Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 10 gal with mice in it. In the males i have about 7 and the females i have about 10. Would it be okay to put baking soda in newspaper, fold it up, and put it in the bottom, and over with substrate? these things are stinking up the upstairs. i also got ammonia control pellets for gerbils

>>I have 2 10 gal with mice in it. In the males i have about 7 and the females i have about 10. Would it be okay to put baking soda in newspaper, fold it up, and put it in the bottom, and over with substrate? these things are stinking up the upstairs. i also got ammonia control pellets for gerbils

Here's my two cents.... not a good idea to put baking soda or ammonia control pellets in the cages with the mice.

Male mice smell, no two ways about it. Some suggestions that may work include:

Males do not generally do well living in groups together -- if I read correctly, you have 7 males in one tank? It is very possible that as they attempt to establish dominance, the result could be competitive scent-marking.

Clean often but not too often. Males will scent-mark newly cleaned cages to make it 'their own.' Their tendency to do this is another reason to support the advice you so often read on this board - never split up an established breeding colony. Introducing new females to an established male cage seems to make the male increase his scent marking. (I've noticed increased smell when setting up new colonies.)

Add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of vanilla extract per gallon of drinking water. (this has been my magic formula.) I've also heard that adding this same ratio of white vinegar to a gallon of water is helpful, but didn't find it to be so myself.

Leave an uncovered dish of vinegar (or baking soda, I suppose, would work too) next to your mouse cages to counteract the odor in the room itself. Perhaps this is where you'd use the ammonia pellets? (I'm not familiar with this product; not sure of it's purpose, as gerbils are desert animals and their urine output is much less than that of mice.)

Within each cage, place food in one or two corners, place water bottle over another corner, leaving only one corner "open." Rodents tend not to urinate/defecate near their food/water supply. Spot clean the extra corner daily.

If possible (again, this has worked well for me) arrange for a fan or other exhaust system placed in a window to blow outward. Personally, when my rodents were in a small room, I'd leave the window open year 'round, with a box fan in front of it blowing toward the outside. Wintertime, it was open just a crack, but it still helped a great deal. (More's the pity for the downstairs neighbors I suppose)

Reduce the number of males you have! Some breeders who are small scale will feed/freeze off male pinks, leaving females to grow up to larger sizes.

Hope this helped... mostly, though, it's unavoidable....male mice just smell!
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Rebecca
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