# African Pygmy Hedgehog smell?



## Stavros88

Hey gang,

considering an APH, but concerned that it will stink out my room, anyone got any advice/ experience?


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## Stavros88

No takers? Is that a sign that APHs are popular with people with no noses?


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## colinbradbury

there is little or no smell as long as you clean them each day . forget a day and yes your room will smell . wheels should be cleaned each day and enclosure spot checked and clean each day with a full clean out each week , sooner if needed . 

i currently have 27 in the animal room and all get cleaned like this and there is no noticable smell , but it only takes a day or so to build up if you neglect to clean them . i decent food also cuts down on smell , feeding a food with ouder controll in it helps a lot 


cheers col


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## Shell195

Ive got 2 and have never noticed any smell unlike Native hedgehogs that absolutely stink


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## sophs87

Nope with plenty of ventilation and spot cleaning along with a weekly / everythree day clean out they will not smell


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## xxx_phoenix_xxx

join pygmy hogs uk great forum on pygmy hogs geat people and all the info you will ever need.: victory:


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## Rum_Kitty

It has to be said that I find that their poo smells absolutely awful...worse than any other pet I have and that includes the ferrets. As soon as my guys do a poo its like being smacked in the face :lol2:. But if you spot pick the cage there wont be a consistent smell, no.


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## Myjb23

I think its the same as any caged animal - if you dont clean it, they will smell!

I clean mine every day (and if i notice a poop as i go past the cage i will grab it with a bit of newspaper lol) and theres no problems. The poo does smell very similar to cat poo (minging!lol) so its not too pleasant. But you just have to keep ontop of cleaning. The animals themselves dont smell..


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## Stavros88

Myjb23 said:


> I think its the same as any caged animal - if you dont clean it, they will smell!


Sort of suspected that would be the case. I have a little experience keeping caged animals (hamsters and mice) but those are quite difficult to spot-clean. My main concern is with the substrate becoming urine-soaked and eventually smelling god-awful. I think one of the above posters said they changed their AfPigHedge's substrate every week, is that the same with you?


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## Myjb23

Stavros88 said:


> Sort of suspected that would be the case. I have a little experience keeping caged animals (hamsters and mice) but those are quite difficult to spot-clean. My main concern is with the substrate becoming urine-soaked and eventually smelling god-awful. I think one of the above posters said they changed their AfPigHedge's substrate every week, is that the same with you?


I use vet bed for mine. I started off with woodshavings but i found them a little bit smelly if the pee got onto that (usually they will only pee in the litter tray under the wheel, but occassionally my male Sidney gets caught short :whistling2: ). I find the vet bed really good, i just have lots of different pieces and wash it regularly :2thumb: Obviously, its designed so that the pee gets caught at the bottom and the top stays dry, and i find it keeps the smell to nothing!


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## sausage

most aph's will use litter trays which makes cleaning them out easier, and will make the substrate last longer too.
The main smell (with mine, anyway) is from their wheels as they go to the toilet while running, so you'll need to wash them daily!


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