# How to reduce hedgehog smell?



## Crepe'sMom (Aug 30, 2021)

I am 17 and living with my parents. My hedgehog lives in my room. No matter how often I clean her cage, it stinks. I wake up at around 8 am every morning and clean My hedgie's cage at around 8:30 am. Every morning, my mom comes in my room before I have the chance to clean Crepe's cage, and yells at me for her cage stinking. Yesterday, my mother said that if she comes in my room one more time to hedgehog stank, we have to get rid of my hedgehog. I have no idea why she doesn't realize that I am not able to clean Crepe's cage before she comes in my room. Is there a solution to stop Crepe's cage from stinking over night? Any advice would help


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## Odette (Oct 22, 2021)

Dear you, 
If your cleaning the cage every morning, theres not much else you can do. Your hedgehog will allways use its wheel at night, and they poop and pee when they're running, and the wheel kind of spreads the smell into the room. 

However, i had my hedgehog in fleece at first, and i washed it once a week or more and cleaned the wheel everyday. Then at some point i got a tray that fitted under the wheel and had some special paper in the bottom - the kind used for puppies - that helped a lot because i switched the paper everyday and cleaned the wheel. I also got carefresh/boxo instead of the fleece, and that also took a lot of the smell. 

Some people say that it can also help to look at your hedgehogs diet - a lot of the smell actually is because of the catfood. Im not an expert here, my hedgehog was a very picky eater, so i never had a chance to try changing it. If you do change the diet, please be sure to read up on it, so that it doesnt affect your hedgehogs wellbeing.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Yep, there really isn't much else you can do. You can try litter training, might work, might not. What I did was watched where my hog likes to do her business and I started putting down a paper towel in those spots. Now she mostly goes on the paper towels and I can replace them every day.

However, it might be better to sit down and have a conversation with your mom and explain to her that pets make smells. If she doesn't like the smell, she can wait until you have had a chance to clean the cage before coming into your room. But it's not fair to make your hedgehog suffer just because she can't handle a mildly unpleasant aroma. Could you perhaps clean the cage a little earlier? Maybe change up the order of your morning routine as a compromise? You could also put a box of baking soda next to the cage, but I don't know if that will make much of a difference. Either way, sitting down with your mom when she is calm and have an honest conversation will do much more than probably anything else.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

I have to agree theres not really not much you can do here other than cleaning daily.

You could try a car air freshener near the enclosure - not inside and not where the hog can reach. This might help a bit to ease the smell until you have cleaned it. 

Fleece absorbs the urine more which will mean the smell is worse when it gets peed on.

Carefresh/kaytee clean and cosy has odor control, so it makes great litter under the wheel.

Also higher heats will make the smell worse, CHE set ups while needed and great for keeping our little ones at consistent correct temps, it can make the smell of their waste stronger.

Another thing to remember is that in smaller rooms the smell will likely be more noticeable sometimes even seem stronger because it builds up in the whole room a bit more than a larger room. 

As far as diet goes:
Foods with fish (not fish oil) will make it smell more as fish poo smells.
Yucca extract - commonly found in indoor cat biscuits - is known to help with odours of stool.
Higher meat biscuits, so they have less plant based fillers will also really help with the smell.

A change of diet will need to be done slowly over a few weeks, and once it has been changed may take another week to really notice a difference. 

Even if you decide anything I have said here could be tried you will need to sit down and have a calm conversation with your mum about it. 
If you need/want any help with things you could say to help your case then I am sure we can help you come up with a few things.


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## Crepe'sMom (Aug 30, 2021)

Ria said:


> I have to agree theres not really not much you can do here other than cleaning daily.
> 
> You could try a car air freshener near the enclosure - not inside and not where the hog can reach. This might help a bit to ease the smell until you have cleaned it.
> 
> ...


I tried having a chat with my mom about it and she said "You're just trying to defend the fact that you don't keep up with Crepe's cage enough." But I try my best to keep it clean everyday. Is there a good food that I could give her with those ingredients in it? Her current food has none of those. I usually have her cage at around 74-77 F. I have an odor absorber in my room and I also spray air freshener every morning. Have been thinking about getting an air purifier for my room to hopefully suck out some of the stinky hedgehog air. Would that be a good idea? Thank you


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

So what bedding are you using? What foods are you feeding? What style of wheel are you using? When do you normally clean it? What style of cage are you using? What is your daily & weekly cage cleaning routine?

I ask these, because sometimes minor fixes to bedding, diet changes can be made that may help, but sometimes even just a minor adjustment to your routine can help. If you feel comfortable sharing that information, perhaps someone else will have an idea that could help you out.

For example, if you aren't already, one potential change up could be that when you get up in the morning, you take the hedgehog's wheel with you to the bathroom. Get it out of the room, and spray it with vinegar/soap solution to start it cleaning. Depending on the hedgehog, their wheel could be the source of most of the stink.


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## Crepe'sMom (Aug 30, 2021)

Kalandra said:


> So what bedding are you using? What foods are you feeding? What style of wheel are you using? When do you normally clean it? What style of cage are you using? What is your daily & weekly cage cleaning routine?
> 
> I ask these, because sometimes minor fixes to bedding, diet changes can be made that may help, but sometimes even just a minor adjustment to your routine can help. If you feel comfortable sharing that information, perhaps someone else will have an idea that could help you out.
> 
> For example, if you aren't already, one potential change up could be that when you get up in the morning, you take the hedgehog's wheel with you to the bathroom. Get it out of the room, and spray it with vinegar/soap solution to start it cleaning. Depending on the hedgehog, their wheel could be the source of most of the stink.


Hi! I currently use fleece bedding, and my mother said I can't use anything else because it would make more of a mess. I know it isn't true I'd just rather stick with fleece than have to argue with her about this topic because she is already mad about me having a hedgehog. My cleaning routine is: I take out her fleece, shake it out outside, and put it in the wash. Then, I wipe down her cage and wheel with Lysol wipes and make sure to wipe it with a wet paper towel after to get all the chemicals off and then dry it with a dry paper towel too. I clean her cage everyday usually in the morning. She eats Blue Buffalo freedom grain free indoor cat food with an occasional mealworm or cricket. I currently use a 2x4 ft C&C cage.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Fleece is fine. And if you are taking it out daily, it shouldn't smell that bad. One item you could try is to add a smaller piece of fleece or a couple of layers just under her wheel, and again remove that first thing in the morning to get it out of your room. It will likely catch the majority of urine and feces that comes off of the wheel. Now of course your mileage may vary as some hedgehogs just insist on being slobs and pooping all over the place.

I'd also ditch the Lysol wipes. Get yourself a spray bottle and mix it 50% water & 50% vinegar. Vinegar is an amazing cleaner, and it also cuts odors. And its 'food' so you don't have to worry about using chemicals in the cage. Spray the cage down with that, let it set for a few minutes to cut the urine, and wipe it down with a clean cloth. 

Does the cage stink after you clean it? If yes, next time you empty her cage out, look at the coroplast closely. Is there a spot along the edge that she urinates at, could it be soaking into a crack in a corner? If yes, there could be urine and possibly some feces that has gotten down into the channels of the coroplast that is stinking. You can try to clean that out, but most likely it will take replacing the coroplast.

I mention this because I once had a rehome come to me with her C&C cage. That cage stank. I ended up tearing down her cage and setting it in the garage to throw away. It smelled that bad to me. Long story short, I looked closer at it later and it had a crack, that hedgehog urinated in that corner and it had filled the little channels in the coroplast with urine and probably some feces too and it just smelled awful. 

And one last question, how old is this hedgehog. Young hedgehogs poop more and to me they always seemed to smell worse than adults. If she is still a baby maybe she will grow out of this.


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## Crepe'sMom (Aug 30, 2021)

Kalandra said:


> Fleece is fine. And if you are taking it out daily, it shouldn't smell that bad. One item you could try is to add a smaller piece of fleece or a couple of layers just under her wheel, and again remove that first thing in the morning to get it out of your room. It will likely catch the majority of urine and feces that comes off of the wheel. Now of course your mileage may vary as some hedgehogs just insist on being slobs and pooping all over the place.
> 
> I'd also ditch the Lysol wipes. Get yourself a spray bottle and mix it 50% water & 50% vinegar. Vinegar is an amazing cleaner, and it also cuts odors. And its 'food' so you don't have to worry about using chemicals in the cage. Spray the cage down with that, let it set for a few minutes to cut the urine, and wipe it down with a clean cloth.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much! I'll go pick some vinegar up soon!  There is a corner where her poop gets pushed to from her running around, but I don't think it's whats causing the smell because I make sure to get all of the poop out. Also, she is 1.5 years old!


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## Mecki (Nov 4, 2017)

Having a tray of wood pellets under the wheel seemed to help keep odor down. Is most of the poo in the exercise wheel or does your lil gal tend to go all over the place?


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## Crepe'sMom (Aug 30, 2021)

Mecki said:


> Having a tray of wood pellets under the wheel seemed to help keep odor down. Is most of the poo in the exercise wheel or does your lil gal tend to go all over the place?


She does poop a little on her wheel, but she mostly poops around her cage


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## jwngr (Dec 7, 2017)

I use fleece for my habitats and do have a pan under their wheels with the pellets like was mentioned. I use a little poop scoop you can get online cheap to pickup their little poops which works for a daily pickup. I also found that a room air purifier helps quite a bit. Maybe Mom would agree with getting one of those. How can she not Love a Hedgie? Good Luck.


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