23/12/2024
Common myth: ALL mice stink, they are dirty animals!
Mice are actually very clean animals. The musky smell you associate with mice predominantly comes from territorial urine spraying when males are housed together, which once they’ve reached maturity they should be housed alone. Unlike females which do not have any strong smell, and should be housed in small colonies.
One other cause of an overpowering smell can not only be a dirty enclosure but more than likely OVER cleaning, causing mice to “scent“ their unfamiliar surroundings. Mice have very sensitive respiratory systems and can not tolerate harsh chemicals that are commonly used to combat “smells“ and are actually totally unecessary.
At mischief mousery we exclusively use this cleaner (with the addition of some plain water and elbow grease), it has NO smell, its a 100% natural hospital grade disinfectant that is safe and gentle enough to use with small animals, but strong enough to get the job done.
I deep clean the mouse enclosures here once per week and I find that is more than enough to keep on top of any smells. I also use a deep
layer of pine shavings for bedding and burrowing substrate, which I replace weekly during the deep clean. I use recyclable materials for hides such as toilet rolls and paper towel rolls and packing paper, shredded paper, egg cartons and cotton balls for nesting material and enrichment. Once soiled, these can all go into the green waste bin when you deep clean and can be replaced with fresh ones during the deep clean.
I have over 25 mice in my mousery at the moment and there is no overwhelming smell at all due to using these methods to maintain their enclosures. The mice are happy and engage in minimal scenting as I don’t overpower their environments with heavy fragrances. Air purifiers are great too and help drastically with air quality for their sensitive little respiratory systems!
