Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I put this in the Feeder Forum, but I thought I'd also ask here. I've come across in a couple places that you can add vanilla or vinegar to the drinking water to reduce the odor from raising mice. I was hoping someone could give me some feedback about which one works better, how much to add to the water, and if there are any negative side effects when it comes to breeding. The last thing I want is mice that smell great but don't produce babies

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Paul D

www.MoonlightBoas.com

Howdy,

I've actually started keeping mine indoors due to moving to an apartment and let me tell you, my fiance is not wild about mice but he really won't tolerate smell.
I thought up something that's, thus far, working VERY well and kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner. Just like what we'd do for cat litter boxes, I got a bag of washed playsand from Home Depot, lined their bin I keep them in with about 2-3" of sand and sprinkle baking soda on top then mix it in with the sand. I've had zero complaints from my man and my mice love digging in the sand too. It also makes for super easy scoop and go cleaning with a thinner mesh scoop like they sell in most reptile stores.
Since I offer my mice seeds, grains and lab blocks, etc. I need to scoop every few days to get those seed hulls out and such.

Hope this helps!

Hugs,

Amanda Rose

Thanks Amanda, I need to give that a shot.

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Paul D

www.MoonlightBoas.com

Most, like maybe 95% of the mouse smell is from the males. Males have smelly urine as soon as they are hopper size and as they mature they produce more and more of it and mark everything they can with it. If you have different size snakes to feed pull the male mice and feed them to little snakes as soon as they are big enough for you to sex them. Also try to setup so that you have loads of adult females and just the minimum number of adult males needed to breed with them. You could even have trays of just females and rotate a male every couple of days into a different tray of the females. There are a couple of products that contain shagira (not sure I spelled that correctly) that are added to the water and are supposed to help keep the mouse odor under control. I tried one of them in my rat water system but did not notice any difference. Frequent cage cleaning also goes a long way in controlling rodent odor.

Rats have a much less objectionable odor than mice. I hate the smell of mice and can tolerate the smell of rats. If all your snakes are large enough to eat rats a switch to breeding rats instead of mice will greatly reduce the odor. My smallest snakes are baby Rainbow Boas and they get started on pinky rats. I only occasionaly get a few hopper mice to feed to the very few that are picky eaters.

If baby Brazilian Rainbow Boas can eat pinky rats, I may give that a shot. I'll have to pick up a trio of rats this weekend and see how it goes. Any advice on picking good rats to start off with? The first male mouse I got was a dud. He spent 2 months with 3 female mice, and I had nothing to show for it except a stinky bathroom... I picked up a group of mice last weekend that were already a breeding, and I think I'll have better luck. Anyway, whatever feeds my snakes and smells the least sounds good to me.

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Paul D

www.MoonlightBoas.com

>>If baby Brazilian Rainbow Boas can eat pinky rats, I may give that a shot. I'll have to pick up a trio of rats this weekend and see how it goes. Any advice on picking good rats to start off with? The first male mouse I got was a dud. He spent 2 months with 3 female mice, and I had nothing to show for it except a stinky bathroom... I picked up a group of mice last weekend that were already a breeding, and I think I'll have better luck. Anyway, whatever feeds my snakes and smells the least sounds good to me.
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>>Paul D
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>>www.MoonlightBoas.com

I'm glad Jeff posted this. Yes, male indeed spray to mark territory. The more males you have, the more spraying and that is the bulk of the stink. I've had only females before when my last breeder male died before we moved and hardly noticed a thing (granted, any mammal needs too urinate and poop so it eventually will smell). I do weekly cleanings of my cage that has 4 adult females and 1 adult male.
I agree 100%, frequent cleanings are key. The urine and ammonia buildup can really do a number if you fall behind on cleanings.

Hugs,

Amanda

Vanilla and vinegar can both reduce odor but they are used in different ways. Vanilla can be added to the drinking water (I have tried this when I bred mice, I didn't notice and significant difference in the smell of male urine.) Vinegar absorbs odor so its nice to have it near a cage (outside the cage) in a wide bowl and it will absorb odors to some extent. Though it can also leave the area smelling of vinegar.

I don't think sand is a good substrate for mice or rats...they are not desert mammals (though maybe spiny mice will be happy, I do believe they are more desert dwelling than the typical domesticated mouse). If you really want to go to a more natural style setup for mice, a dirt/soil mixture that is well packed would be more natural.

If you only have rainbow boas...even babies, they can eat pinky rats no problem. Rats are not as smelly as mice (male rats don't produce the same heavy musky scent of male mice). They will need to be regularly cleaned and I find the odor stays down better, if you give them plenty of space (far more than the typical large cat litter space used in racks for rat trios).

Avoid scented substrates too...perfumes can act as an irritant...and having once used a scented kitty litter for a cat I was fostering, it nearly killed me..but then I happen to be sensitive to strong perfumes. Makes my nasal passageways burn and my throat burn...I expect it is much like how I assume sniffing cocaine must be like, without the 'high' (I don't' think sniffing powder up your nose can be all that 'comfortable' I expect it would burn like heck).
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

True, mice are not desert animals but these guys seem to be having fun in it. One female in particular digs like mad and hops around as though she were a hopper again, doing 360s and dancing around inducing everyone else to play. I've raised mice for years but until now, have never tried sand. Trust me, I'm keeping a close eye on them to make sure it's fine. I check everyone's coat, eyes, ears and hinnies daily to ensure there are no issues.

Hmm, haven't thought about doing the packed dirt. As much as this girl loves to dig, I'm sure she'd love dirt more! I only did the sand as it's super easy to scoop and with the baking soda has made smell VERY minimal. How does dirt do with keeping smell down? Just curious as I might have to switch to that if they enjoy it even more than they presently do with the dirt.

I also have issues with perfumed bedding. I'm sensitive to it where it just gives me headaches and irritates my nose. Phenol oils in (for some reason still sold) cedar and pine beddings can be lethal so I'm not sure what genius thought that putting perfume in a bedding would be any better. :/ If it's that bad for us, what must the mice think having acute senses of smell and no escape from it?

Hugs!

Amanda