How can I make the cage less stinky?

My hedgehog is in a large custom cage (glass sides/bottom and top is off) and she has fleece for bedding and then I put paper towels down on one end of the cage where she uses the bathroom. I change the paper towels out every night when I refill water/food and stuff... but the problem I'm having is that even when the paper towels are layered, some of the pee soaks through to the bottom of the cage and makes it smell. I usually wipe the area down every night and then hose the whole cage out each week, but is there something else I can use to keep the smell out? A specific type of liner?

I know with horses, we would put down a powder stuff called Sweet PDZ and it worked extremely well to keep everything smelling fresh but I'm not sure that it would be safe for small animals, but it got me wondering whether there was something similar I could use for small animals.

If it was me, I'd use a layer of pine chips beneath the paper towels. Having never had Hedgies though, I don't know what's safe or not!
I do know that the powder coated pans can be wiped with soap and water, and rinsed clean, and dried though!

Activated charcoal will absorb the odor safely. Hang a small bag of it by the cage. What I do is place some charcoal in an empty margarine container and place it near the cage. I have no issues with scent.

Try changing the liners more often if you only do so once a week. Throw an aluminum baking pan underneath the paper towel. It will catch any urine that soaks through and be easier to rinse than hosing out the entire cage.

Look into a natural enzyme cleaner and use that to scrub the cage to break down any odors that may have sunken into the cage materials. Put it in, let it soak for a bit, scrub with a bit of baking soda (also an odor neutralizer) and rinse well. Make sure the cage is completely dry.

You could put in a small litter box in that area and just lift that out to clean... Something simple like a cookie sheet for a toaster oven.

smhufflepuff said:

You could put in a small litter box in that area and just lift that out to clean... Something simple like a cookie sheet for a toaster oven.

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Hmm. I didn't think of a cookie sheet. I should give that a try, that way I can take it out each night and wash.

Sweet PDZ is safe for small animals, a lot of chinchilla breeders are starting to use it instead of dust, and I have tried it. The chins love it, and I use it on the bottom of some of my cages and it does do wonders with the smell. I would imagine it would be the same for hedgies. I use yesterday's news pellets in my hedgehog cages, and just love it! It works so well on odors and if you have a potty trained hedgie, you could just put it in a pan under the wheel instead of all over. I use it all over, but my hedgies are really messy! It is a little expensive, but that is only because I have 6 hedgehogs and use quite a bit of it, covering the whole bottom of the cages in an inch or more of it.

Chinniechantel said:

Sweet PDZ is safe for small animals, a lot of chinchilla breeders are starting to use it instead of dust, and I have tried it. The chins love it, and I use it on the bottom of some of my cages and it does do wonders with the smell. I would imagine it would be the same for hedgies. I use yesterday's news pellets in my hedgehog cages, and just love it! It works so well on odors and if you have a potty trained hedgie, you could just put it in a pan under the wheel instead of all over. I use it all over, but my hedgies are really messy! It is a little expensive, but that is only because I have 6 hedgehogs and use quite a bit of it, covering the whole bottom of the cages in an inch or more of it.

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Good to know about the Sweet PDZ... I loved using it in horse stalls because the barn smelled so fresh. We have Yesterday's News here for our rabbits so I could also give that a try. I'll have to see if I can find a pan that will work in the cage and try out different bedding materials.

Does the Sweet PDZ have an actual scent that could mess with a hedgehog's nose? Or is it just something inside the product that absorbs odor and freshens the air naturally, without artificial scent?