# how bad do mice/rats smell?



## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

Hey guy's...

Recently I have decided to breed my own mice/rats...

But here is a thing that has me worried, I live in a small flat so the only room where I could breed them would be my bed room, every thread I have seen is saying that they smell pretty bad...as im looking to have 30 rats and about 35 mice I am just wondering if the idea is even possible...I dont want my room smelling terribale..

If anyone could give me a bit of help/advice that would be fantastic:2thumb:


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## koyotee3 (Aug 8, 2009)

: victory:30 rats and mice in a flat it will stink ,,not so much the mice but the rats you wont b sleeping in the bedroom without gas mask...mice will smell less,but all depends how often you plan cleaning them out..: victory:


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## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

koyotee3 said:


> : victory:30 rats and mice in a flat it will stink ,,not so much the mice but the rats you wont b sleeping in the bedroom without gas mask...mice will smell less,but all depends how often you plan cleaning them out..: victory:


Damn that not what I wanted to hear....guess I will just stick to mice them and clean every 3-5 days...what about 50mice and 6rats?


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## sharpstrain (May 24, 2008)

i think i read somewhere that multimamates dont smell as bad but I have never bred them so dont quote me on it.

Mice and rats both stink


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## Rowena (Mar 9, 2012)

Boyfriend has one rat and she doesn't smell at all compared to the ferret.
She lives in our room and there's no smell what so ever, but then I guess one is much different to 30 :/
I've seen set ups that have fans running constantly to blow out the smell but in a flat I really wouldn't recommend it. Maybe just get a few and go from there, build up slowly.


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## Emma30 (Apr 18, 2008)

I had 6 rats in my attic rep room and they stank!! cleaned them out every 3 days but it didnt stop the smell it wafted all the way downstairs and it use to annoy me so much that I had to rehome them, I think its males that smell more then females. 30 rats/mice would soon become around 300+ in a matter of weeks and you live in a flat!!! 

Trust me it will pong really bad


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## koyotee3 (Aug 8, 2009)

:notworthy:can vouch on this no smell not that you would notice boys pee more,they go in same corner so easy for spot cleaning,,and royals love em,,, plug my add:lol2:


sharpstrain said:


> i think i read somewhere that multimamates dont smell as bad but I have never bred them so dont quote me on it.
> 
> Mice and rats both stink


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## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

koyotee3 said:


> :notworthy:can vouch on this no smell not that you would notice boys pee more,they go in same corner so easy for spot cleaning,,and royals love em,,, plug my add:lol2:


I would use multi but I would be to scared of them escaping


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## sammich (Jan 23, 2013)

Rats stink very badly. I own 4, think of 30!!

LOL!


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## koyotee3 (Aug 8, 2009)

: victory:i hve my 1 to 3 ratio in 50ltr really usefull box,,with loads of small air holes,,no escapees yet,,but if a whole is big enough they b through it once chewed to size,and you can stack rubs on top of each other,so no need for a rack...: victory:


IceBloodExotics said:


> I would use multi but I would be to scared of them escaping


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## markhill (Sep 22, 2006)

Mice smell the worst of all, I have one tub of breeding mice and the smell they give of over powers the other 12 tubs of rats and 3 tubs of multis.


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## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

markhill said:


> Mice smell the worst of all, I have one tub of breeding mice and the smell they give of over powers the other 12 tubs of rats and 3 tubs of multis.


Really??? Aaahhh I dont know what to do


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## markhill (Sep 22, 2006)

IceBloodExotics said:


> Really??? Aaahhh I dont know what to do


yeah mate, mice stink.
Multis would be best in term of smell.


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## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

markhill said:


> yeah mate, mice stink.
> Multis would be best in term of smell.


I have 15 mice at the moment and they dont seem to smell atall, I have a female rat that smells a little....


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## Tim Hallam (Aug 17, 2010)

I breed roughly equal numbers of Rats and Mice and mice are worse, you'll never be able to do it in a flat the smell even when they smell "good" would permeate through the entire place and your neighbours too. you can add a few drops of lemon juice or vanilla extract to their water to lessen the odour but they still need cleaning and sanitising every 3-5 days. I'm fortunate enough to have a dedicated building for my rodents and they have spacious rack systems but I still need an extractor that activates on the hour every hour for ten minutes and they're still a bit pongy! best of luck 
Tim.


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## pinball87 (Dec 10, 2012)

you will not be able to keep/breed 30 odd mice and 30 odd rats in a bedroom? apart from the horrific smell the noise will be insane. they constantly play, fight rattle and chew in the night. 

i have a few hundred breeding in the shed in the garden and if i have my bedroom window open slightly i can hear squeaks and squabbles from the bottom of the garden inside a fully insulated shed!

i would not be able to sleep with 1 mouse in a single box. you would be surprised how the sound is amplified in the dead silence of the night. 

and as said above 30 mice smell way way more than 60 rats, the males constantly walk around scenting on everything. when i open the shed door i have to stand back and let it air out for couple of mins before going in. the ammonia smell-taste is literally breathtaking. and that's in January with ice on the ground and barely getting 13-14c inside the shed.


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## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

pinball87 said:


> you will not be able to keep/breed 30 odd mice and 30 odd rats in a bedroom? apart from the horrific smell the noise will be insane. they constantly play, fight rattle and chew in the night.
> 
> i have a few hundred breeding in the shed in the garden and if i have my bedroom window open slightly i can hear squeaks and squabbles from the bottom of the garden inside a fully insulated shed!
> 
> ...


I was veryyy tired when I said 30/30 rats I now know that that would be IMPOSSIBLE! :lol2:

Im not wondering if I would be able to do 3 femake rats and 1 male...thats all :blush:

I already have 15 mice and I cant smell them atall, think it is the substrate I use....aubiose horse bedding...


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## pinball87 (Dec 10, 2012)

you have 15 mine in your bedroom and cant smell them at all? i tried to keep 3 live ones in a tub in the corner of my room once when some snakes didnt eat them and i was going to try again in the morning. a couple of hours later i was off down to the shed in the middle of the night to put the mice BACK. the noise if the things moving around, chewing,eating drinking. there is no way i could sleep with that. i would find a friend or family member who will let you place a shed in there garden. 

line it with polystyrene mine are breeding at the same rate as they where in summer. i lost a load of new born litters in a coup[le of cold spells before i insulated it. but it only cost £70 to insulate the whole shed with polystyrene and it makes a huge difference. its 20c in the shed at 9am this morning with no heaters.. i had 12-13c inside the shed when it was below zero outside 

the heat produced from the rats is held in by the poly.


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