# Room smells like Hedgehog.



## THEROFLBOAT (Sep 11, 2013)

I've had my Obie for about 3 months now, and things are going great! One problem is, that my bedroom is really starting to get smelly and I cant keep my hedgy anywhere else in the house for a number of reasons. Is there anyway I can use artificial smells to mask the smell that WONT harm my hedgehog?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Supposedly having an open container of baking soda near the cage can help absorb smells. Changing the bedding more often can help as well, and cleaning the wheel first thing in the morning (so it doesn't have time to hang around and continue being smelly). If you're using liners, keep dirty ones in an air-tight container until you're ready to do a load (or wash right away, if you hand-wash or something like that).

There's also sometimes other commercial scentless odor-absorbers...I remember someone finding one at Walmart that they said worked very well. I'll see if I can find the post & link it.

Edit: Haven't found yet, but forgot to mention that air purifiers can help as well. They can be a bit pricier though, so that might be a last resort kind of option.

Edit again!: I think I found what I was thinking about - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/11-health/19212-odor-hedgie-waste.html The plug in thing that sparkmanr mentions here.


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## DesertHedgehogs (Apr 2, 2013)

Coffee grounds are also really good odor absorbers and they also mask the scent. While liners are wonderful, if the smell is a big problem for you you can try switching to a loose bedding. Some of the breeders I know use Feline Pine pellets and they can have a room full of two week old cages and have it still smelling like pine.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Are the pellets kiln-dried? If they have a very noticeable pine scent to them, I think that means they're not...Or at least that's what I've read, and when I used pine pellets for Lily, you could only smell the pine with your nose up to the pellets. They're not safe if they're not kiln-dried.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

An alternate to keeping dirty liners in an air-tight container is to keep them covered in water (I have a bucket of water & dirty laundry in the bathroom) with a splash of white vinegar. The soak has the secondary benefit of deodorizing really well, and dissolves any particularly messy patches.


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## DesertHedgehogs (Apr 2, 2013)

I have no idea if it's kiln dried. I'm a fleece user, but my herd is smaller than some, and I can get away with it. I would assume that it is kiln dried, since so many breeders use it, but as I've never bought it I've also never looked at the label. It's my understanding that it's not a reptile or small animal bedding, but a cat litter.


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## THEROFLBOAT (Sep 11, 2013)

Lilysmommy said:


> Are the pellets kiln-dried? If they have a very noticeable pine scent to them, I think that means they're not...Or at least that's what I've read, and when I used pine pellets for Lily, you could only smell the pine with your nose up to the pellets. They're not safe if they're not kiln-dried.


Currently yes.

I first started using Kild dried pine and switched to aspen, but im planning on switching back to pine because the aspen to me smelled alot stronger and made the poop smell more noticeable. But the reason I switched it the first place was to reduce the smell and it made it worse.


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## SiouxzieKinz (Oct 10, 2013)

The plug in air freshner http://www.target.com/p/hamilton-be...sku=10368277&gclid=CL3-lazDn7oCFcZFMgodmVAAKQ and then Overstock.com has the same one at $23.00. You could also go as high as the $131 model at target which is the Honeywell Quiet Clean Oscillating Air Purifier but I doubt you'd have to do that much - unless you have ferrets!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Whenever I see a question about how to make a hedgehog's cage smell less, I tend to go through a different approach than trying to mask the scent. Hedgehog feces does have an odor when fresh, but if it really reeks or smells throughout the day, I tend to wonder why. I also wonder how bad it really is. Some people are more sensitive to smells, so what one person may consider bad, another may not.

So, here are some questions and things to ponder:

How old is the hedgehog and what is the hedgehog's diet?

Younger hedgehogs will smell more than adults. And some diets are known to make the hedgehog's stool smell more. It may range from a slight more smelly, to gagging you or to knocking you on the floor levels.

What is the consistency of the hedgehog's stool and is this smell a recent thing?

If the stool is loose, grainy in texture, or mucousy you may have a hedgehog who isn't fully digesting the food being given. This can be caused by a number of reasons and often stools with undigested food can smell horrendous. 

If this is a change, and/or if the smell gets worse, consider making a veterinary appointment as the smell could be a symptom of a GI infection.

You mention using pine/aspen. What is your cleaning routine? How often do you fully clean the cage? Spot clean? & When do you clean the wheel?

Depending on your routine, a small change may help with odor control. Washing the wheel in the am vs pm. Cleaning twice a week instead of weekly. And spot cleaning in the am vs pm (you are removing all feces daily right?).


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