Its Snakey that had problems with baking soda. I personally have never tried it as its a fine powder that you are putting in with animals that re known to get RI's at the drop of a hat. Same goes for clay based kitty litter. Some people have had success with it here on these forums ... but I personally dont think it is worth the risk.

Ive found the best way to keep smell down is to keep temps below 74f (above 74 and they drink alot more ... more water in more urine out). And regular bedding changes.

My "experiment" colonies are housed in a spare bedroom in my house ... I change their bedding every 5 days ... the only comment I get from visitors is that it smells like pine.

BTW by "experiment" that means I take some of the myths ... like vanilla or vinegar in the water, vegetarian diet, different beddings, etc. and test them out. I then post the results here in the forums. I am the MythBuster of the rat world ::grins::.

BTW my wife HATES the smell of mice and rats and our bedroom is right next to the "experiment room". The only time she complains about the smell is when 7 days have gone by without a bedding change (she really loved it when I was testing out how many days I could go between bedding changes before I noticed they stunk).

Bryan