Stinks
- Thread starter metsukone
- Start date
Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:
Urine stinks, especially if you got a male.
Twice a day you clean his cage very often, I do only twice a week or every other day, depending on a rabbit, I have more than one and two of my girls drink a lot of water and their litter box is full sooner, also I clean more often in summer.
By the end of day one or even two it doesn't stink usually.
The trick is that I use wood (pine) pellets for his litter box and they absorb urine pretty well and keep smell under control as pine naturally deodorise. Also I use a good size litter box and spent some time to train my rabbits so they only pee into it. So I don't have to clean the whole cage, only their litter boxes, and do general cleaning usually once a week.
Maybe you could post some pictures of your setup, cage, toilet box etc so we can discuss it?
Also he gets only hay and herbs? Can you describe his daily routine what he gets when and how much? He's not getting any dry rabbit food?
Welcome to the forum!
Twice a day you clean his cage very often, I do only twice a week or every other day, depending on a rabbit, I have more than one and two of my girls drink a lot of water and their litter box is full sooner, also I clean more often in summer.
By the end of day one or even two it doesn't stink usually.
The trick is that I use wood (pine) pellets for his litter box and they absorb urine pretty well and keep smell under control as pine naturally deodorise. Also I use a good size litter box and spent some time to train my rabbits so they only pee into it. So I don't have to clean the whole cage, only their litter boxes, and do general cleaning usually once a week.
Maybe you could post some pictures of your setup, cage, toilet box etc so we can discuss it?
Also he gets only hay and herbs? Can you describe his daily routine what he gets when and how much? He's not getting any dry rabbit food?
Welcome to the forum!
Try to change litter, myself only clean the litter boxes once every week. Don’t have any smell from either my bucks and both are neutered.
I know how it can smell but good litter and cleaning will keep the smell away. Also cat litter boxes with roof will also make it smell less
I know how it can smell but good litter and cleaning will keep the smell away. Also cat litter boxes with roof will also make it smell less
Imbrium
Jennifer
Pelletized wood bedding is the best for odor control and you can get a 40 lb bag for $5-8 at feed stores/livestock supply stores, making it far cheaper than anything at a pet store!
The way my bun's cage and litter box are set up helps me keep his habitat clean-
I know i'm not getting really positive feedback when admitting that my bun's litterbox area is soft coated mesh(all other areas of his cage are covered with soft floorboards) and that most his droppings ( he sometimes tosses them around with hay) and all his pee fall straight down into a big plastic lidless box lined with a trash bag and hay in the bottom, at the top and between some layers of waste(note that his cage sits above ground on a wooden frame, lined with plastic bags to prevent rot in mesh-only area)
When it's cleaning time, i let my bunny roam, then i kick out the dust from the floorboard, clean out hay from the mesh, tie up the trashbag and dump the organic waste in the correct bin, doing same with the bag, clean out the box walls when needed, set up the cage floor, waste-box and the interior, replacing anything broken or empty.
Keeps the place clean and free of stink!
I know i'm not getting really positive feedback when admitting that my bun's litterbox area is soft coated mesh(all other areas of his cage are covered with soft floorboards) and that most his droppings ( he sometimes tosses them around with hay) and all his pee fall straight down into a big plastic lidless box lined with a trash bag and hay in the bottom, at the top and between some layers of waste(note that his cage sits above ground on a wooden frame, lined with plastic bags to prevent rot in mesh-only area)
When it's cleaning time, i let my bunny roam, then i kick out the dust from the floorboard, clean out hay from the mesh, tie up the trashbag and dump the organic waste in the correct bin, doing same with the bag, clean out the box walls when needed, set up the cage floor, waste-box and the interior, replacing anything broken or empty.
Keeps the place clean and free of stink!
Imbrium
Jennifer
I've heard of people doing the litterbox that way... that explains why you clean it so frequently. Is that how you've always done it, and if so, has the smell gotten worse recently and that's why you're posting? If that's the case, it could be a medical issue, though I have no clue what it might be.
As others have said, the setup makes all the difference. The right litter type in an appropriate sized box will make the setup effective.
The best 'litter' I've found for odor control is the wood pellets (not shavings). These pellets can be those used as horse bedding or the kind used for wood pellet stoves (no accelerants). Put a layer in a large box (roughly 18" x 24") and top it with hay. Add fresh hay a couple times per day.
With one rabbit, this set up should allow you to go a full week before beginning to get any smell from the box.
This page of my website goes into more detail and has photos of this setup. There is also a trouble-shooting section too.
Uhm, just a thought, does the urine smell bad when fresh? Sure, it's not daffodils, but does it actually stink different than what is to be expected? Also, did the smell change recently, or is it constant since you have him?
I can't find a reference now, but couldn't an UTI be a cause of odd smelling urine?
I can't find a reference now, but couldn't an UTI be a cause of odd smelling urine?
