Odor Control Strategies

Rat & Mouse Club of America Articles Online: Odor Control Strategies for the Small Animal Caretaker: "Boy mice are notoriously stinky. One boy mouse can easily generate the stink of at least 5 girl mice or 5 rats of either gender. Relatively speaking, girl mice and either gender of rats don't smell at all! Boy mice are often discriminated against because of their odiferous nature, but they are otherwise just as deserving as any other mouse or rat. In this article I review various odor control strategies that may be used when caring for boy mice and other small animals.

'Odors' are those substances which are both able to reach our nose and able to elicit an olfactory response. 'Odor control,' then, is controlling those substances that reach our nose and/or controlling our olfactory response. Experts agree that the most important odor control strategies, in order of overall effectiveness, are source control, ventilation, and air cleaning. Another common odor control strategy, air additives, is also discussed. The occasional use of air additives is thought to be safe, but their continual use may affect health adversely. Notable exceptions include formaldehyde and ozone. Both are very potent toxins, and neither should ever be intentionally added to the air as an odor control strategy. All air additives should be used with caution.

Source control:
Clean often
Choice of bedding
Temperature and humidity
Feed additives and supplements
Bathing or use of pet wipes
Spay or neuter

Ventilation:
Opening Windows

Air cleaning:
Whole house air cleaning
Active room air cleaning
Passive room air cleaning

Air additives:
Perfumes
Antimicrobials or enzymes
Nerve deadening agents
Candles and incense
Ozone


boy! what is that smell?