How do I get rid of the smell!!?

[FLequestrian]

I just acquired two rabbits and their cage smalls so bad! They go in a litter box only. I cleaned the litter box last night and this morning my whole house smells like rabbit pee! In the litter box I have KayTee clean and cozy bedding and hay. Any suggestions??

 

[Popsicles]

I don’t know if that is a particularly good bedding choice for odour, best is usually wood pellets (not shavings) or similar paper pellets (I personally use back2nature but it’s a bit pricey). You also need to make sure the litter tray is big enough that there is enough litter to soak up that amount of urine. A properly maintained litter tray should be odourless for at least a few days with two bunnies. I know @Blue eyes has a website with great info on how to set up a litter tray that might help! Sorry I don’t have the link off the top of my head

 

[A_Ponderance]

Most farm stores like D&B or Tractor Supply have pellet bedding for horses that is highly odor absorbent. It works good with bunnies, but is a bit more expensive than standard shavings. Walmart (cringe) also has a nice scent-absorbing animal bedding.

You have to remember, you can't have too much bedding in a litter box, to agree with what Popsicles says. Might experiment with the different kinds of bedding, just make sure to stay bunny safe and if possible, all organic.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We use PetsPick kiln dried pine from Walmart--the pans get dumped daily and the hutch itself weekly. Non-neutered males smell more. Also scrubbing with a 10% vinegar to water solution helps.

 

[Blue eyes]

If you have male rabbits that are still intact, their urine odor can be particularly pungent. Just another reason to consider neutering if they aren't already.

That aside, there really is no reason to have to have a smelly cage. It is just a matter of having a set-up that works to your advantage. I'm not into daily cleaning of the litter box but I never want anyone to be able to smell my rabbits' cage either -- especially since it is in the main living area of our home. Thankfully I don't have to clean things out on a daily basis. I have tried numerous beddings and do believe that wood pellets (different from wood shavings) work best at odor control. These pellets can be found in hardware stores sold as fuel for wood pellet stoves OR in feed stores sold as horse bedding.

As @Popsicles mentioned, my site explains in much more detail what the key factors are for maintaining a litter box to your advantage and keeping an odor free home. That can be found here.

 

[Bennie_bunny_mom]

I just acquired two rabbits and their cage smalls so bad! They go in a litter box only. I cleaned the litter box last night and this morning my whole house smells like rabbit pee! In the litter box I have KayTee clean and cozy bedding and hay. Any suggestions??

Unfortunately maintenance is high in bunny cages. They require daily cleaning to avoid that very potent smell... when I clean litter pans I scrub with a cleaner called OdoBan. It helps a lot. It’s safe to use around pets. I then line their pans with newspaper and just top with hay. It has saved me cost on bedding that doesn’t work. I have tried every bedding possible and nothing has really kept the smell away.

 

[Blue eyes]

Unfortunately maintenance is high in bunny cages. They require daily cleaning to avoid that very potent smell... when I clean litter pans I scrub with a cleaner called OdoBan. It helps a lot. It’s safe to use around pets. I then line their pans with newspaper and just top with hay. It has saved me cost on bedding that doesn’t work. I have tried every bedding possible and nothing has really kept the smell away.

I'd encourage you to try those wood pellets (different than shavings). Hay and newspaper does nothing for odor control so it isn't surprising that daily cleanings are needed. With the pellets (and maintained per the site link) there is no smell whatsoever for at least 3 days (2 rabbits) and for a full week with 1 rabbit. Truly. Guests come over and don't smell a thing and are surprised when they see rabbits since they did not smell anything.

 

[Popsicles]

Completely agree, I use paper pellets but same thing here, absolutely no smell for a week with my one (pretty large) bunny!

 

[Bennie_bunny_mom]

I'd encourage you to try those wood pellets (different than shavings). Hay and newspaper does nothing for odor control so it isn't surprising that daily cleanings are needed. With the pellets (and maintained per the site link) there is no smell whatsoever for at least 3 days (2 rabbits) and for a full week with 1 rabbit. Truly. Guests come over and don't smell a thing and are surprised when they see rabbits since they did not smell anything.

I tried wood pellets (2 bunnies) and it didn’t work for me either.

 

[Popsicles]

It’s also a case of making sure you use enough pellets and a big enough tray for both animals. If you can show us your set ups maybe we can help

 

[Blue eyes]

Yes. It isn't just the product, but how it is used. The size of the litter box, how thick it is layered, how much hay it is topped with (and how often) -- all of these factor into how effective the set up is. I know that there is no smell at all the way I do the set up. Three days without smell guaranteed - provided all the factors are followed.

 

[Orrin]

Our three bunnies do not smell. I started out changing the litter every day; but, our compost pile was growing too fast. Now, each morning and evening I sprinkle fresh litter on top of the old. Every third day I dump and wash the pans out with vinegar. I don't want to start any arguments about bedding safety; but, I find that wood products work best at absorbing the smell: pellets or pine shavings. We have one bun that refuses to pee in wood pellets.

 

[April LD]

Just started using Simply Pine...IT IS WONDERFUL. I have used other wood pellets that just made a huge mess and became like concrete in the potty, different paper pellets, but that gets SUPER messy as it sticks to bun fur and gets dragged all over!

Now we only have to change out our potties - with the babies 2x a week - wash out once a week (twice if needed - baby buns cute but messy).

For the single or "married" bunnies, we change out and clean once a week. I add pellets to the mom & babies potties once maybe twice as needed...too scared to buy stove pellets at the store since they might have stuff not good for them.

If your rabbits are not spayed/neutered then they are QUITE smelly - more smelly than not. And if your buns are scared/scenting (spraying their pee to mark their new territory) it could be why it is so smelly. Also, check the buns make sure they are not smelly themselves. Vinegar and water really does wonders for the smell and disinfecting of the cage and potties. I 1/2 and 1/2 it to clean our potties.

I should look at Concord Feed stores see if the horse pellets are cheaper to buy...have way too many buns and looking to adopt out after saving some abandoned buns that ended up having babies...not much luck yet.

 

[DudBun]

I line the litter box (cat sized one) with a puppy pad, put a layer of Yesterday's News (paper pellet litter) and then a top layer of soft Uber paper bedding. It absorbs well, but I also change it completely every other day to stay on top of odors.

 

[CottonCandyandTwinkie]

What I use in my litter box outside is a nonclumping unscented cat litter from Walmart... Works wonders to clean out as you can use a scoop and with a litter pan liner, cleanup is easy, It’s also absorbent and ive never had any issues with smell

 

[lavendertealatte]

Maybe the cage needs a cleaning, not just the box? I have a very sensitive nose and Bunster is in our den which is unfortunately where all the smells congregate... so sometimes I get lazy and don't clean out her box for about a week, it does smell :/ .. but I just read that you cleaned it out last night. It could be that the pee made it outside of the box somewhere?

 

[Joyce Guardado]

To clean I use pet friendly angry orange sold on amazon a little goes along way and the crisp orange smell stays for a day or 2
Bunny litter boxes should be cleaned daily or every other day.
And that way the smells won’t build up
Plus have a well ventilated area.
I only use newspaper and fresh hay.
I have heard that wood pellets and shavings if your bun decides to eat them can be dangerous

 

[Popsicles]

Wood pellets (not shavings) will not make your bunny sick in the rare event that they do eat them, as long as they are untreated wood. And will save you from having to clean daily - hay and newspaper will have no absorbency at all.
I have my rabbit’s litter tray in the kitchen, full clean once a week and no smell at all. And she is a 3.5kg rabbit, so produces a lot of urine!

 

[Blue eyes]

Thought I'd post a couple photos of the wood pellets being used for litter. Seems to be some confusion.



The red arrow below shows how the wood pellets expand and the daily added hay that doesn't get eaten gets tamped down.


Take a look at the fresh box on the left side above and you may notice that the layer of wood pellets is not very thick. It doesn't have to be since the pellets are so absorbent, they expand. It took me awhile to get used to using less. I had used Yesterday's News (unscented) before switching to pellets. It also works great but I had to use twice as much of it and it costs more.

 

[katlupe]

The one thing that impressed me about having a rabbit for a house pet was that his litter box never smells. I clean it daily and the litter box is contained in A-frame bunny cage, so he has 2 boxes in there that are padded with puppy pads that has plastic underneath that. Then I put a layer of newspaper on top of that, which absorbs the urine. Then I spread a good amount of hay over the whole floor of the cage, including the 2 litter boxes. He is free to go in and out his cage and he loves his cage, but never stays inside it only. I never lock him in. His cage is just a few feet from my bed and I can say honestly, I have never smelled it or anyone coming to visit has never smelled it either.