room, but my brother lives here too and he b**ches nonstop about the slightest whiff of ratty stink.

As long as the weather permits, their windows stay open, still stinks! Not sure what to do. Before I knew any better I had my rats living on pine bedding (I know - now) and the smell was never bad because the pine seemed to absorb it and release a piney smell. The aspen has no smell, and seems to foul very quickly. I haven't really tried much yet besides keeping it clean and airing the room out via windows..

Thanks, it's becoming a problem and if it continues I'm going to have to find homes for some of them - my brother has the right to be comfortable here, he pays rent too.

 

[Unepuce]

I'm not sure, but maybe using something like yesterday's news could help? I know Fresh & Comfy bedding from Living World does wonder with smell... but it contains baking soda and I don't know whether it can cause issue to the rat's respiratory track. I was using it, but in my litter boxes only, and oh boy was it good! Although I did switch to Yesterday's news and didn't notice much of a difference... but my nose is not very sensitive.

I'm not really on top of what your rats are... If you have intact males, getting them neutered will go A LONG way to help with the smells. I do have 2 intact males at home right now and let me tell you, I cannot wait for their neuter (the youngest one especially!) next week!

 

[victoria]

I'm always surprised when people say aspen doesn't smell... I find the smell overwhelming. Not only does it do nothing to neutralize odours but it also stinks when it gets wet.

I bought a huge bag to try with my mice (if you think rats smell...) and I changed back to my old bedding two days later - my apartment smelled like a mouse infested barn. I've had the huge bag sitting in my apartment for almost two years and I ran low on litter a few weeks ago and thought it would be a good idea to use up the aspen until I could get some more litter. I put the aspen shavings underneath the YN in my bunny litter boxes and again, my apartment smelled awful. I have big litter boxes and I change them daily, there is no reason why they should have smelled the way they do.

Long story short, I think it would be worthwhile to try a paper based bedding. Carefresh tends to be dusty and irritates some rats' respiratory systems but there are so many other options. I've also heard a lot of positive feedback about hemp beddings but I have never tried them myself.

Another factor to consider is the type of cage you have - galvanized metal cages absorb urine and are impossible to get clean and there's something about the plastic Super Pet uses for their shelves that reacts with rat pee and it smells terrible. Like Unepuce said, intact males smell much more, even more so if there are intact females in the home that they are trying to attract and impress.

 

[jorats]

A few things we need to know: rats gender, how many and what type of cage.

 

[eagle]

I use a crumble bedding with baking soda infused in the bedding. Works wonders on odor control, my roommate is very sensitive to smells. I also run a air cleaner 24/7 and window open on the nice days. Winter is coming very soon here so the window will be closed so we shall see how the air cleaner does for the next few months. If your cages are plastic based then they will hold odor more than the metal based ones. I can't stand the smell from aspen even after a couple days males or females it stinks.

 

[Poisoned]

I have Geisha and Katana, the young females, in a 55g aquarium because they're both small enough to get through the bars of the available cage.

Shredder is in a 3-level small (or rat-size) Super pet cage, and I have to wipe his stuff down daily.

Lilith is in a 2-level small Super pet cage - hers doesn't smell so bad though. BUT she also has a habit of deeply burying any dirty areas.

Right now, poor little Sam is in a 10g because of his aggression to everyone, and because he can escape the available cage also. But he doesn't smell - such a small area I change out most of the bedding daily.

Splinter is in a large Super pet/my first home - chinchilla size - by himself now. His reeks.

Ben and Archer share a large 3-level Super Pet with the slides and tunnels to each level, and it's awful in there.

Are there any safe cleaning wipes that can be used? I assume baby wipes would be safe, but would they clean effectively? Like to wipe down the levels and bars daily.