Bedding Cage Odor - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**rahunter** · #1 09-12-09, 02:31 pm

We have 2 young girls in a 2x3 with a 2x2 upstairs kitchen. I have been batteling an odor issue. I had been using shredded paper mixed w/ critter care bedding w/ newspaper and puppy pads underneath. I spot clean every day and do a complete cleaning the cage about every 5 days but cannot get the odor under control. Today I cleaned it again and lined the cage w/ newspaper and puppy pads but put Carefresh Ultra upstairs and in the half of the lower level where they eliminate. The other half stays clean so I mixed 1/2 Aspen and 1/2 Carefresh ultra. (just trying to save a buck) I also hung a Zeolite Crystal bag on the outside of the cage.

Do you folks think this will help?? I am a new guinea pig owner and am trying to figure out what methods work the best without spending a fortune. Any other ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

**Toadies** · #2 09-12-09, 03:01 pm

I tried newsprint for awhile, but found that it is not very absorbant and it does get really smelly, really fast. After newsprint, Carefresh, Yesterday's News, aspen and plain towels, I went to fleece and towels with generic incontinence pads at the bottom (keeps the coroplast clean). The initial expense can be up there a bit, but there are various ways to save $ by being resourceful. Dig through the remnant bins at the fabric store (you can sew two or three smaller pieces together), check out second hand stores, hit up family and friends for cast offs of towels and /or mattress pads. With just two GPs, you may be able to get away with a once-a-week change out, with daily poop scooping. It has proven to be a great change for the odor, convenience (for me) and health of the piggs in my case.

**princesspoppy** · #3 09-12-09, 03:24 pm

Clean your cage down with 50/50water/vineger. You will save yourself a lot of time and money if you used the fleece for bedding.

**rahunter** · #4 09-12-09, 04:39 pm

I do spray it down with a vinegar/water solution. I tried the fleece thing when we first got them but the urine smell was terrible. The odor we are dealing w/ is a "barn" smell. It seems to be better already, I think the lettle bit of Aspen that I mixed is giving off a nice smell. Maybe it was just the shredded paper that has no absorbancy that was making it so bad. Thanks for the replys.

**lissie** · #5 09-12-09, 05:37 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahunter

I do spray it down with a vinegar/water solution. I tried the fleece thing when we first got them but the urine smell was terrible. The odor we are dealing w/ is a "barn" smell. It seems to be better already, I think the lettle bit of Aspen that I mixed is giving off a nice smell. Maybe it was just the shredded paper that has no absorbancy that was making it so bad. Thanks for the replys.

When you tried fleece, did you have anything absorbent underneath? Fleece also needs to be washed and dried at least 3 times to prepare it to wick wetness through to the under layer. There are also different types of fleece, anti-pill, blizzard and polar are good. I bought wrong type fleece once and it doesn't wick through to the under layer and the top stay wet. I think it was a microplush blanket that I got that didn't work.

**princesspoppy** · #6 09-12-09, 05:54 pm

Exactly lissie . If it done properly it wont smell.

**JD In Van** · #7 09-12-09, 08:30 pm

Have you had them checked by the vet.

If they're shedding ketions(sp?) in their urine that will make it reek like crazy. That can happen if one of them has liver/kidney impairment, is diabetic or is being fed too much high sugar food (fruit and carrots).

**rahunter** · #8 09-12-09, 08:58 pm

I purchased the fleece blanket from a thrift store so it was already broken in. I washed 3x before setting up the cage. I had newspaper, towels then puppy pads under the fleece.

The fruit and carrot thing may be the issue!! My son feeds them each day and ALWAYS mixes a couple of carrots w/ their salad mix. He also gives either a small sliver of apple each or 1/2 a grape each. I will have him cut those back and see what happens.

Actually the Carefresh Ultra and Aspen seems to be much better. I should have a better idea in the morning after they have eliminated quite a bit. I will shop around for some more fleece. I absolutely hate doing laundry, so I'm not sure that fleece is the best option for me, personally. But if it will cut down on the stintch then I will try it again.

**JD In Van** · #9 09-12-09, 10:40 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahunter

The fruit and carrot thing may be the issue!! My son feeds them each day and ALWAYS mixes a couple of carrots w/ their salad mix. He also gives either a small sliver of apple each or 1/2 a grape each. I will have him cut those back and see what happens.

Try cutting that out and see if that helps?
Also fleece is totally the way to go. My pen's only scent is hay and the occational fart.

**Peggysu** · #10 09-12-09, 11:48 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by JD In Van

My pen's only scent is hay and the occational fart.

I don't know why but this just made me giggle. My cage smells like hay and if I don't sweep up poops, it smells a little odd.

"Thank you, lissie, for this useful post," says:
angiekay (09-12-09)

"Thank you, princesspoppy, for this useful post," says:
angiekay (09-12-09)