ASFs vs Rats smell?

How does breeding rats smell in comparison to ASFs? I have ASFs and they don't seem to really smell at all. I would like to start breeding rats but not if it is going to stink my whole house up.


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All rodents stink , the cleaner you keep their bedding the less they stink.
The less often you let them go until they do stink, the better off you are since they aren't laying in nothing but pee and poo.

Asf's stink, rats stink a bit more and mice stink even more, but they all smell.
One of the worst smells I have encountered breeding asf's and rats is when you let the asf's go a few days too long, whew, man they stink bad :O

So you just switch out bedding to keep the smell down or switch it out and thoroughly wash down everything.


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If there is bedding and poo/pee stuck to the tub it gets cleaned whether it is once a week or twice a week, having rodents indoors means sometimes cleaning more often than you would if they were in a shed or out building.

Imo rats smell worse than asfs. We have both.

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Imo rats smell worse than asfs. We have both.

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But can the smell be reasonably managed with the rats?


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I run 1.2 to 1.3 in my tubs and have 3/6 level racks in my garage. I clean once every seven to ten days and have no trouble at all with the odor. I keep my adults on a mixed bed of kiln-dried pine pellets and aspen bedding and the nursing moms/babies on straight aspen to keep from clogging the babies noses. I've tried the vanilla in the water and didn't notice a difference at all doing that. The rats have an odor; mostly warm animal but it can get a little rank with their amonia (especially the adult bucks!) but it's manageable if you keep the bedding/tubs clean. They aren't overpowering as far as smell and if it gets to the point where it is, you've let the tubs go too long without cleaning. I feed mine the Native Earth 4018 and straight well water and they do great on that as far as litter size and smell, within the constraints I mentioned above. I also keep a fan on mine circulating the air constantly to keep them cool and it aids in the odor once they're getting close to cleaning day. I dunno...that's what works for me; give it a shot and see. If it doesn't work out, feed or sell them off and then you'll know, lol! :gj:

Mice have the worst smell of any feeder rodent. I have a large mouse colony in my bathroom { don't ask }. As long as I clean once a week, the smell is not bad. Occasionally a tub with a large number of mice in it needs cleaned twice a week.

My daughter raises rats, and as long as she cleans once a week, the smell is not very noticeable at all. However, if she goes for too long between cleanings, then not only do the tubs smell, the animals do as well and must be bathed, because changing the tubs won't get rid of the smell.

Gale

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Originally Posted by Gomojoe

But can the smell be reasonably managed with the rats?


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Whether you're breeding mice, rats, ASF's, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc...you will be the one managing the smell.

As far as ASF's go, IMO, they are a little easier as far as regular maintenance goes because they generally will use one corner of their enclosure to do their business and you can do a bit of spot cleaning rather than change out everything 1-2 times a week.

I claen my rat tubs every 4days. Period. And the asf tubs get cleaned every 8 days. My rack is indoors right next to my snake rack. My snakes are not nippy or anything soo I must be cleaning an ok amount. I would think if they smelled really bad my snakes would always be hunting...

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Originally Posted by Wapadi

My snakes are not nippy or anything soo I must be cleaning an ok amount. I would think if they smelled really bad my snakes would always be hunting...

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Do your snakes prefer the scent of rodent excrement to the scent of the rodents themselves???:rofl:

I agree. the rats smell.. asf seems to smell different, not as pungent or gross.. they all smell but as long as you keep them clean you wont notice. I hate keeping norway.. they are grosser.

I breed rodents, in a VERY small "bedroom" (which is more like a den, but the landlord gets to charge more if it's a bedroom I guess) and I can say that rats STINK. A HELLUVA lot more than ASFs. Way worse. When I had ASFs none of my friends even really knew unless they were over at night and said "hey, what's that clicking sound?" (The ASFs drinking from the bottles). But now that we have actual rats people can smell them in my house. Someone said it perfectly, it's a warm-animally smell, sometimes mixed with "musk" that the males seem to emit. Not sure if it's their poop, or what, but they definitely have a distinct odor. Their pee is a lot more overpowering as well. See ASFs don't really drink a lot of water, therefor they don't pee a lot which REALLY reduces their smell.

But, they produce a lot better for me than ASFs did, so I just get over the smell. It's a lot of work. Lots of cleaning and maintenance, but it saves me lots of money also, so I don't mind. Also, they're so cute! And nothing beats having every size rat you could possibly need on hand at any given time.

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

I breed rodents, in a VERY small "bedroom" (which is more like a den, but the landlord gets to charge more if it's a bedroom I guess) and I can say that rats STINK. A HELLUVA lot more than ASFs. Way worse. When I had ASFs none of my friends even really knew unless they were over at night and said "hey, what's that clicking sound?" (The ASFs drinking from the bottles). But now that we have actual rats people can smell them in my house. Someone said it perfectly, it's a warm-animally smell, sometimes mixed with "musk" that the males seem to emit. Not sure if it's their poop, or what, but they definitely have a distinct odor. Their pee is a lot more overpowering as well. See ASFs don't really drink a lot of water, therefor they don't pee a lot which REALLY reduces their smell.

But, they produce a lot better for me than ASFs did, so I just get over the smell. It's a lot of work. Lots of cleaning and maintenance, but it saves me lots of money also, so I don't mind. Also, they're so cute! And nothing beats having every size rat you could possibly need on hand at any given time.

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x2 to ^. Couldn't agree more and very well said. If I could find a way for my females to conceive sans males and make it cost-effective (so not AI), I would in a heartbeat. The boys are just NASTY! as far as smell, lol! Huh...reminds me of me on a bad weekend, come to think of it...BWAHAHAHAHAHA! :D