How do you keep the smell down?

So I realize that having a rat colony will smell, but have any of you found a solution to help eliminate the odor? Daily maintenance would be the first answer but how about after that. Do any of you use ozone generators, and are they working for you?

I plan on keeping the colony in a spare room so the smell is defiantly a concern.

Thanks in advance,

Pat

Avoid overcrowding your rodents, use Equine fresh bedding or similar pellets (very absorbent), have your rodents in a well ventilated room, clean your enclosures regularly etc

Thank you.

I think I am more interested to see if any of you have mechanical means of keeping the odors down. For instance; ozone generator, hepa filter, ect.

I don't plan on keeping a colony and failing to maintain good husbandry.

I've got a small breeding colonie so other than good husbandry all I do is put a little vanilla extract in the water bottles. It does seem to help though it might all be in my head, if it is I'm not the only one whos insane cause other people do it to. :D

Could be vanillia chemically changes the scent of urine, could be they drink a lot more so the urine is watered down, or could just be in my head as I said.

ahahaha. Thanks. It works... even if it is just in your head.

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Originally Posted by truthsdeceit

I've got a small breeding colonie so other than good husbandry all I do is put a little vanilla extract in the water bottles. It does seem to help though it might all be in my head, if it is I'm not the only one whos insane cause other people do it to. :D

Could be vanillia chemically changes the scent of urine, could be they drink a lot more so the urine is watered down, or could just be in my head as I said.

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I've used the vanillia trick befor and I also think it helps.

dehumidifier. dry air doesn't carry the smell as well. also cleaning every 3 days.

rat smell sticks to everything so cleaning is very important. i walk into my rat room on a "stinky" day and I come out smelly.

Vanilla extract keeps the smell down? Seriously?! Does anyone have a specific recipe for this or is it just a couple drops in the bottle...?

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Originally Posted by MonitorLove

Vanilla extract keeps the smell down? Seriously?! Does anyone have a specific recipe for this or is it just a couple drops in the bottle...?

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Just a couple of drops in each bottle for me.

I'm sure someone can give you some sort of measurement per gallon but since I only have small water bottles I never bothered figuring it out.

I'm actually talking about mice but it works for rats too.

Going off memory I think it was suggested as a tsp per gallon. I didnt find it to help much at all.. I use something similar to equine fresh bedding. keeps the smell down well.

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Originally Posted by Somed00d

dehumidifier. dry air doesn't carry the smell as well. also cleaning every 3 days.

rat smell sticks to everything so cleaning is very important. i walk into my rat room on a "stinky" day and I come out smelly.

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I have noticed that too. I really try not to go in there right before I go out because then I am smelling rats all night.

I have just started using the vanilla idea and will be watching this thread for ideas. I have seen other threads that suggested that ozone generators are not good for the rats in an enclosed space. I will have to look those up and recheck.

a fan and an exhaust fan that both run 24/7.

An exhaust fan 24/7 is the first thing I would tell you to do, it makes a HUGE difference.

VACUUM! Every week! It's amazing how much smell you can keep down by vacuuming up the dust.

Auto fragrance sprayer if you feel so inclined. Not sugary sweet smells, but spicy or lemony smells.

You can try an air filter, it will keep down the dust anyways, but may end up costing you more since rats do put out a lot of dust when using pelleted bedding.

I've found the best thing is just using the equine fresh or if you want something "specific" to small animals you can always get Woody Pet at most feed stores (I get mine from Blue Seal Feeds don't know if they're national or not). The equine fresh is pretty much the same thing just larger pellets plus it's about 1/2 the price per pound. I've heard of using grapefruit seed extract in water bottles also helps keep the smell down but I've never tried it. I have my rats in my bedroom and using the equine fresh I don't even notice the rats in there unless I happen to let it go just a little to long but it still adds a ton of time in between regular cleanings.

Clean Clean and more clean, Only thing i found that helps. Rats just smell end of story haha.

I've only mice and with smell I add EM (Effective Microorganisms) in water bottle or some time mix with food.

if you want a mechanical means make an activated carbon air filter it will suck the smell out in a hurry I have on in my reptile room and it works so good that I hav to shut it off somtimes so I can tell if got all of the smell out of the cages and thats alot of smell because I keep burms and retics when and they do crap the smell is horrific wihout the filter :D

I put a layer of Yesterday's News under the shavings and then Vanilla in the water... Thought them "not smelling" might have been all in my head, but everyone who visits comments on how they can't smell them.... So it does seem to do wonders.

I bought an air purifier for like $90 and spent another $10 on additional active carbon, I put a layer of the active carbon on the filter (the filter lays flat so the carbon doenst move) and it helps keep a lot of the smell down also.

The easiest thing to do is make sure that you use enought bedding to absorb everything that they put out. I have found that running a fan so that it blows through the rack greatly does away with the smell.

i have to change the rat beeding abouty 2x a week.. i also liked the asf i gotten recently cause they don't really stink as bad ( heck I stink the room up more than the 30 some asf do lol ). but i usly bag up my rats after they hit a set size for later use ( mom doesn't like the ideal of rats in the freezer lol ) I also will air out the rack/cages a couple days when ever I decide ot start with a new stock .

dont overcrowd!

i use the vanilla method.. i put in like 10-drops on my 1-little bottle. it does work. before when ever i pass by my mice colony, i can smell them. Now, with the vanilla drink.. no more.

since everyone here mention using vanilla. i kinda venture & experiment abit. I also use kitty litter as bedding. so its 1 layer of kitty litter then top it up with bedding.

maybe im immune to the smell. but i find my mice cages.. smelling fresh.

everyone says they don't smell and my bp agrees. He ate one last week, but this week he just rubbed up against it and acted like it wasn't there. ??? I had it stunned, but when it woke up, I had to watch very carefully and finally took him out as it was clear my snake wasn't going to eat it. Good news is though that their tubs don't smell at all.

?????

Why not just feed live or prekilled? Your snake would likely do better with the stimulation of a live rat, or you can do the zombie rat dance with your forceps with a dead one.

Stunning is entirely just cruel for the animal... I'm sorry the rat woke up in such immense pain.

has any one tried woody pet bedding, I just started using it and it seems to work great so far.