Rats

[Picklepaige]

I looove the smell of rats, lol. My boys smelled like grape soda!

Mice, on the other hand, REEK.

[maxfox426]

Originally Posted by PWCorgi

Also they mark. Like they leave little pee trails everywhere. If they run across your leg, most likely they left a little spot or two as they ran by. I keep reading that they stop this once they get comfortable, and they seem pretty darn comfortable in the bathroom running around every night, but they still leave the spots everywhere.

My boys ALLLLLL did this. However, only one of my girls did. The rest of them might leave a drip here and there, but those boys... I often wondered how they had enough pee in them to leave a constant trail like they did!

Originally Posted by PWCorgi

If they didn't smell, they would be the ultimate pet! They're active (females more than males), curious, and adorable. My girls won't sit with you and just be pet, they like to RUNNNN and run and run and run. They are wicked climbers and my Tulip is an INSANE jumper. Every night I am amazed at how far she can jump. The other night she jumped from my shoulder to the bathroom sink, it was over a foot and a half!
She also has no fear. She jumped from the top of her cage to a hanging towel and just dangled there while I scurried over, scared she was going to plummet to her death

Agree to this! Boys tend to be more snuggly and friendly, girls tend to be more go go GO! Again, this might factor to smell, because the girls will do their thing and run off to do something else... whereas the boys were known to go and then marinate in it. I don't mean to be gross, but that is something to be aware of!

[Southpaw]

My sniffer must be broken. Lol the only animals that I think stink are ferrets and that's just their body odor in general. Never noticed anything unpleasant with the ratties. Thank goodness I guess lol.

[*blackrose]

Originally Posted by Southpaw

My sniffer must be broken. Lol the only animals that I think stink are ferrets and that's just their body odor in general. Never noticed anything unpleasant with the ratties. Thank goodness I guess lol.

Yah, me too. Or we have defective rats. LOL Choco and Bees don't have an odor at all. I clean their cage every few days and even when it is in need of changing, I can stand over it and take a wiff and I don't smell anything other than "rodent". Maybe it is because I use aspen shavings...? And I know it isn't just my odor-gauge being broken from owning ferrets - Mike doesn't notice anything either.

[PWCorgi]

I am insanely jealous of you all. Mine reek! It's gotten way better with the NM deodorizing wipes, but yeah... they're called the Stinky Girls here. I wish I could figure out what I am doing wrong!

Also, my three aren't litter trained, but not from lack of trying on my part! I am guessing they just got used to being in there own nastiness at their old home, because they have ZERO aversion to sitting in their own pee and poo. Like, when I clean their cage they will tip over the little garbage can that I use, sift through the poo for goodies (food pieces and sunflower seeds, etc) and then sit in there and eat!!

I've tried pretty much everything that I can think of (short of putting them in a tiny cage to see if they will pick a corner) to get them to go in one place and not just everywhere. I mean, I find poo in their food containers! lol

Right now I have 3 food containers (1 pellet, 1 fruit, 1 veggie) in different areas in an attempt to draw them into one corner. My life would be so much easier if they would just help me a little in the litter training area.

[ravennr]

I never had a smell problem with my males. I prefer males to females just as a general rule.

their actual bodies have a slight odour, but I kind of like that. it's earthy to me. like ferrets. (I don't think ferrets stink, for the record, and most people think they do, so maybe I'm the worst person to reply to this, haha)

[crazedACD]

I think it differs person to person...I thought the (girly) rats I had stunk quite a bit. I would also find urine streaks on the walls next to the wire cage, when they were in heat. Yucky. From working around all the critters, hamsters smell the least to me, and need their cages changed less. Worst temperament though.

I don't find ferrets odor offensive at all, though. I kind of like it.

[kady05]

I never found mine to smell that bad at all. I've never heard anyone say that their poop smells! It dries up after a few minutes and has like.. no smell at all IMO LOL.

Their urine can smell, yes. I remember when I was really active on a rat forum years ago (Goosemoose, you should Google it, it's a GREAT rat forum) people who were having odor issues were often cleaning TOO often. It makes the rats mark even more than they normally would, therefore creating more smell. So for those of you that are having issues, maybe try not cleaning so much?

I've had males and females before, I didn't find either to smell more or less. My girls didn't mark as much as my boys though. I always kept them in wire cages (usually Martin's or Ferret/Critter Nations) with Yesterday's News for bedding. I would wipe down the cage levels daily and change out hammocks every 5-7 days.

They're great pets though. I had rabbits before I had rats and the rats were much easier to deal with.. I had an indoor rabbit (all of the ones before him had been kept outdoors in these penthouse suite hutches) at one point and vowed never to do it again. So much poop and pee! Have never had a hamster but pretty much everyone I know that has say they stink, and they're not usually very nice.

[*blackrose]

Oh, and for the rabbits vs. rats thing, I could ask my boyfriend. He had rabbits growing up as a kid and I could ask him how the rats compare. I don't know if he classifies the rabbits as "small pets", but he did say he GREATLY prefers the rats over the other small animals he's owned. So do I, for that matter. lol Except for maybe Guinea Pigs...but honestly, the rats give me just as much satisfaction and are so much less maintenance than the piggies were. If only rats wheeked and popcorned...LOL

[PWCorgi]

If rats wheeked I would be a hoarder lol!!

I might try picking up some yesterday's news and filling the bottom section of the cage. I'm willing to try pretty much anything at this point. Because other than the smell they are amazing. There is nothing more relaxing to me then chilling with them and watching them play and jump all over me.