Help please urgent awfull smell

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luvleeju

luvleeju

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I have just brought my 2 boars into the conservatory for the first time as they have lived in the garden since I got them in April.
My problem is the smell its awfull if my husband goes in there I will have to put them in the garage where it is dark and not very nice as he wont tolerate our conservatory smelling like that.
I'm using vet bed and I hoover the poops everyday just 24hrs after i clean them out the smell is horrible.
I have a plug in airfreshner trying to mask the smell and in the day I keep a small window open but nothing is working.
Has anyone else got any tips Ive read through loads of other info on this site and thats why i got vet bed thinking that would be the best.
I really dont want them in the garage please please help
 
How often do you change the vet bed over and wash it?

Is the smell their hay? This is the only smell i ever notice.

Thanks
 
What are you using under the vet bed to absorb the wee? I use vet bed with puppy pads underneath, my 2 boars live in the lounge and they don't smell. They are cleaned twice a week and the poops removed daily.
 
Have you given them a bath and if necessary cleaned their grease gland and bits? Please make sure that they are somewhere warm until completely dry, though! How old are your boys? It is not recommended to bather under 12-16 weeks unless there is a medical reason. http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=47314

If they are in the hormonal months and re-establishing their hierarchy in new surroundings, you are probably smelling quite a bit of testosterone, which is mainly spread by spray peeing everywhere.
 
How often are you washing the vet bed - and at what temp?

Do you have a water drip tray under the bottle? One big enough for the pigs to sit in is useful as they often like to pee while drinking.

What are you using underneath it to absorb the urine, how often are you replacing it?

Vetbed is very good when used in the right way. I'm sure with a few tweaks you will find some improvement.

Suzy x
 
When my 4 first came inside they stank :)>>> I have one boy and three girls but the problem was, as they were not used to the new pen and being inside the house, they were all crowding together in a few spots and peeing and pooping there so it became the strong concentration of their mess. To combat this I put in more hides than normal trying to encourage them to move around (and mess in other places) and changed the pen newspaper and towels (plus the fleece of course) every 3 days.

After a couple of weeks they settled down a lot more and went back to using their litter trays - where the hay is placed which I change daily and it keeps the smell down. I only need to change the pen bedding twice a week now.

I wonder if your boys are doing the same having changed environments, I was worried that the OH would kick up a stink about it but as I moved them in back in end of sept I could leave the front door open and air the place. Mine only whiff on clean out day.
 
Near enough everyone I have is bedded on vetbed...

I put news paper under mine and change the newspaper every few days... I wash the vet bed once a week unless it looks like it need a wash before...
I've never noticed a smell from vet bed..
Are you sure it's not the boys letting off a stink... Try giving them a good scrub in the bath...
And disinfect all the hutch.. But if you are going to clean the hutch with some heavy disenfectant then you must leave it atleast 24 hours befor putting them back in.. As it takes a while for the wood to dry out and the fumes to clear...
x
 
claremw92 said:
Near enough everyone I have is bedded on vetbed...

I put news paper under mine and change the newspaper every few days... I wash the vet bed once a week unless it looks like it need a wash before...
I've never noticed a smell from vet bed..
Are you sure it's not the boys letting off a stink... Try giving them a good scrub in the bath...
And disinfect all the hutch.. But if you are going to clean the hutch with some heavy disenfectant then you must leave it atleast 24 hours befor putting them back in.. As it takes a while for the wood to dry out and the fumes to clear...
x
Click to expand...

Both my 2 are very nervous and since being brought inside they are worse dont think i dare bath them as they are so timid. Hoping they will settle once used to new surroundings. I do disinfect there cage.
 
Aw bless, i am sure they will settle in, may just take them a week or so. How often do you wash the vet bed?
 
Suzygpr said:
How often are you washing the vet bed - and at what temp?

Do you have a water drip tray under the bottle? One big enough for the pigs to sit in is useful as they often like to pee while drinking.

What are you using underneath it to absorb the urine, how often are you replacing it?

Vetbed is very good when used in the right way. I'm sure with a few tweaks you will find some improvement.

Suzy x
Click to expand...

I'm using newspaper underneath the vet bed and i change everything every 3 days. My 2 are really messy and poop and pee everywhere . I have never used litter trays as i thought they would still mess everywhere . I'l keep trying and hope hubby doesn't venture in there till i have it under control. Oh and I wash at 40 degrees
 
I have one boar and two sows, (seperate!) and the boar absolutly stinks! If I didn't love him so much I would seriously consider getting him a new home! I don't know why though, he has a really musky smell. I wash his fleece every 3 days, use layers of newspaper and towels
 
my two boys were the same when I brough them inside from a hutch. They were really nervous of the new cage and seemed to pee in just the one place so by day two they absolutely stank!

I have a 2x4 C&C cage with a hay loft and the hay loft has newspaper and ecopet bed which gets changed daily. Nowe they run about and investigate the whole cage they tend to pee and poop the most near to where they eat so maybe try putting puppy pads down or newspaper under their water bottle and food and in the places they pee the most.

My two have just had a bath and for some reason one of my boars had a really smelly sweat gland even though I bath them regularly so this may be another cause of smell.

HTH
 
Raven said:
What are you using under the vet bed to absorb the wee? I use vet bed with puppy pads underneath, my 2 boars live in the lounge and they don't smell. They are cleaned twice a week and the poops removed daily.
Click to expand...

I use newspaper but will try puppy pads if you think this might work.
I've just noticed that the concentration of urine is only at the area where the hay rack is . so if i put one under there perhaps that would do the trick
 
My boys are stinking the place out at present because we have a new little boar and so they are scent marking like mad. rolleyes
You say the piggies are a bit nervous so if you want to try cleaning their scent glands, but don't want to stress them out, you can just try a 'bottom only bath'. I have used a mild washing up liquid to gently shift any build up of grease on the gland (as learnt on forum) and then washed their bottoms but avoided whole body wetness. :)p
 
Pepperdog said:
When my 4 first came inside they stank :)>>> I have one boy and three girls but the problem was, as they were not used to the new pen and being inside the house, they were all crowding together in a few spots and peeing and pooping there so it became the strong concentration of their mess. To combat this I put in more hides than normal trying to encourage them to move around (and mess in other places) and changed the pen newspaper and towels (plus the fleece of course) every 3 days.

After a couple of weeks they settled down a lot more and went back to using their litter trays - where the hay is placed which I change daily and it keeps the smell down. I only need to change the pen bedding twice a week now.

I wonder if your boys are doing the same having changed environments, I was worried that the OH would kick up a stink about it but as I moved them in back in end of sept I could leave the front door open and air the place. Mine only whiff on clean out day.
Click to expand...

After reading your comment I have just gone and checked under the vet bed and have found the concentration of urine is where the hay rack is someone has suggested a puppy pad but do you think a litter tray would be better put there?
 
Either would be good, :) I have a litter tray, however i do find my boys get put off using it if its wet and messy (putting them off eating the hay) so it does need changing twice a day.

Pampers disposable baby changing mats are an alternative to puppy pads, i have found them more absorbant and slightly less smelly.
 
luvleeju said:
After reading your comment I have just gone and checked under the vet bed and have found the concentration of urine is where the hay rack is someone has suggested a puppy pad but do you think a litter tray would be better put there?
Click to expand...

Mine still pee and poo everywhere but knowing they tend to piddle as they eat I put the litter trays under where they would spend the most time, I also move the food bowl to different places each day. It has worked for mine, the litter trays take the most mess and has helped a lot and mine are not litter trained so its not as if they would use it anyway.

The funny thing is, if I move a stool hidey ontop the litter trays, they make a beeline for it and like to play with the new arrangement rolleyes:))
 
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