Reducing Chin Cage Odor?

[aussiljd]

Within the last week or so, I have noticed that the chin cages are beginning to smell a lot faster (where before there was rarely an odor). I use fleece liners in a few cages and aspen shavings in the others, but I am at the point that about 24 hours after I clean and scrub and rinse cages, perches, etc, they smell again. My house is beginning to smell like chin pee :/

Is there any reason (medical or otherwise) why they would suddenly start smelling so much? Any way I can avoid cleaning and scrubbing cages daily and keep them from smelling?

 

[alli713]

This is one reason I personally do not use liners. When I tried them, they smelled up a lot quicker. My chins were not exclusive at peeing in their bedding pans, so they would pee on the fleece, which is my guess as to why they smelled so quickly.

 

[Ash]

Ditto it's probably the liners. I have 7 chins and use pine bedding in all 3 cages and even if I don't get to clean every week and they go for 2, there's no problem with smell.

 

[Spoof]

As we swing into colder weather water consumption goes down and this makes urine stronger. I use SweetPDZ as a natural deodorizer but you can throw baking soda in there too. Both are safe to eat and roll in.

Also, during the less extreme times of year your furnace isn't running as much which cuts down air circulation (and filtration) so you notice odors more.

Then I see your info, 7 (+)! lol, of course more chins means more odor... The size of your living space makes a huge difference. I noticed it in my 600sq ft apartment when I had 6, but got up to 14 in a 1250sq ft condo I roomed in later before it became an issue.

 

[aussiljd]

The cages with the liners have the bars beneath, but I do think you are right, I never noticed a smell until I started using the fleece.

The fleece is in the Feisty Ferret Home cages on the top level, so there isn't a way to put a pan in there... Is there way to reduce odor in the fleece, or an alternative way to cover the bars?

 

[Ash]

I thought FF cages opened up on top too like FNs?

 

[kdr13]

If your chins are litter trained, we use cel-sorb in my chin pans and my rabbit pan b/c it takes a lot longer to get a smell. So, maybe you could use that in your cages to help reduce the smell as well. We buy it in 50lb bags and I think they are like $16.

 

[alli713]

I believe too that you can put some vinegar in the wash with the liners to help get rid of the pee smell.

 

[whiskers387]

I use SweetPDZ as a natural deodorizer but you can throw baking soda in there too. Both are safe to eat and roll in.

Do you just sprinkle the baking soda through out the cage?

 

[aussiljd]

Only one chin will faithfully use a litter pan, all the others could care less where they pee.
The FF only opens on one side, like only opening one door on a FN. I wouldn't get the cages myself, but they came with the original chins and I hope to replace them sometime soon.

The baking soda sounds like a good idea. As for the Sweet PDZ, I have heard mixed things about it. I'm not sure how much truth there is to any of it though, I heard a lot about heavy metals and such being health hazards.

 

[Sugarmama]

I use fleece liners...8 chins. Some cages have pairs, some singles. I clean cages once a week, and my house doesn't smell. I wash the cages down with vinegar and water, 50-50 mixture. And add vinegar to the washer when I wash the liners. What are you cleaning the cages with?

 

[starleomach]

Honestly that is why I stopped using the liners

 

[Sandi]

I use fleece liners...8 chins. Some cages have pairs, some singles. I clean cages once a week, and my house doesn't smell. I wash the cages down with vinegar and water, 50-50 mixture. And add vinegar to the washer when I wash the liners. What are you cleaning the cages with?

This is exactly what I do but I only have 4 chins. My house does not smell either, in fact, no one even notices the chins when they come into my house. It's only when I point them out that they get curious as to what they are because there is no odor.

 

[whiskers387]

I use fleece liners...8 chins. Some cages have pairs, some singles. I clean cages once a week, and my house doesn't smell. I wash the cages down with vinegar and water, 50-50 mixture. And add vinegar to the washer when I wash the liners. What are you cleaning the cages with?

Do you use wooden shelf or a litter pan?

 

[jps6882]

I wash the cages down with vinegar and water, 50-50 mixture. And add vinegar to the washer when I wash the liners. What are you cleaning the cages with?

When you say you wash the cages down, do you just do the metal parts, or do the shelves as well? Also, how wet does the cage have to get with the mix? Spray bottle and let dry, or washcloth soaked in it then rub it around?

Anyone else feel free to chime in. I pick ours up tomorrow, and haven't had to clean up yet.

 

[AZChins]

I suppose you could use Odoban or something non-toxic to keep down the odor in the pan. Keeping odor down is mainly done by keeping the shavings or liners fresh and clean. A light vinegar/water mist works well at killing the odor - just a very light mist, you don't have to get it very wet at all.

When you actually scrub scrub the cage, not just a quick cleaning, you would use more vinegar. I like to put in Dawn liquid and bleach in a bucket using warm water to scrub the cage and then remove any urine/mineral deposits with vinegar. Vinegar is acidic and does a much better job getting the white stuff out of pans than almost anything else.

 

[Euphoric]

50/50 vinegar and water works great. I clean every other day (I use fleece liners) my Ferret Nations bottoms, and once a week I clean the bars of the cage.
It really does elimiate oders, but my chinchillas really don't have a oder to begin with (But this mixture works fantastic for my smelly rabbits)
I also put 1 cup of vinegar in the wash when I clean them.