Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I started a very small colony of mice so I would have live pinks on hand for the coming spring. Any suggestions on bedding choices or anything else that can keep the smell down. Man, these things stink!! I have always gotten my live from a breeder, but the drive is getting a bit much.

Joe

aspen and change 2x/week...that helps but nothing gets rid of all of it.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.

Joe,

I haven't tried it myself, but I've wondered if putting baking soda under the shaving might cut the smell.

Paul

Reasonable idea, but I would warn against using baking soda (sodium hydrogen carbonate) in a way that the mice could come in contact with it or breathe -- it's mildly caustic and will harm the little critters. I would try some product designed for bathrooms (e.g., Air Wick) but not put it in the cages, just near them. Good luck!

Glad I haven't tried it. Thanks for the tip.

Joe, I use pine shavings. You can usually get a good deal on bale bags at feed stores (i.e. Agway).

gotta agree with the previous suggestion... frequent changing of litter. As a very young child my parents allowed me to keep mice as "pets"... very nice of them seeing as rats shared the apartments I grew up in with us... a favorite after dinner past time of mine, and my fathers, was luring the rats up through a hole in the floor for hot water pipes so we could shoot them with high powered b-b guns...

but I digress... frequent changing... you won't ever get rid of it but you can get used to it.

Gerry

The male mice are the main source of the bad stink. For a small colony you only need one male; rotate him through your groups of females every two or three weeks to insure ongoing pregnancies.

Ventilation and cleanliness are also very important. I use pine bedding.

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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Sounds like frequent changing of the pine bedding is the only way. I was thinking of finding a large charcoal filter and cutting it to fit the top of the tank. Maybe that will cut down on the smell a bit. I only have one male as it is and three females. I can get used the smell, but the wife is having issues!!

Joe

www.allergystore.com/odorcontrol.htm
Zeolite rocks.
I have a few mesh bags of zeolite rocks which sit on top of my cat box lid, which is in my small cabin. I have three indoor cats but the box is not noticeable to anyone visiting (visitors are most likely to notice bad stinks as their noses are not accustomed to it). I've had my four bags for years; every few months I put them out in the sun to recharge.

Because the mice are out in an outbuilding I just keep the bedding changed.

For awhile I had some rats in the living room in a big cage and I put a bag of zeolite rocks on the cage lid, and the rats didn't smell.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Thanks Bob. I will look into those. For now I found an old carbon hunting suit I don't use anymore and put that on top of the cage. Might not help much, but we shall see.

Joe

mice are truely VILE lil creatures HUH?, makes you look at rodent breeders in a differant light... imagine a few hundred thousand in a warehouse... rats arent as bad but do also fall into the VILE catagory imho.
change bedding and wash tubs every 3 days its the only thing that really works... diligent cleaning.

carbon air scrubbers also help.

,,,,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

Thanks Thomas. Yeah, I cannot imagine how bad the smell is inside one of those places!!! Yuk.

Joe

The ammonia in the air alone totally rots the cooling coils and fins of the A/C unit periodically in my friends rodent breeding shed..LOL!

Were're talkin straight-up acid molecules..

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Can't let the wife see that post Doug!! Damn, toxic stuff huh? I don't plan on breeding more then six or so females. Just enough to have a few live on hand for the stubborn bastards!!

Joe

HAHA!!,....I hear ya on the "wife" thing..LOL!

Yeah, in his little rodent shed, the stench is concentrated big-time!...WOOOOO!

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

It should not stink so bad it stings the eyes with ammonia. He needs to clean more often. My mouse barn contains approximately 40 tubs, from 106 quart grow outs, to 58 breeders, to 20 quart single mama maternity tubs. It always has a smell, but it is the normal animal smell, not the reek of excessive ammonia. Ammonia is hard on the mice respiratory systems.

I may be biased; I have kept dairy cows, chickens, pigs, and assorted other livestock. Everything stinks if it is not kept clean. Trying to raise livestock in one's house is another matter entirely. I don't think Joecop's wife is going to be able to tolerate any sort of thing like that in the house. LOL!
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Yeah, he cleans pretty often, and it definitely isn't so bad it stings your eyes, but it does smell no matter what with all of them in such a small confined area. It takes quite a while to rot the A/C coils, but it will do it over a long period of time regardless.

I used to raise mice and rats too, but now I just do it the easy convenient way and grab them out of the freezer..

The only drawback is not having tiny live pinks for a few stubborn hatchlings, but it all works somehow, just takes longer sometimes with scenting for a few of them initially.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Joe, I also just breed a few to have live on hand. Mine are in the garage pretty much year round because of the smell. The only exception is if it is really cold and I have a new litter. Right now it has been getting down into the 40s and they are fine, but production is slower too.

My males tend to have fairly short lives as I often feed them off when all the females are pregnant, then get a new one when I need to. The females cages get bad when they are raising a litter, so all you can do is frequent cleaning. The males just stink, even if you clean every other day!

I have been known to mix a small amount of cedar bedding in with the aspen and that helps. I know its not good for the mice, but a little doesn't seem to be too bad for them.

I was able to get some deer mice from a friend, and they don't smell too bad, but they have small litters, and are mean!

I have considered gerbils, as they also don't smell bad. They have small litters too, but at least they are handleable.
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Kent

1.1 Hypo (het lavender, striped) corn snakes, 2010
1.1 Gray-banded king snakes, blairs phase, 2008
6.10 Gray-banded king snakes, 2011
1.1 Oregon rubber boas, w/c 20??

Kent you should never feed snakes rodents that have been kept in any Cedar bedding. The oils from the cedar gets into the mice's hair and then in the snake when they feed on them.
If anyone knows anything different please post about it.
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Randy Whittington

Thanks Randy. I did not know that!
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Kent

1.1 Hypo (het lavender, striped) corn snakes, 2010
1.1 Gray-banded king snakes, blairs phase, 2008
6.10 Gray-banded king snakes, 2011
1.1 Oregon rubber boas, w/c 20??

Joe I use pine pellets with a layer of aspen shavings on top of that for my mice. I've found that combo to smell clean longer than any other mix of bedding i've used. The pine pellets are super obsorbent and seem to keep it from starting to smell much longer in between cleanings. The aspen on top gives them good nesting material and and just seems to give off less wood smell if inside the house.
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Randy Whittington

I just wanted to add that I think pine shavings are great too but I've found that some real picky snakes will eat mice raised in aspen when they won't if they were raised in Pine shavings where I have never seen it the other way around. Also as I mentioned the aspen seems to have less of a noticable wood oil smell in a house than the pine shavings.
I do use pine shavings along with the pine pellets for all my rats breeders.
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Randy Whittington

Thanks Randy and Kent. You know, this darn charcoal lined hunting suit cut the smell by 75 percent. Crazy as it sounds, it worked. The bedding is on its fourth day and the smell is better then the first!! I am going to search for charcoal filters for the future. Sure wont be able to wash this garment with other clothes! By the way, has anyone tried those tiny little Russian drawf hamsters?

Joe

Using that charcoal lined hunting jacket is a interesting and great idea. I know the air filters I use in my snake rooms have a charcoal layer in the filter sleeves that you put in them.
Does the jacket have pockets with charcoal in them or is the whole jacket lined with it somehow?
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Randy Whittington

Randy, the whole inside of the jacket is lined and you are supposed to be able to "re-activate" the charcoal by putting the jacket in the dryer. The military did studies on the re-activation and proved in order to do so the item needed to be heated to 500 degrees. Hence the reason I don't buy this crap anymore!!! LOL. It does keep the smell down a TON right now though. I am going to buy some filters at home depot (charcoal) and try taping one to the inside of the lid. I will let you know how that works. For now, I will wash the jacket every week along with pants, which I will alternate with the jacket.

Joe

laying it in thick and changing it often seems to be the best control. I use pine shavings, from Walmart. They sell a large bale for about 7 bucks. Don't use the Cedar one, they small good but it is not very absorbent.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

Cedar "smells" good, but poor absorbent. When I used to have them in the house I would have to clean them about every 5 days. No more than 7 days.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra