Vanilla in water - my experience

For a few weeks now I have been adding a few drops of pure vanilla extract (not imitation) to my rat and mouse water bottles. The difference in the odor levels is AMAZING. I was skeptical of this method, but my mom has a very sensitive nose, and I was having to clean cages every 3 days to keep her happy.

Now? A full week after cage cleaning and I can stick my head into the mouse cages (complete with male mouse) take a deep whiff, and not pass out.. in fact the rodent smell is barely noticeable! Now I have to go on visual rather than smell to decide when to clean cages.

Good to hear!...........when i finally begin breeding rodents, i'll keep this in mind :)

works well for me too :gj:

oh ya it's a blessing... an absolute blessing!

Are any of you using an automatic watering system?
I noticed it clogged the screen filter in the water bucket real quick...I had to pull them out and clean them 3 x's as much...I stopped using it, to much hassle...Jon

I use both. I've cleaned the filter once so far.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

For a few weeks now I have been adding a few drops of pure vanilla extract (not imitation) to my rat and mouse water bottles. The difference in the odor levels is AMAZING. I was skeptical of this method, but my mom has a very sensitive nose, and I was having to clean cages every 3 days to keep her happy.

Now? A full week after cage cleaning and I can stick my head into the mouse cages (complete with male mouse) take a deep whiff, and not pass out.. in fact the rodent smell is barely noticeable! Now I have to go on visual rather than smell to decide when to clean cages.

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Interesting. Mouse urine makes me gag so this is definately good news!

When I was breeding mice I would use it in their large water bottles, and I noticed it would get really gunky after a couple of days. I don't really have an odor with the rats other than the ammonia smell, but it would probably work out better because I refill their water a lot more often.

I have been using Stall Dry with the rats and have noticed that it REALLY cuts down on the ammonia smell. The Stall Dry is a little pricey over here and I can buy a similar cat litter product for much cheaper, so I'll probably give that a try after I run out of the SD.

No one carries Stall Dry around here (maybe I'll try the big tack store..) so I tried something similar called Sweet PDZ.. I haven't noticed much difference from it.

I also had to go to the big tack store a few cities over to get the dry stall, and wow its amazing stuff, no odor coming from the cages, I've actually cleaned them from them being poopy/food all over the place since I started using it, but not because of the smell.


Derek

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Originally Posted by Dureo

I also had to go to the big tack store a few cities over to get the dry stall, and wow its amazing stuff, no odor coming from the cages, I've actually cleaned them from them being poopy/food all over the place since I started using it, but not because of the smell.


Derek

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Do you know what the ingredients are in "stall dry". It sounds great, but I am worried about using it on rats my snakes with be eating. Is it completely non toxic if ingested?

Stall dry is diatomaceous earth (microscopic diatom skeletons) and clay. It's all natural and quite safe.

stall dry is awesome. i too now clean because the cage is dirty and not just because it stinks but isn't really very dirty. it cuts waaaay down on the ammonia smell. :gj:

i was a auto watering system.. vanilla would seem like a good idea.. how often does the filter get clogged.. is it still worth it?

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Stall dry is diatomaceous earth (microscopic diatom skeletons) and clay. It's all natural and quite safe.

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How much do you put in the bottom of their tubs? I just checked a feed store by me and they said it was 12.00 for a 44lb bag. I am just wondering about how long it would last me if I was using it in 12 tubs a week(cement mixing tubs). If this really does work like you say it might help me out a lot. I don't have very good ventilation in my rat room so by the end of the week the smell is pretty potent.

I put about a half inch of the stuff on the bottom of the tubs.. more for tubs with more rats, less for tubs with just one or two.