Revolting smell in the room ...

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Bekki

Bekki

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In my pet room I have 2 guineas and 1 hammy the room is about 3 x 4 metres and has the sun in it all day and the animals are as far away from the door as possible in the room. As I walk into the room there is the most revolting smell ever, it smells like nothing I have ever smelt before (it smells a bit like swede/turnip gone really funny) ... give me baby poo, vomit, mens public toilets anything over this stench. The smell doesnt get more intense as I walk near the cages , it actually seems to dissipate.

I have stuck my head in the hammy cage (he gets fully cleaned out weekly) and his cage smells a bit uriney but nothing bad and the guineas got a totally new correx base and brand new megazorb yesterday so their cage cannot possibly smell that bad and I got in it today and it still smells like megazorb (which I think smells pleasant) , I picked the pigs up and sniffed each one and they smell nothing like the room does, I have had my head in the hay bag, the food bags and nothing smells anything like the room.

The smell has been present for about 4 days but I have had the piggies almost a week, I found the room stank as soon as the piggies went in there on fleece even after 2 days, I read somewhere that pigs really stink their first few days as they settle in and the fleeces did stink after 2 days but they have been removed and washed elsewhere , is the smell in the room likely to be lingering smell combined with first few days settling in stench?

Before the pigs went in the room smelt only of shavings which the hammy is kept on. What I dont get is that the cage they are in does not smell and the guineas do not smell and its ok to actually put my nose into their fur and they dont stink, they smell a little and would probably smell much nicer after a bath but none of the smells in the room are strong , so where is this stench coming from :-(

Tomorrow I am going to go into the room, open the window, armed with vinegar and just scrub all the floor and wipe all hard surfaces and clean the hammy out even though he doesnt smell just to try and find the source of the smell. ... :...

Previous to the room being for animals it has been totally empty and we never had any smell problems only ever stale air from it never being used. The hammy has been in there a month, the pigs a whole week :-)
 
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I find straw stinks when used in a horse's stable, where as shavings have a pleasant smell about them.. fleece on the other hand does smell, when ever I let the piggies out on the floor, I use it as the floor isn't carpeted where I let them play, and it always smells a little musty..
I prefer shavings to newspaper and fleece :)
 
BonBon2010 said:
I find straw stinks when used in a horse's stable, where as shavings have a pleasant smell about them.. fleece on the other hand does smell, when ever I let the piggies out on the floor, I use it as the floor isn't carpeted where I let them play, and it always smells a little musty..
I prefer shavings to newspaper and fleece :)
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I like the smell of shavings too they remind me of the smell of a real wood fire and my hammy has always been kept on them and seems to not suffer from them so ill keep him on them, and the megazorb smells good too... I am just so confused as to where this smell is coming from now .. the fleece did stink but they are not in the room anyway ... and the smell is not near the cage its at the door to the room ... :-S so confused! I hope its lingering in the carpet that the door to the room , the animal room is lino so no smell there the smell seems to be getting less though so I am hoping its just lingering .... cant say I am a fan of this fleece like! its smelly and looks messy :-( I have newspaper with megazorb on top and its totally dry despite the piggies weeing on it its great stuff so far :-)
 
Have you checked the megazorb? In case it's that giving off a funny smell? Do the guineas get the run of the room?
 
BonBon2010 said:
Have you checked the megazorb? In case it's that giving off a funny smell? Do the guineas get the run of the room?
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The megazorb smells nice, sort of sweet and the smell was present before the megazorb was in the room so I doubt its that :-)

The piggies are in a 16sq feet cage in one corner of the room and they get the whole rest of the room during floor time daily :-) theres no pees or poos as there is nowhere for them to get behind in the room ... I dont like being confused :-(
 
I can't check your profile (database error), but are they boys or girls? Boys can be quite 'wiffy' when they're on something new.. my Biscuit certainly can be!
I've never really noticed a difference with my girls though, they're on shavings and only smell because of that darn water bottle leaking..
 
Boars :-) but they dont smell when sniffed and their cage doesnt smell when I get into poop scoop or pick up veggies, haven't checked water bottles though! they do leak as does the hamsters but their water is changed at least every other day or daily if I am being good.

My OH doesnt think it smells bad and thinks I am just a hormanal female being over sensitive to smell ... :-P

I am scrubbing the whole place with vinegar and leaving bicarbonate of soda in the room as of tomorrow because its just that awful! I am just hoping something hasnt died under the floorboards or something along those lines!
 
I think once you get used to the smell (may take a few weeks) you'll stop noticing it.. No your not being sensitive too it, it's just your not used to having them in that room (bit like being a non-smoker walking into a house where a smoker lives).. But Boars do give very potent smell when highly aroused usually by the opposite sex or just very excited ;)
 
Unless my female scent excites them there is no other female anything in the house, ill air the room out and see how we go. If it is the pigs that stink ill get over it because they are that beautiful that they are worth it but if its not and its something else I want to find it! thanks!
 
Do they have hay boxes they wee in?

I find that the hay stinks and needs replacing everyday if they sit and toilet in it.

x
 
My boys let off a marking scent every time i put them back in a freshly cleaned cage and it is a god awful smell. It makes me retch. Their normal wee and poop is more bearable. And they don't smell too badly themselves. Maybe your boys are just scent marking.
 
My two boys reek, I'm used to it now though. My girls dont smell at all
 
Salt n Peppers mum said:
Do they have hay boxes they wee in?

I find that the hay stinks and needs replacing everyday if they sit and toilet in it.

x
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I totally agree with this! We have a hay area sectioned off where I use either wood shavings or the wooden cat litter pellets, and it gets smelly after just a day.

Also, and I know this might sound really obvious, but as you have fleece in the cage, do you spot clean it? If you don't spot clean all the poops up, they will be really smelly.
 
Subsonica said:
I totally agree with this! We have a hay area sectioned off where I use either wood shavings or the wooden cat litter pellets, and it gets smelly after just a day.

Also, and I know this might sound really obvious, but as you have fleece in the cage, do you spot clean it? If you don't spot clean all the poops up, they will be really smelly.
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thanks for that , they do have a hay box but its emptied every other day.

They were on fleece but have been on megazorb for 48 hours now and even getting in there the cage still smells fresh! Whereas the fleece was pongy even though poops were scooped 2 x daily! I hand washed my fleece and I needed a gas mask they were revolting!

What cleaning products can be used in the room? I want to use floor cleaner but if this will upset them ill just clean the floor with vinegar instead :-) I know all aerosols are out and to only use vinegar/special cage cleaner inside the cages but away from the cage can normal cleaners be used providing the room is ventilated?
 
If you leave a pot of bicarb of soda open in the room, it will absorb bad smells.
You can even sprinkle it around onto dry surfaces for 24 hours, then hoover it up.
 
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