Combat Mouse Odor

Rescue mice have a really hard time finding a home.  The biggest complaint, they smell.  And they do have an odor.  Here are some hints on how I keep mice here to help combat that.  Most people only keep one or two mice as pets so this is really speaking to them.  The more mice you have, the more smell you do have to deal with.  The most mice that have lived here at one time is 8 and this is what I did and continue to do even though I don't have that many mice here, to combat the mouse smell.

The cage 

For adult mice, I go to Martins Cages as they will make me cages with 1/2" x 1/2" wire.  I have 3 sizes based on the group of mice.  Otherwise, the only other habitat I recommend is a glass aquarium.  I do not ever recommend the Critter Trail or similar products for ANY animal.  From personal experience they are awful to clean, and I've had mice escape from them.  I don't recommend bin cages for mice as the plastic tends to hold the odor in, even after cleaning it with items normally great at removing odor.

These cages are not on Martin's website, but you can order these cages.  You'll have to contact them via their form to get a price quote.  Be sure to include your shipping address so they can give you your shipping quote as well, include the entire underlined area for each cage when sending in your request.  Keep in mind, the 1/2" x 1/2" wire is harder to work with and it is more expensive.

CC-1811 (18"w x 11" d x 11"t) with 1/2" x 1/2" GAW wire.  A full flip top with 2 latches, an 8" x 6" door with 2 latch springs instead of the normal door latches.  Fully collapsible.  Ask them to make sure the door covers the opening with an overlap of at least an inch on the 3 sides of the door. I use this cage for a single mouse, typically an older mouse as they've slowed down quite a bit.

CC-2414 (24"w x 14" d x 14"t) with 1/2" x 1/2" GAW wire.  A full flip top with 2 latches, a front door with 2 latch springs instead of the normal door latches.  Fully collapsible.  Ask them to make sure the door covers the opening with an overlap of at least an inch on the 3 sides of the door. These are a great size for single or up to 3 mice.  You can really decorate it for them.  Below is the cage with just the wheels in it so you can see the size.

CC-3018 (30"w x 18" d x 18"t)* without a balcony with 1/2" x 1/2" GAW wire.  A full flip top with 2 latches, a front door with 2 latch springs instead of the normal door latchs.  Fully collapsible.  Ask them to make sure the door covers the opening with an overlap of at least an inch on the 3 sides of the door.  I use for usually no more than 6 mice.  You can really decorate it for them.  I recommend leaving off the balcony because it takes away from being fully collapsible and it seems to knock some money off of the price.   You can ask for this to be modified to only 16" tall, but I don't recommend going any lower because at 16" this cage can later be used for a pair of gerbils, a pair of rats, or a Syrian hamster during the cage's lifetime.

[Picture to follow]

The Substrates

The second part to keeping odors down is to select a substrate that absorbs odors.  Hands down I have found that paper pelleted litter does this the best.  As I live in Oregon, the home of Good Mews, that is the paper pelleted litter I use.  It's usually found in the cat litter isle at the grocery store, such as Winco.  There are other types of paper pelleted litter so if you live in another part of the country, you might want to see what is the most cost effective version in your area.

As Good Mews is not very soft, I include nesting material such as toilet paper, plain tissue paper (no lotion), and shredded newspaper.

If you find they start to smell too much between cage cleaning times, get a small dust pan or scoop and swap out some litter every other day and add fresh litter.  Don't do the entire cage, just a cup (or a few depending on the size of the cage) at a time.  Adding a few fresh cups of litter helps refresh the cage and absorbs more odors.

Furnishing the cages

With a few exceptions, I tend to use items I can just toss.  I provide a Superpet igloo appropriate for the population of mice that live in the cage, but small cardboard boxes work well, and you can toss those when you clean the cage.  I provide a 4.5" flying saucer and a 6.5" Silent Spinner.  While the wire wheels are cheaper and actually help with the odor control, they are too loud and you are constantly coating the contact areas with vegetable oil.  The reason it is a 6.5" wheel is because they tend to outgrow the 4.5" Silent Spinner and you don't want them arching their backs when they are running.

Of course they love toilet paper and paper towel rolls.  I also save bits of cardboard, like cereal boxes, the backs of pads of paper, coffee cup bands and make cardboard fortresses for their cages.

I actually don't provide a food dish for their dry food since they tend to go to the bathroom in it and they seem to prefer to forage.  I provide paper boats for fresh food.  The paper boats are often "re-purposed" by the mouse into their own forts.  I like to use the smallest one.

I usually make braids of fleece for them to climb on when they are younger.  Depending on the mouse, you could see about providing them hammocks.  I typically purchase cheap fleece blankets from Ikea and cut them up.  (They have blankets for $2.)  I toss the fleece at cage cleaning time.  If you put it in the washer, they can still smell other animals on it and often re-scent it, thus making it smell more in their cage.

Water Bottles

I only use glass water bottles on all of the critter cages.  I provide each cage with at least 2 water bottles in case one fails.  (Image from Lixit.com site).  http://www.lixit.com/node/711  These fit on a variety of popular tea and juice bottles sold.  I typically just go to my work's recycle bins (with permission) and remove the glass bottles I need.  What is great that is that if I drop a bottle, they are really easy to replace.  The best price I've seen for these kits is through kwcages.com.  They are sold as bird water bottle kits.  I leave all of the hardware on the cage when cleaning the cage.

Cage Cleaning Schedule

I clean mouse cages every week.  (Unlike gerbil and Syrian hamster cages which are on a rotating schedule.).  For male mice, I typically reserve about 1/2" cup of the used Good Mews to sprinkle around their cage to "pre-scent" it for them.  This way they seem less inclined to re-scent extensively and the smell is held down.  I do NOT do this for any other animal that is in my care, just the male mice.

Cleaning Your Hands After Handling Your Mouse

Vinegar or lemon juice help remove odors from your hands.  You can usually purchase new, empty pumps from beauty supply stores.  Barring that, you could recycle a liquid soap dispenser you already have or visit Specialty Bottles online (image taken from Specialty Bottles http://www.specialtybottle.com/clearpetcosmoplastic8ozbottlewblackpump.aspx).  Just wash with soap as normal and then finish with vinegar or lemon juice.

It may seem like a lot of work to keep pet mice, but they are worth the effort.  They can be endearing and engaging little creatures.