Help, my Mother in-law is coming and my bunny cage smells the house......

[A & B]

You can also sprinkle baking soda over the litter. Make sure you don't pour it on the hay.

 

[Mz_Mala]

I have a similar setup with my buns - male & female in separate cages in the same room. I keep an air purifier running pretty much 24/7 right near their cages and this entirely removes any & all trace of scent. I also use Nature's Miracle for cleaning. My male mini lop Oreo did NOT appreciate me taking his smell out of his cage (pre-surgery) and so he'd make an effort to put it right back. But since he's been altered he's much better about that.

 

[Kelly6485]

With a litter box filled with horse stall pellets , and two bunnies, I have no odor whatsoever, no one even know there are pets in the house until they see them, but, if you have odor issues for whatever reason, I have a great product for you to try. Go to a tractor supply, or farm/ag store, and ask for Sweet PDZ. It is a powdered odor remover used for big smells, like horses and chicken coops. You add a small amount to your litter , it is pet safe and it works fantastic!

 

[katlupe]

My cage has no odor either, I clean it daily using just cardboard boxes in the bottom, with layered newspaper and hay on top of that. About once a month I take the tray out from under the cage and clean it with hot soapy water in the shower and then rinse with vinegar. Rabbit is a neutered male and he did have an odor before being neutered and he sprayed all over the place.

I have used the DE before on him and my cats for flea prevention. I bought food safe DE and the only concern I had was to be careful due to the dust from it. It is a very fine dust and that is the precaution that came with mine. I only used it once as I didn't really like putting anything on him. If he had fleas, I might have applied it more.

 

[Bunny 13]

Do you know of anything natural that I could use? I did check my bunnies, and I saw them on my California White. Someone recommended Diatomaceous earth to me at the local farm store. But I was afraid to try it. Have you ever heard of it, or used it?

 

[Bunny 13]

I was recommended to use revolution, but I have 14 rabbits. They had fur mites. The vet told me I had to bring each one in for a checkup and she would weigh them and prescribe the dose. It was too expensive for me so I started using food grade white. I can get it at my local feed store or get it on the Internet too. I carefully dust them all over being careful not to create a cloud or have them breathe it as it can cause lung issues. I also wear gloves because it dries your hands out. Then I sprinkle a bit in their bedding. You don’t need a lot. Once a week is good. After almost 2 months I have my barn under control. Since I don’t know where it came from I also do my dogs, cats and carpet where I comb the bunnies. It has worked on fleas too!!!

 

[RWAF]

How does everyone keep their bunny cages from smelling up the house. I clean every inch of the cages every morning before work, and again after work, but it still is not enough. I have two bunnies each with a separate cage. One female, and one male. Can anyone give me any tips? Please, my mother in- law is coming for the holidays. She will be doing her white glove test, and noticing everything in the house.lol

Are your rabbits entire? If so you need to have them neutered firstly to stop the smell but also, especially in the case of your female, to prevent cancers forming. Unspayed females over the age of 4 have cancer of the uterus in around 80% of cases according to studies. The sure way to eliminate this is to have your female spayed by a rabbit savvy vet. Cancer of the testes is less common but not unknown. Once neutered you will be able to bond them so that they have better welfare and can share a home without danger of accidental litters.

For cleaning, white vinegar will help eliminate smells but also use something like Anigene once a week at the recommended rate to kill bacteria. You do need to keep on top of this as the fumes from a smelly cage isn't only smelly for you, it can cause respiratory problems for your rabbits too.

I use wood based cat litter pellets for my own rabbits' litter trays. They are highly absorbent and odour free. They are compostible too, although they need to be kept wet while breaking down in a compost bin. My (neutered, bonded) rabbits have free range of my home which is bunny proofed, are litter trained and not at all smelly. It's easy to see when they have used the litter as it turns to a powder. Once a day I scoop out used litter and replace with fresh pellets (if you are in the US I understand wooden stove pellets are a good option) then once a week I clean the litter tray thoroughly with disinfectant, that's all that's needed. My rabbits have safe places where they can hide but no cages. I do have a modular puppy pen that I can set up if I need to contain them if, for example, a plumber or joiner or electrician is coming to do some work in the house. Usually that is split up into panels and leaning against a wall under the stairs, where it takes up less than a foot out from the wall and of course the area of the panels which is around 3ft wide x 3ft high. This is the pen I have, so that they cannot get trapped between the bars (I don't think they could but don't intend to take any risks) I have covered each panel with wire mesh, held safely in place using cable ties. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A24D9CA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Kristy A Williams]

I use people grade incontinent pads in their litter boxes and have noticed much less smell and I mop twice a week with my bissel cross weave with hot water and baking soda. It cleans up the smell nicely.

 

[Liung]

On the diatomaceous earth note: it works on all and any carapace insects. They just have to get covered in it, and they shrivel up and die. I bought some to deal with a cockroach problem, and then also used it on my plants to treat spider mites. It’s also a nutritional supplement, and completely nontoxic. The only risk is that you can’t be breathing it in or face respiratory issues.



How well it works for fleas I can’t say, given their jumping ability. For cockroaches I just laid down lines on the floor (think salt lines to ward off demons on Supernatural) so that they had to walk through it to get into my cupboards. For the spider mites I just dunked the plants’ leaves in a pile of it, and sprinkled it over the pots until they looked like they had experienced a localized snowfalls.

For flea treatment on pets, my boss suggests rubbing it into their fur. However the vast majority of a flea problem isn’t on the pets themselves, but in your carpet and upholstery. Revolution works by poisoning the pets’ blood so that the fleas die when they try to feed, but also doesn’t address the environmental population, which is why you’re supposed to spray your house.

You can use the diatomaceous earth on your house for fleas but white powder doesn’t typically mix with upholstery very well, and it has to be in sufficient quantities that they get more than their gross little feet covered.

My store sells 500g tubs for $12.99 CAD. If you’re looking for your own and can’t find this brand, just keep in mind that it has to be food-grade in order to be effective against insects.