Rats really an improvement?

[bc30629]

Well put it this way, I can have 65 plus rats in a room and have no problems with a regular weekly cleaning and a midweek freshening up....add in one darn small group of mice and it STINKS in there. Mice...blech!

Yeah i only have three mice right now with many expected soon and i already cannot stand the smell.

[SatanicIntention]

I have about 10 cages of mice, with groups ranging from 1.2-1.8, and I only clean once per week. They don't smell to me.

ONE male mouse smells so much worse than 10 male mice in a cage together. It's odd.. I guess they don't scent mark as much when together.

[SarahMB]

Well I'm going to go against the crowd and say that I really don't notice much difference between the rats and the mice. I have 2 male rats in a cage, and numerous mice in several cages, and they all seem to produce the same amount of odor per cage.

[MarkS]

I've got everything in the same small room and it's not too bad with an exhaust fan that blows outside. But I notice it when I'm cleaning the racks. After a week the rat tubs can be kind of smelly, but the mouse tubs make my eyes water. I think the mice must give off more ammonia.

Mark

[frankykeno]

Maybe it's just me but for me mice smell like mothballs and I cannot stand the smell of mothballs...*gag*

[monk90222]

Since I feel that male mice stink...I cycle them in with the females....I have 3 female mice per 10 gall tank....I buy a male mouse for each tank, leave him in there for a few days then feed him off....so far I've had luck with him doing his "job" in the few days that he is in with the female group....He might miss a female or two, but its a trade off for a better smell.