my house stinks!

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biscandmatt

biscandmatt

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my house stinks since i got the piggies! i clean them out everyday and remove poops twice a day aswell and it still stinks!

when we just had chesney it didn't smell, but now we have maisie too, no matter how much i clean, i can't get rid of the smell!

maisie drinks alot of water and wees alot and i know ches scents the bedding, and maybe produces more smells since maisie arrived?

i don't know what else i can do, i'm already changing all the bedding daily.

it's not the piggies themselves that smell as when i get them out for cuddles their fur smells fine, but the poops stink!

any suggestions what i can do?

forgot to say - they're bedded on fleece blankets at the minute, and have newspaper under that, and in 1/4 of the cage they have a pile of hay to burrow in aswell.

oh, i disinfect with vinegar and water, this is ok isn't it?

thanks. :)
 
hmmmmmm.....I do the exact same things except I use puppy pads instead of newspaper to absorb urine and I don't notice any odor in their room.
 
I had the same problem with vetbed I found two piggies in nero 4 cage and 3 days equalled a smell that hit you when you walked in the front door. I switched to megazorb and the smell went. I still have to remove hay every 1 / 2 days from the floor as that gets smelly when wee'd on. maybe give megazorb a try?
 
I have a handheld hoover that I use to hoover up poo a couple of times a day (I use vetbed), this stops the poop smell. I have ordered megazorb which I'm going to use in their houses (where they sleep) instead of hay as they wee on the hay and this is what makes the cage smell in my case ;)
 
it was definately the hay for me too. I had hackracks over littertrays but the hay would spill down the sides and then smell due the piggies weeing on it!
 
i've just stopped using megazorb for them as it's so dusty and didn't make much difference really. plus, i didn't like them burrowing in the hay which had the megazorb underneath, i thought they had watery eyes when they'd been near it.

this is probably a stupid question, but if i had a handheld hoover, could i use that when they're in the cage? or would that frighten them?

i think in this case it is the poops that smell to be honest. they have had different foods this week and that included cabbage and some broccoli one or two days so maybe that's made the poops smell alot?

i've ordered some vetbed/profleece so i am going to give that a try.

i don't mind cleaning them out everyday as i have time and i actually like to do it, but it's not a small smell, it hits you all the time. but our downstairs is open plan. it's only a little house and we have the two buns and two pigs in the lounge.

:)
 
I have 4 pigs and 2 rabbits in the house. I find the rabbits produce a more noticeable smell than the pigs. They are 2 males, I think they hold "spraying" competitions!
I was told about Megazorb and decided to try it. I find it is excellent, with very little dust. My pigs/rabbits do not appear to have any problems even when they burrow into the hay. The big advantages of Megazorb are that it absorbs moisture and smell and leaves the hay fresher for longer.
I use Vet=Bed only when I have a sick pig who needs to be kept warm or else a pig that is weak and may get it's feet stuck in the hat.
 
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the only time i notice that the bedroom smells is when it's comes to the end of the week and it's time to wash their beddings - apart from that, all we can smell is hay x
 
I clean my 2 out every night completely stripping out the nero 4 but by dinnertime the following day I can smell them despite picking out the poos whenever I see them building up.my OH says he can't really notice any pong so maybe I'm just a bit sensitive to the smell.
 
mine dont smell at all, i use fleecing and profleece

i use a handheld hoover int heir cage - its a special pet one from argos and works a treat! i'd be lost without it.

i usually have t piggies out when i hoover but sometimes they are inside - they just hide up in their hammocks and then wander out after, they dont seem too phased by it! its just like using a normal hoover in the house really!
 
Mine only smell if I have emergencies in and have to set up a quick c & c and use blankets. I think it is the wee, poop, hay combined. Not really sure exactly what it is. I use megazorb, on some newspapers in all my indoor cages now and have to say, it smells a heck of a lot better than just hay on newspaper that I used before. xx
 
it's definitely the poops that smell strong, and the corner they wee in aswell. me and my bf were talking before and it's only been smelly since maisie arrived! chesney is so clean and he doesn't seem to wee much because he doesn't drink alot, whereas maisie drinks loads...and pees loads! also noticed before that maisies fur smells badly aswell, so to be honest i think it's her causing the smell! :)) also, chesneys scent gland is a bit smelly aswell i noticed before, and maisie has recently been in season and there seems to be more smell, maybe from the 'play'!

so i put them in their run today, thoroughly cleaned the cage yet again, and i think it is time for them to have a bath! maisie has quite alot of dandruff on her skin when you part the fur. she seems itchy so a nice bath should make her feel less itchy hopefully. that should be an interesting time! i know ches will be fine, but maisie i'm not sure about yet!

i think i'll try the megazorb again and see if it helps.

alcersterpigs - i never notice any smell from my two rabbits. they are both boys aswell. are yours neutered? mine have never sprayed urine, but they were neutered quite early as bisc matured early, and have been litter trained since then. i do have to change the litter trays twice a day though!

my profleece should come soon so i'll see what that's like.

oh, the wee on the hay smells aswell...but i haven't the heart to take it away because their favourite thing is burrowing in it! looks like i'll just have to chnage the hay more regularly for them to stop that smell. like i said, i don't mind and i have time.

they both seem fine when i'm hoovering. i warn them all first so they know what's coming. :)) could i just use the nozzle attachment on the hoover? i'll try and see what they're like. they'll probably just hide in their little house!

i think i'm just fussy and obsessive! my bf thinks it's the smell you would expect from having four pets in a small space, even if they are cleaned out everyday!

no-one ever commented on any smell until maisie arrived! she's a stinky girl bless her! :)) love her to bits though! x)

i'll try lots of different things and let you know when i find the solution! :)
 
sounds like it could be chesney thats making it smell when hes chasing masie and trying to mate her, as that can smell very strong sometimes.
 
Neither of my two male rabbits has been neutered.
Their boxes are changed about 2 or 3 times a week, not per day!
They only seem to smell when they spray on the floor, they keep their boxes clean and smell free!
 
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Mine are indoors and the only time I can smell them is when its time for cleaning out - other than that, it's just hay I smell.

I have mine on a layer of newspaper, a layer of megazorb and then hay on the top.
 
I have just switched from megazorb to vetbed, you can smell the poos, but I sweep with dust pan and brush twice a day, more if they poop alot, and the smell goes once the poops are removed. Treat yourself to some scented lillies, that waft the scent all through the room. Keep out of the reach of guineas though, poisinous to them.
 
try cutting out the broccoli and cabbage for a few days maybe replace it with cucumber and tomato
 
I wouldn't say that I have ever had a problem with gp poos smelling. They are dry pellets really. The smell is usually from the wee ... are you sure that Maisie hasn't got a urine infection? Is she weeing alot or squeeking when she wees? Just a thought.

I use Megazorb. Mine all get cleaned out twice a week, the wee areas each day. Mine are in the shed though, but I guess with four furries living inside and three of them being male, you are going to get an odour from them. Not necessarily their poos and wees but body smells.

However, I agree with Christine. Change the veg you give Maisie and Chesney and see if that helps!
 
Normal pig wee has no particular smell but wee that comes from an infected bladder does have a "tangy" smell.
 
mine live in my room and there's normally a hay-ish smell which i find quite nice.
idk if it's a good or bad thing but because they live in a hutch you can't smell anything until you clean them out. good for odours but bad as it's hard to tell when the hutch needs a good scrub- it seems to soak up odours really badly =[
 
thanks everyone. it was asda night tonight so the piggies food has changed again now for this week, so they're having no cabbage or broccoli this week and i'll see if it makes a difference.

maisie does wee alot, but she drinks alot so i think that's why. she doesn't squeak when she wees, although i did consider a bladder infection. are they common and are there any other signs? she seems ok in herself. when i say she wees alot, i actually don't know if she wees a normal amount and it's just chesney that doesn't wee alot, because he doesn't drink alot and before we got maisie there was hardly ever any wee in the cage.

it's definitely something to do with the piggies anyway. my rabbits poops and wee and fur never smell at all. i've never known my rabbits to smell. i change their litter trays twice a day because i like to give them clean toilets and fresh hay to munch in the tray aswell.

i gave the piggies litter trays before and put them where they wee the most and so far they have just gone in the trays which have megazorb and hay in them, so hopefully this will help, and i can change the trays throughout the day when needed.

i think maybe the smell this week has been a combination maybe of chesney 'mating' maisie, the food they've been having, and hay with wee on!

my mum was round earlier and she said the smell was a 3/10 (that's after i spent hours cleaning!) whereas the other day when i opened the front door to her, she looked like she was going to be sick and said the smell got full marks that day! :))

whilst i'm ranting alot, i noticed maisie flinched today when i touched her middle. i parted the hair and her skin has bad dandruff on it. maisie and chesney were treated with xeno 450 a few days ago now because they seemed itchy and had a few flakes of dandruff, but chesney has improved, but maisie still seems itchy, although she has improved. i am planning on giving them a bath tonight or tomorrow. i have the coconeem melt and the neem shampoo from gorgeous guineas so i will be using those. is bad dandruff common? she only has it on her middle really, and then just a few flakes elsewhere.

i'm a bit nervous about the baths!
 
Have you tried towels under the fleece, Lea? I've found things are much worse with just newspaper under the fleece, as opposed to a good thick towel. I've used fleece for close to 4 years, and I find that it is usually the poops and the hay trays (sections of just hay and newspaper) that smell the worst! I clean the hay trays daily, put fresh hay in twice a day, and I vacuum the poops daily also. I do a complete change of fleece every three days.

Rich foods to tend to make piggie poops smell stronger, as has already been suggested - cabbage, broccoli and kale usually being the worst offenders. I was thinking the Orchard Grass, which is much richer hay, was to blame for the stinky poops this week, until I realised they've been having cabbage for the past week.
 
I use towels under vetbed too as I find newspaper smells (but I'm pregnant and can smell everything right now!). I change the hay tray daily as this is where they mainly poo and as I said before just hoover up the poop a couple of times a day. I dont smell anything from my cages other than hay by doing this ;)
 
well i came downstairs this morning and couldn't smell them! just hay! my bf said they don't smell either. all i did was change the veg to this weeks and the smell has gone! so it looks like that cabbage and bit of broccoli was to blame!

and, i'm really pleased because i put a small litter tray in one corner, and a corner litter tray in the other corner, and they've done all their wee's in them! so i'm really pleased with them! so now i can change the trays when needed and remove the poops from the rest of the cage as needed, and that will hopefully be better for them.

i bought them some snuggle sacs that came today aswell, just thought i'd say! :)) they're so lovely. i got baby blue fleece on one side and then one has pink polkadots on and one has lilac dots on. really pleased with them. :)

i have some beach towels that i use on the floor in the run so i could try them under the fleece aswell as the newspaper and that should help aswell.

i checked maisie over last night and her bum is clean and doesn't smell or anything and i'm pretty sure she doesn't have a bladder infection or anything. i think she was just sitting in her wee recently and that's why she smelled a bit yesterday. she doesn't smell today so that's good.
 
i have noticed mine smell when they have cabbage and broccoli, they love it though.rolleyes
 
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