Smelly rats!

kjmtidea

Daddy thought it would be a good idea to let our eldest son (who is 9) have 2 rats. That was at the end of July, they are male dumbo rats.

They absolutely flipping stink :eek: at the moment we are cleaning them out every day, we have tried sprays and wipes for the cage and different ones for the rats but it doesn't make any difference, an hour after cleaning the cage and the rats, the room stinks again.
It is really getting me down now, it is a horrible smell, I just want my son to enjoy his rats but we spend so much time every day cleaning them it is becoming a chore for everyone.

Any ideas before I lose the plot? :rotfl:
Thank you!

EmptyPockets

What litter and bedding are you using for the rats, and how large is their cage? What sort of cage is it?

Missy_Spud

Hiya, we used to have 3 male rats, we only have one now, usually if you clean them out too often they will just scent the cage which is why its so smelly again as your cleaning them too often. for the bottom on the cage i use a disinfectant from wilkinsons, then 2 sheets of newspaper follwed by cat litter i think its biocatlet we use, i think some litters can be harmful so check on a rat forum/website. then in the bed i wash it out everytime he has a clean usually once a week as we only have one rat he doesnt smell very much, in the bed area (which is connected to the cage but like a box on the outside of the cage) i put more disinfectant followed by a sheet of newspaper folded up, and then i chuck in any old pj's/material etc i can find cut into strips, toilet roll shredded up and my rat loves those cheap boxes of tissue like 25p from tesco to open and shred up himself. and this keeps him clean.

Make sure they have plenty of different places to sleep such as hammocks/carboard box/tubes etc so if they are fighting for dominace each of them has somewhere seperate to sleep, although my lot used to pile on top of each other and cuddle up, if your have been together since birth or a few weeks old then you prob have a friendly bunch like mine were.

good luck and hope you manage to get rid of the smell! i know it can be horrible and stink the house out at times! if you google fancy rat forum there its loads of information on there and plenty of lovely rat owners who can give you great advice

kjmtidea

We are using this stuff http://www.petsathome.com/shop/small-pet-wood-litter-7ltr-by-pets-at-home-15786 and shredded paper. We have this cage http://www.petsathome.com/shop/rat-cage-and-accessories-kit-%28available-in-store-only%29-36757. We have also put a hanging plastic tube and a little plastic home at the bottom, there is a hammock at the top too. We have a few other ladders and tubes that we change every now and then to keep them amused.

They come out every day for at least an hour, I didn't think about them scenting things because we are cleaning them out too much, I just assumed stinky smell = dirty = need cleaning out! I will find that forum and have a read thank you.

EmptyPockets

Hi OP.

I asked which cage you were using, because a lot of people tend to keep rats in glass tanks, which is a) terrible for the rats' respiratory system, and b) awful when it comes to smell!

The litter you are using is a good one, we used it in the past for our 15 rats

To be honest, it does sound to me like you are cleaning them out too much. The cage will never smell like 'home' to them, and they will start scent marking like mad. When male rats scent mark, it stinks - I remember well! One thing we used to do is, when you do clean them out, take a small scoop of the 'dirty' litter and a bit of their bedding, and return it to the cage once you've cleaned it out. At least that way when they go back into the cage, it still smells of them and they will feel more relaxed and hopefully won't scent mark as much. The more you clean the cage, the more they will mark.

The forum that Missy Spud suggested is really good, I'd recommend it too

blue_monkey_2

Our 2 boys smelt too until we got their knackers cut off..... LOL. They then would start to smell after a week. They used to scent mark but that stopped as wel, it was horrendous and would be all down the walls as they would go up to the 1st tier and scent against the cage but of course, it went straight through the bras.

So they went to the vet, had their bits lopped off and they stopped scent marking. It stopped any fighting as well as male rats will start to fight the older they get. It is the testosterone. We had ours 4 months and then we got them done and they never smelt at all after that.

Our last one has recently died but my time with rodents is done for a while.

kjmtidea

Thank you for the replies, I will try to resist cleaning them out and see how it goes. Can I ask how much it costs to neuter rats?

EmptyPockets

blue_monkey wrote: »

they would go up to the 1st tier and scent against the cage but of course, it went straight through the bras.
.

Why were rats living in your bras? :eek:

Booley

blue_monkey wrote: »

Our 2 boys smelt too until we got their knackers cut off..... LOL. They then would start to smell after a week. They used to scent mark but that stopped as wel, it was horrendous and would be all down the walls as they would go up to the 1st tier and scent against the cage but of course, it went straight through the bras.

Is this a new kind of boob enhancer ? :rotfl:

alanalea

EmptyPockets wrote: »

Why were rats living in your bras? :eek:

Bindi, one of my female rats, used to sleep in my bra whilst I was wearing it. I think she loved the warmth

Booley

alanalea wrote: »

Bindi, one of my female rats, used to sleep in my bra whilst I was wearing it. I think she loved the warmth

Aww so cute