Smelly Smelly:(

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Hayley1993

Hayley1993

Junior Guinea Pig
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hi everyone:)
Just some advice really- I feel at a bit of a loss. Brought my piggies in when Sofia passed away and they have been indoors for the last few weeks.
I can't seem to keep up with the cleaning. I change their tray of hay everyday and wash it out with pet disinfectant. I spot clean daily and change the fleece and towels every other day. But they stink. I don't know if it's the hay, or the piggies or what but I can constantly smell them. Or it could be me I suppose- and the smell is up my nose. I'm worried my husband will have had enough and they will be kicked out to live in the shed again:(
What can I do?!?!
 
Hayley1993 said:
hi everyone:)
Just some advice really- I feel at a bit of a loss. Brought my piggies in when Sofia passed away and they have been indoors for the last few weeks.
I can't seem to keep up with the cleaning. I change their tray of hay everyday and wash it out with pet disinfectant. I spot clean daily and change the fleece and towels every other day. But they stink. I don't know if it's the hay, or the piggies or what but I can constantly smell them. Or it could be me I suppose- and the smell is up my nose. I'm worried my husband will have had enough and they will be kicked out to live in the shed again:(
What can I do?!?!
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I would try putting down the cedar chips. Mine use them and the room smells lovely.
 
I think I might have misspoke. They are not cedar shavings, they are wood shavings. The stores sell them as bedding is that not a good idea. I have their sleep area covered in a clean towel and the wood shavings cover the rest of the cage where they poo and pee. I'm a new guinea pig owner so bear with me. I like the wood shavings because they smell nice. Your thoughts?
 
Maryjames said:
I think I might have misspoke. They are not cedar shavings, they are wood shavings. The stores sell them as bedding is that not a good idea. I have their sleep area covered in a clean towel and the wood shavings cover the rest of the cage where they poo and pee. I'm a new guinea pig owner so bear with me. I like the wood shavings because they smell nice. Your thoughts?
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No worries . Some people on this forum use wood shavings - but you have to make sure they're dust extracted . we've got a great thread about bedding here ...

Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview
 
I don't know... It just stinks!! I don't know if it's the hay, wee, or the girls...all I know is that I've moved their cage tonight into our office, and closed the door. I've just gone in and when the door opened it hit me! And I've just changed the hay etc:(:(
 
Would you be prepared to try a different bedding ?

Does the smell come out of the fleece and towels after they are washed ?
 
@Hayley1993 is it possible one of your girls has a UTI? My bladder pig had a permanent niff about her :( If you have urine testing sticks I would pop them one at a time in a clean bowl or carrier & check their wee afterwards & see if they squeak when weeing. If in doubt maybe get them checked at the vets.
 
Yes the ones I buy are the dust free and it smells really nice. Sorry to hear about your piggies. Someone said maybe a UTI? I never thought of that but it makes sense. Hope you clear the air soon. Lol. Thanks for the tip on the bedding
 
Don't shut the door on your guinea pigs. You're not used to their scent
when inside the house, hence why you're struggling to get used to it. In time you will adjust to them, as will your husband. Maybe get a scented candle and burn it in your hallway? You can get scented shavings too, like lavendar. Keep a window open for a time during the day if it's warm. Do not loose hope.
 
compared to my rats the guineas smell like fresh air! My girls do seem to be messier than my boys though, have to poo pick constantly and change the towels at least every other day, they like to wee and sit in it! :( the boys get cleaned once a week and are always clean and dry!
 
My two sows live indoors and they are housed on dust free wood shavings. Their room is essentially the spare bedroom / office and we leave the door open permanent. The only time they smell is the day before cage cleaning day and on the rare occasions they over wee in their hay tray which is plastic x
 
It could be your fleece/towels smelling even if they are washed. What do you wash them with? You could try washing and rinsing until no more bubbles come out then rinsing with some distilled vinegar.
 
I'd wonder if it was the towels. I'd seen a couple of things that suggested that towels stay wet for a while and this creates a smell, whereas something that dries quicker smells less. I use a mattress protector for this reason as the texture inside allows air to circulate and the wet patches to dry. I do notice a bit of a whiff to them after a few days when they need the fleece changing, but day to day, the only smell I get from them is the smell of fresh hay from the trays, not anything unpleasant.

I think in the first instance though I would be looking at their wee to exclude a UTI though, just in case.
 
We have boars who sometimes scent mark, etc, but have no problem with the smell. They are in a c and c cage at the end of a very long kitchen diner. We have used both aubiose and snowflake over newspaper and both absorb wee and smell very well. Snowflake looks a little nicer, we think. We only need to do a full clean once a week.
 
Is it the towels, I use puppy pads under vet bed and they do not smell, I have a cat litter tray for hay and it only smells when I clean it out, I have boys too
 
I wouldn't use scented woodshavings, they are not very good for piggies' sensitive respiratory systems. I also think it could be your towels that are smelling as they tend to stay wet and go musty when peed on, I use puppy pads under fleece and vet bed and it only smells round cage cleaning day.
 
I'd just keep an eye out for runny poo or for urine infections. The only time mine have smelled is when these things have happened. Urine infections tend to smell like fish. Soft Poo just smells like poo, only stronger.

On rare occasions the fleece has been a bit smelly if they've used a corner as a wee corner, instead of weeing on their disposable bedding. A hay tray with disposable bedding (wood flakes, paper/card based.... ) often works wonders for getting piggies to keep their fleece clean. I can say that nine out on nine piggies prefer to wee on their paper based bedding in their hay trays than on their fleece! :)

Hope that helps x
 
Try getting some new fleece, honestly it'll save you loads of money in the long run, and perhaps consider giving your piggies a bath, or just a bum bath! I have a boar and cycle through a couple fleece blankets as bedding. Really the only thing that smells bad is if you get up close and personal with his litter bag (yes i do mean bag, it was a DIY hay bag that he decided would be a great toilet, so now instead of hay i throw newspaper shavings in there)
 
Thanks but it was brand new cage liners I was using- I've now switched to Fitch and not having any problems now.
 
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