Is the boys just stinky or is it the Clean & Cozy?

[LokiWolf]

Okay, thanks everyone.

I just picked up a big bin, so they'll be moving in it once I've drilled air holes in it. That will most likely help oder control, but I'm going to get Carefresh and use mainly that mixed in with Clean and Cozy as nesting material until I finished the Clean and Cozy bag. Hopefully that will solve the stinky problem.

[lucyeleanor]

I've not owned female robos so I can't compare, but I find that my two boys both have a very strong distinctive smell. Obviously all of my hamsters, syrians and russian dwarfs, have scents, but it is only the robos which I really notice.

[strawberrysmom]

Okay. I have been going through this since getting my two male Robos. It's not the bedding. I started out with Clean and Cozy then Carefresh. Then I tried Aspen. Now of the 3 aspen worked the longest but we all have an allergy to it apparently. Shame because I loved Aspen.

What you might want to do (sounds gross I know) is to take your hand and scoop up bedding throughout the cage and smell it. Find out where the pee corner is. Mine do it IN their house. Where they sleep. Spot clean it as soon as you smell it. Also the smell can be coming from their FS or wheel if yours pee on them.

I've had to spot clean (which is always their house bedding) and rinse off the FS and wheel whenever I get the whiff.

It's like of like gym socks mixed with popcorn scent. And it's pretty musky and strong. None of my other critters have that smell and so quickly. Takes forever for my dwarf and syrian to stink. And since splitting up my robos I notice that one is stinkier than the other. The one who is more active and up during the day as well night. The lazier one stinks less.

[strawberrysmom]

Also, I moved both my Robos into spacious bin cages - a step up from their 20 gallons - and did away with platforms since I think they were stinking up the platforms too. If you have any platforms -wood especially - it could be coming from there. I've had much less stink issues since doing all this.

[LokiWolf]

Thanks for the advice.

I had to separate the runt, so the runt is in the 62.5 liter bin cage while the three others are in a 100 liter bin cage. When I transfered the others, I cleaned out the bedding, but the new bedding is already kind of stinky. They don't have any wood in their cages, but I am working on making Matrim the runt some toys out of wood to give him some thing to do as he's alone.

A thought just came to me. What if the boys, or some of the boys, are scent marking or something because they smell the girls and want to "impress" them?

[strawberrysmom]

I don't have ANY females! I am the ONLY female in this house until I get my elderly gal (a dog) back from my parents over Christmas. LOL. ALL my critters are boys because the Petsmart here only sells boy animals.

So, that rules out why my little guys are acting all manly with their urine!

[LokiWolf]

So maybe that's not it. But it was just a thought.

[vanilla-yazoo]

humphreys my winter white was a stinker, it was like popcorn, but also like wee, even after a cage clean and a sand bath!
i had no smell from my campbells/hybrid mishka, my chinese girl has a subtle sweet smell, but wee's on her wheel so that stinks!
my robo wurz has a smelly scent gland,but his cage isnt that smelly, just he is a smelly boy! XD
the short time i had with a ww girl she was smell free, so I think its more of a male thing, especially those with dirty scent glands!

[Hamtastic]

It's a combination of things, I believe - not just the pee smell. Maxwell--one of my Campbell boys--is quite smelly all over. He's got a stronger secretion from his scent gland, and if you actually smell his fur, he's got a strong distinctive smell. He likes marking things around his cage, and despite where he does no.1, his cage still ends up smelling like him in about a week. With Hamilton, it's a definite pee corner issue, as Clean and Cozy was not masking the smell at all, but my boys' pee does smell much stronger than girls'. I have found it best to put a layer of Kaytee's Small Granule Blend (smells fantastic in its basic unscented form -- don't use any scented additions like lavender, as they might be irritating and invasive to a smell-sensitive hamster) in their nests, and then put regular Carefresh + Eco Bedding mix on top. Hamilton's pee spot is also in his nest, and this does help keep his cage fresh longer.

[LokiWolf]

I can deal with the smell as it's not that stinky. When I pick up better oder control bedding, we'll see if that helps any.