Cleaning: Tips for reducing smell?

[Lauren&Pigs]

Hello!
I've been considering adopting a third guinea pig from my local shelter, but my mom said no. After asking why and such, it's because of smell. She says that it smells too much just with two pigs. So, she's giving me a chance to sort of "prove" myself, to see if I can handle having three pigs, and control the smell.

Are there any tips you have for reducing smell, or making it nonexistent?
I just switched to only fleece with no litter box, hoping that I could change the fleece more often to reduce the smell. I have 3 layers of towels underneath the fleece, and the fleece is double layered (it comes doubled up, so I just sewed it so it's doubled). I'm also going to try to clean and vacuum my room more often. My mom really doesn't like the smell of pee and hay mixed. So, I have a hay rack now, and it helps so that most the hay isn't peed on. Thanks for any tips!

[walleandeva]

You should only really have one layer of fleece on top of your towels.

[Lauren&Pigs]

Really? It seems very thin. :/
I do have new fleece that I can cut and make two fleece layers out of instead of one.
Thanks for the tip.

[starshine123102]

If you have a boar (or boars) they tend to be more smelly than females. When you change their cage put in a piece of fleece or a toy that has their scent on it so they don't feel as much need to remark the cage with their scent. That may help cut down on the smell.

Also, you may need to change and wash you bedding more than once a week. Keep multiple sets handy so you can replace it while the other is being cleaned.

[Lauren&Pigs]

Thank you!
All my fleece except one (or two layers now) are doubled up and sewn. So, I guess I will have to change the fleece more..
I have females too- but they still seem smelly!
I also read that if you leave a cup of vinegar near the cage, it absorbs smell- so i'm going to try that.

[Paula]

I would go to just one layer of fleece, vacuum or pick up all the poo and stray hay at least once a day, and if you can do entire bedding changes more than once a week, that is a great way to keep odors down.

As for boars being more "smelly" - they do mark things with their lovely boar musk, but boys are actually cleaner and neater than females as far as keeping their cages tidy, in my experience.

In addition to the vinegar near the cage, you might also try a box of baking soda too.

[claire]

I have read of people sprinkling baking soda on the coroplast, underneath all the towels to help absorb odours. Is this definitely safe?

[Paula]

It's safe, but it gets really gross.

[starshine123102]

Originally Posted by paula.m.moore

As for boars being more "smelly" - they do mark things with their lovely boar musk, but boys are actually cleaner and neater than females as far as keeping their cages tidy, in my experience.

My girl was so much neater before we adopted our neutered boar. He's a slob and now she is too. I used to only have to pick up poos from one corner and now it's all over the place. Maybe I just got lucky with her for a while.

[Paula]

A single pig will generally behave a lot differently than s/he would in pairs or groups.

I'm not saying it's true of every pig, but of all the males I've had and all the females I've had, the boys have absolutely always been neater than the girls. No idea why that is.

[greybear36]

My 3 girls are a lot cleaner than my boy who is a poop machine. The girls all do most of their poops in their litter boxes or beds but because he's only young I can tell it's the boy Fudge who poops everywhere cos his poops are smaller!! I change their fleece and towels twice a week and spot-clean at least twice a day. In fact every time we have a chat I'm picking up poops!!! Lol. Plus i only have one layer of fleece and 3 layers of towels. Hope this helps!!

[Lauren&Pigs]

Thank you all for the replies! I will cut the sewn fleece apart so I will just have one layer. I'll also try the vinegar and the box of baking soda. I'll try to clean the cage more than once a week!

[Paula]

Besides towels, you can also try mattress pads and/or old blankets and comforters. I've gotten a lot of that stuff at local Goodwills and thrift shops and they are far preferable to towels, for a number of reasons. They are also a lot softer and "cushier" for the pigs.

Even with all the pigs I have, I don't start having odor issues usually until the day or two before I clean the cages, and I don't use ANY towels. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but it might be worth a try.

[pigsmakemesmile]

spot cleaning daily and bedding changes 2x a week helps. I use fleece in their pen and shavings in their hideys. I have all boars and they poo all over their pen.
they're pigs heheh.

[ferndalezoo]

I have 4 boars in a cage. What we did was I made several sets of bedding (a "set" is the towels and fleece, 3-4 beds, a hammock (only 1 of my pigs will use it), covers for their bent-grid hideys, and a mattress for the "bunk bed". Every day, I sweep up the poops, scoop all the old hay out of the hayloft, and put in fresh hay. Twice a week, I take the whole assembly out and put in new. Wash the old set. We have no problem with odor.

[AllysGuineas]

Your lucky you even HAVE two pigs!

[MapleOwl18]

Also make sure the fleece is whicking the moisture through. The fleece isn't supposed to be a barrier or absorber for any of the water its basically supposed to let it right through.

I put water on top of the fleece and see if it beads up or not. You need to wash the fleece 3 times with a unscented no fabric softener detergant before using it. This gets rid of the water barrier. The unscented part is for your piggies nosies, and the no softener keeps it from getting a coating of "softener" that stops the water from getting through. I use unscented, hypo-allergenic All, and have different detergents for the piggies and humans.

[Barb1222]

Originally Posted by paula.m.moore

Even with all the pigs I have, I don't start having odor issues usually until the day or two before I clean the cages, and I don't use ANY towels. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but it might be worth a try.

How many pigs do you have? And how often do you change your bedding?

I have eight piggies - 5 girls & 3 boys - and my girls' cage gets stinky pretty fast. I use fleece with mattress pads only - a couple layers, so it's nice & cushy. I sweep up poops twice a day and change the fleece once a week. I just added an upper level where the hay rack will be placed & a litterbox of aspen bedding under it...I'm hoping that will help with the odor, since they poo & pee A LOT by the hay.

I may have to start cleaning cages more often.

[NicholsS10]

My pigs cage used to really smell only after a few days (even with spot cleaning daily and whole cage cleaning twice a week). What has help with me is location, location, location. I live in a moderate sized (for a college student) one bedroom apartment. I use to have my 5 pigs in the bedroom, but I wanted to expand the cage, so I had to move it out to the living room to do so. With the expanded cage I only have to do a whole cage cleaning once a week now, but the smell has gone down A LOT! I think it has to do with my living room being almost twice the size as my bedroom. What has also helped me is having windows open whenever the weather permits, using a hay rack, and probably the BEST thing has helped me out with odors is...an air purifier! I got one for christmas. It's a large tower one that designed for the size of my living room. I constantly leave it running. It has help a lot!

[greybear36]

I use one of these too. Got it off Ebay and if it is switched off at all I notice the difference straight away!! It' great