Best ways to cover up mpouse smell?

by dragonmyst Mon 02 Jan 2017, 7:05 am

What kind of air fresheners, essential oils, candle fragrences do you find to be most effective? So far myrtle in a diffuser\humidifier in the same room as the cage has been working the best for me. And I am experimenting with some lilac candles I make. I never want to put anything in the mouses water, so I try to get by with just scented room stuff. I probably wouldnt bother with it at all if i didnt have roomates. What is your smell set up like?

by EverythingAnimal Mon 02 Jan 2017, 11:20 am

You can't use any air fragrances or things like that with mice, they have very sensitive respiratory systems and strong sents can do a lot of harm. Some people say using corn cob or soil bedding helps, but I've never tried it. Personally I've gotten so used to the smell that it doesn't affect me anymore.

by AnonONIagent Mon 02 Jan 2017, 11:58 am

You can trying putting a drop or two of vanilla in their water bottle; this should help make their urine smell a bit less pungent. It's completely safe and won't hurt them at all, as long it's natural vanilla extract.

by EverythingAnimal Mon 02 Jan 2017, 12:27 pm

I woudn't do that. It won't hurt them, but there is the chance that they won't like the taste, stop drinking water, and get dehydrated.

by AnonONIagent Mon 02 Jan 2017, 12:31 pm

EverythingAnimal wrote:I woudn't do that. It won't hurt them, but there is the chance that they won't like the taste, stop drinking water, and get dehydrated.

That's not huge concern. Just make sure that they all keep drinking after you put the vanilla in, and if they stop, wash out the bottle and go back to plain water.

by CinnamonPearl Mon 02 Jan 2017, 6:29 pm

I would recommend against putting anything in their water. Just far too risky for my liking. Honestly the best odor control is just keeping a clean cage. Oh, and choosing the right bedding.

by dragonmyst Mon 02 Jan 2017, 11:47 pm

I would never, ever spray anything into their cage, or even burn the candles or start up the diffuser very close to it. I just have it going in the living room, where the cage is (with two doors, the room has good ventilation) will even that hurt their respiratory system? I keep a clean cage but well, boy mice mark everything, so no matter how clean the cage is, it will start stinking very soon. As far as bedding, I use carefresh and that doesn't really cover scent, but I would rather deal with the smell than use wood chips.

by Peachy Tue 03 Jan 2017, 12:06 am

I use a plug-in air freshener on low in the living room. You can't even smell it in the mouse corner, but it smells nice when you walk in at least. Laughing

I've also used vanilla in one of my bottles. One drop in an 8 oz bottle doesn't actually change the taste much, and if you keep an eye on the mouse for a bit you should be able to tell if he stopped drinking or not. My boy didn't even seem to notice though.

This page has some cleaning and male odor tips, if you haven't seen it. It also discusses vanilla and Bio-odor a little bit. Smile

http://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t36-cleaning-odor-and-bedding

by CinnamonPearl Tue 03 Jan 2017, 6:07 am

Ive heard that hemp bedding is the absolute best bedding for odor. I haven't tried it so I can't vote either way, but I was thinking of trying it when I had males.

by CallaLily Tue 03 Jan 2017, 8:31 am

I have a few Scentsy burners that I use in the house, though in different rooms from the mice. It's never been an issue as far as I can tell.

I found food to make a bit of a difference in smell too. When my previous group of mice were on a parakeet mix, they seemed to smell much less than when I later switched them to Brown's. This included the one boy I've owned. Though of course he was always skunkier than the girls no matter what. I tried leaving a bit of cleaner looking old bedding with every tank cleaning, along with one unwashed toy to see if that would help. It didn't and my boy ended up with conjunctivitis that led to OCD scratching behaviors, which we never beat. Can't be sure the old bedding was to blame but it's not something I'd do again. Like I said, it didn't seem to help anyway.

But it sounds like you know that mice, especially male mice, will have an odor no matter how well we clean or what tricks we try. I think many of us eventually become at least partially nose blind to it. Do your roommates complain? I haven't noticed if one fragrance covers better than another. I just go with whatever I like.

by dragonmyst Tue 03 Jan 2017, 10:10 pm

No, they don't complain, but part of living with five roommates is heading off problems before they begin.

by scaredymouse Tue 03 Jan 2017, 10:14 pm

New mice have a really strong smell that dissipates after a few weeks. After that, I find that they seem to smell less as they get older. Spot cleaning things like dirty wheels between cage cleans goes a long way to reducing odor. Also, using filtered water helps and the type of food they eat matters too. I have found all of these things much more helpful than air freshener type things.

One more thing, you can get fairly inexpensive air purifiers on amazon with hepa filters which help decrease odor in small rooms. I have one in my critter room and I think it helps.

by Degare Wed 04 Jan 2017, 12:26 am

My other half is allergic to mice.
I fix this problem (smell / allergens) by cleaning their cage every other day.
Every. Other. Day.

Yeah, I go through a lot of "Clean and Cozy", but they don't smell at all.

by CinnamonPearl Wed 04 Jan 2017, 5:35 am

Now THAT is dedication!

by peas Thu 05 Jan 2017, 1:51 am

If you leave your window open a tiny bit that helps quite a bit. You want to make sure there is no breeze near the tank or anything but just a gentle air flow. You have to watch the temperature though, i have a thermometer near the tank so i can make sure it doesn't get too hot or cold.

Also spot cleaning the dirty areas every other day and having a tight fitting garbage storage in your room could help. As your mice get older, there is a good chance they'll start peeing in one or two areas mostly.

Also buying an air freshener for the rooms your mice aren't in could help. Maybe stash a cheap one in the living room or kitchen so your roomates get used to the smell of lavender or whatever, it's better if you hide it behind a couch or something so they don't know you are programming them! haha

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