Help With Cage Smell

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J

jen36_2000

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
8
Location
Weatherford, TX
I have two beautiful boys who I love very much. I clean their cage (an FN 142) daily. Their cage is in our home office. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for how to get a "fresher" scent in our office. The Chin cage just smells so musty and it makes the whole room stink. Currently I use newspapers in their cage and one fleece liner. Any different suggestions to keep the odor down?
 
Ditch the newspaper. It makes the cage smell worse. You can get more fleece liners and change them out every day or two. Is your chinchilla trained to use a litter box to urinate?
 
I agree, do not use newspaper. Instead use just the fleece. Every 2 or 3 days take out the fleece, wipe down the cage pan with hydrogen peroxide or vinegar, and replace the fleece with a fresh one. You can also wipe down wood ledges with peroxide if they have pee on them.

Adding a little bleach to the washer makes the liners smell almost new. I use a 3oz bathroom cup of bleach along with normal detergent to wash 6 liners. If you decide to use bleach just make sure not to use too much and that the liners don't smell like bleach after they come out of the washer.

You should also make sure there isn't dried pee running down the back or sides of the cage.
 
i like the smell of pine shavings, and have a small litter pan in Rhino's cage that usually gets completely changed once a day. well, except for last night, i was exhausted and passed out on the couch before Rhino's playtime/cage cleaning. today there is a bit of a pee smell in my bedroom, but it's not bad or unbearable.
 
I personally use pine shavings and liners. My liners are washed every couple of days and the litter pans once a week.
 
Yeah, it's the newspaper lining. I used that for about a week before I decided that I had had it with the smell (and the boys popcorned when I traded it out, so apparently they had too).
 
Training them to use a litter pan and using pelleted pine eliminates the most odor. Even regular pine shavings have a funky smell when they get wet or peed on.
 
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I put a box of carbon beside my chins' cage and it works really well for absorbing smelly odours. :) I just toss it out after 5-6 months when it stops being effective and buy a new one for $2. If you have a Daiso where you live, they sell them there. I'm not sure where else you could get them though.. sorry. But you could probably also easily make your own by putting some carbon in a bag with good airflow.
 
I have 9 boys & 1 guinea pig. She smells more after 2 days than they do all week. I wash my liners I'm hot water with a cup of vinegar (even tho I hate the smell) and I put on an extra rinse cycle. I'm lazy & only change my liners once a week but I clean their cages every nite. I use litter boxes in each cage & n most cases change nightly. I also wipe the pansd & back of cage for drips.
 
Anybody know where you can buy the carbon boxes? I have never heard of Daiso and live in MI.
 
I agree that the newspaper is responsible for trapping most of the odor. Ditch the newspaper and use fleece liners or shavings. I use fleece liners to line the floor, and have a litter pan with shavings in it for Tink to go potty in. I don't notice any odor.
 
I'm currently using CareFresh all Natural litter and I have no smell whatsoever. I sweep up any poop that's on the ledges every morning and change the litter about once a week. Fonzie's cage is in the living room and I never smell anything. I haven't experimented with newspaper, but like others said, I can imagine it trapping odors. I'm switching over to fleece liners (just because they are reusable and less expensive) but I haven't had the chance to sew them yet. :duh: I'm going to continue to use the CareFresh as his littler in his pan though, because he seems to like to dig in it and bury his poops. :)) Good luck!
 
mishellyshel said:
I have 9 boys & 1 guinea pig. She smells more after 2 days than they do all week. I wash my liners I'm hot water with a cup of vinegar (even tho I hate the smell) and I put on an extra rinse cycle. I'm lazy & only change my liners once a week but I clean their cages every nite. I use litter boxes in each cage & n most cases change nightly. I also wipe the pansd & back of cage for drips.
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OMG! I know what you mean..I have 3 guinea pigs and after a day, they stink like nothing Ive ever smelled! :vomit: I am constantly adding shavings and scooping poop.
 
I may be crazy, but I don't think my guinea pig stinks. :/ He pees and poos in one corner.

My bunny, on the other hand, is a total mess every day.
 
I use fleece liners and have one litter box with pine shavings.
I vaccum the liners everynight and change the box weekly. I have no smells, even family says that they can't believe I have rats, sugar glider, chins and dogs and no smells! Good luck!;)
 
Paws4Chins said:
Anybody know where you can buy the carbon boxes? I have never heard of Daiso and live in MI.
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It is a Japanese dollar store that sells all sorts of stuff. Do you have any other Japanese shops there? I think the carbon deodorizers are pretty popular among Japanese people so any place that sells Japanese home items should have them.
 
They were before I adopted them, but once I got them to my home they quit using it. I need to try re-introducing it I think. Thanks for your feedback!
 
use critter care bedding. it elemates the smell all together. that way you don't smell anything and don't have the pans every couple days... just once a week
 
Update

Just wanted to say thanks again for all the feedback. I have been using fleece liners for a week now and it has made a tremendous difference. There is no smell anymore. The Chins don't use their litterbox very often, but I am keeping it in there. They sure like to make a mess of the shavings though.
 
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