How to Control Odor in a Mouse Cage

It's lots of fun to watch pet mice scurry around their cage. With their twitchy little noses and their tiny paws digging into their bedding to make hiding places, they're like real live cartoons, right in your house. All that bedding can get really smelly, though. Before you know it, you don't want to be in the same room with the mice, much less get close enough to the cage to watch them play. It's important to learn how to control the odor in a mouse cage, so that you can coexist comfortably.

Things You'll Need

  • Absorbent bedding
  • Trash receptacle
  • Rag
  • Warm water or enzyme cleaner
  • Towel
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Instructions

    • 1

      Go to the pet store and choose some bedding for the cage. You may have to experiment to find which product works best for you, and there are many choices available. Some are natural, such as cedar and corn cob, and some are treated with chemicals to control odor. As long as you change it often, the kind of bedding you use isn't vitally important.

    • 2

      Line the bottom of the cage with the bedding. It should be deep enough for your mice to burrow into and hide.

    • 3

      Remove noticeably soiled bedding droppings daily.

    • 4

      Change the bedding often. Depending on how many mice you have and what sex they are -- boy mice are stinkier than girls -- you may have to do this several times a week.

    • 5

      Dump all of the used litter into a trash receptacle.

    • 6

      Wipe the sides and bottom of the cage with a rag and warm water or a pet-safe enzyme spray. Dry it well.

    • 7

      Pour fresh bedding into the cage.

    • 8

      Open your windows as often as possible to help control room odors from the mouse cage.

    • 9

      Consider owning only female mice if you aren't breeding them.

    • 10

      Limit the number of mice you keep in the cage. The more mice you have in one cage, the more waste will soak into the bedding and more odor will be created.