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Cleaning How can i get rid of the odors

CavyTV

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Hey guys, do any of you know how to eliminate cage odors? Literally every time my mom comes into my room she gets really mad because apparently my room smells like a farm. I heard someone say to put a bowl of baking soda in the room but I dont understand how that would work.... I spot clean twice a day. I sprayed some scented febreeze but it doesnt really seem to get rid of the smells. If you have any ideas, that would really help. Thanks.
 

PudgePig

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You could try getting an air purifier. You probably wouldn't need a very large one.
Baking soda absorbs odors, that's why it was suggested. I'm not sure if it would be a fix for you or not.
How do you feed them their hay? If you give it in piles and they're able to pee on it, hay can get really "farm" smelling.
I switched to fleece over wood pellets and haven't had any odor issues since.
 

CavyTV

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I keep the hay in a bent grid/hay rack. I put hay in their litter box, someone said it encourages them to pee/poo there (not really, there are still poops all over the place! :)) And I dont use bedding. I use fleece and old towels and i wash all that every 2-3 weeks. Just recently got washed. Thanks for the air purifier idea. Dont know if my mom will be totally on board with that though, since she's gonna have to pay for it :p lol
 

PudgePig

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Ha ha yeah, they poo and pee where they want to. :)
If you can wash your bedding every 2-3 days, you'll greatly reduce the smell. Going weeks in between cleaning will definitely make the odor grow. I started out using towels and I just couldn't stand the smell.
If you decide to look into wood pellets, search it in the forums. There's all kinds of great information here. Pellets are cheap and last a really long time. I just wash the fleece once a week and stir the pellets.
Good luck with your odor control. :)
 

pigger123

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You definitely need to be washing your fleece and towels at least once a week. Towels actually smell the worst out of all the absorbent layers I've tried. Wood pellets are by far the best bedding I've ever used to prevent odors, and you can put fleece on top of it to make it more comfortable for your piggies.

Also make sure you spot clean the poops and litter box at least once, and preferably twice, every day. How big is your cage?
 

Legume Family

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Towels actually smell the worst out of all the absorbent layers I've tried.

I agree with pigger123. Towels ALWAYS smelled terrible when I used them, and I washed everything twice a week. I saved money and purchased Piggy Bedspreads and alternate them every week with my cheaper Uhaul liner/fleece combo. That and an air purifier (https://www.amazon.com/GermGuardian...8&qid=1471631025&sr=8-3&keywords=air+purifier) really worked to eliminate the smell. You could probably find a smaller/cheaper one depending on your room size. Don't use febreeze or aerosols around your piggies if you can avoid it (they have sensitive lungs/noses).
 

Margey

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I haven't had any problems with odor with my 2 sows, here are some facts:

·I have them in a largish cage, Midwest guinea habitat
·I spot clean the cage almost every time I walk by it with a paper cup and plastic spoon. :)
·I use a U-HAUL furniture moving pad (denim) cut to size, 2 layers, under the fleece and it seems to work wonders! Never used towels.
·I clean the cage like every 4-6 days apart, washing fleece and pad, and wiping down base with water and white wine vinegar mix.
·I keep their hay in hacks off the floor so they can not dirty it.
Hope this helps!
 

DroidGuineaPig

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If its the pigs that smell you could neuter them.
 

bpatters

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Neutering won't affect the smell of the pigs, and that's an awfully expensive way to tackle the problem of cage smells, anyway.

Unless you're using wood pellets, you probably need to change the bedding more frequently. Keep any hay picked up, because peed-on hay is usually the worst offender. Scooping the poop frequently does very little to control odor, because the pellets don't usually have any smell anyway unless they've been peed on.

If you've got washable stuff in the cage, wash it in hot water, with strong detergent and bleach. If that doesn't control the odor, soak it in vinegar overnight before washing.
 
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