Apparently not good enough...

[B3@N!]

Well apparently feeding raw to my ferret wasn't "smell-reducing" enough for my boyfriend. He "let me have it" the other day stating that there is still a smell. I do clean her litter daily and all that jazz. I've been looking at air purifiers now.

Anyone use them on here? What brand and how well does it work? I was looking at the Austin Pet Air Purifier from www.purerair.com which has some good reviews. I'm not getting rid of my d**n fert, that's all I have to say but by golly I'm doing what I need to get rid of this smell.

Help?

[katt]

How long have you been feeding raw? Sometimes it can take a WHILE for the kibble to finish filtering through their system.

[B3@N!]

She's been on it since I got her. So a little over a month now.

[jacksmomma]

Even with the raw, some just have a little ferret smell. Brady smells like nothing. I can bury my face in his fur and there's no smell. None. The tip of his tail even has a hint of sweet But Jack, who's been on raw since october still smells a bit musky. Something I've noticed (and this could be a cheap alternative for you) is that Brady spends a ton of time sleeping in his rice dig box, while jack doesn't really travel up to it (I have it attached to their cage). The rice absorbs oils, so maybe Brady doesn't smell ferrety because of that?

[mustelidmusk]

Wash the bedding frequently- a least once a week.
Not only does the bedding get stinky, but the fert absorbs the ododor from the bedding.

[katt]

Jacksmomma that is called the "grape koolaid tail!" I have heard of it but never smelled my ferret's tails. I forgot all about it - I'll have to try!

And yes rice dig boxes are nice. And a months is not that long. Kenai was a teeny kit and went right to raw. He's been on raw for about 2 months now and is JUST starting to stop stinking as much.

[bluemoose]

I have an air purifier in my room because I'm allergic to the dog, cat, and three ferrets that sleep there. I didn't get it for odor reduction as much as fur in the air but I did notice the smell got better. Not sure what brand it was but I think it was a few hundred dollars. A bit on the pricey side but my allergies were killing me lol

In addition to diet (and her smell may still get better after she's been on raw longer) and cleaning litter daily, make sure you completely change the litter every 1-2 weeks. Wash and bleach (or use vinegar) all the boxes. You can also add baking soda to the litter boxes to help absorb odor. As Heather said, wash bedding often. I do this when I clean litter boxes so every 1-2 weeks.

I've also heard of the rice thing. I've never tried it myself but mine play outside around 5 times a week and digging in the dirt seems to help with odor. You can also brush her daily to help hopefully dispel a bit of odor and distribute the oils in her coat.

[miamiferret2]

Awww. That sucks. Wash bedding frequently. May need more time. I love the way ferrets smell! They smell like fritos and popcorn. Lol. I bury my face into Sonny's fur and take deep breaths. Ahhh, instantly relaxing!

[3kaw]

I do find as well that some have stronger smells then others. For the ones I have the males have a strong musk smell. Not sure if thats across the board or just here.
Make sure you are not bathing her. That will increase the oils in her skin and thus the smell.

I also agree it may take a bit more time. My kit has only been on raw for about a month as well, and his smell has not gone completely yet. My other two almost no smell.
That being said most people who visit dont notice their smell unless they are holding them.

I also am adding oxy clean to the bedding as I found the smell was not coming out completely (between dogs and ferrets bedding) and I do not want to add fragrance or fabric softener to the wash.

sorry dont have any air purifier suggestions

[katt]

You can also toss vinegar or baking soda into the wash.
What kind of litter are you using? That cna make a difference. Also, adding baking soda and activated carbon will help reduce the litter box smell.

[AnimalFarm2006]

Heres what I do.

Every weekend, or two day span at the end of a full week. I take all bedding and wash it. wipe the cage down with bleech water. Scrub a dub dub!! And than put in new bedding.

I put rug protectors under the cage and on the potty areas but I take them up and rinse them with hot water every week. The rugs get a spray treatment of Vinegar water and vacumed TWICE.

Every day!!!!!! I pick up the litter boxs, and newspaper. Because I'm anal about keeping things clean, I only put just a tiny bit of litter at the back of the liter box. It's just enough to get soiled and thrown away without being smelled and waistfull. A little baking soda sprinkled on the litter goes a long way.

Refrassing that->
Weekly Duties. Vacume before and after cleaning rugs with vin water mix. Wash bedding once a week. Whip cage down with bleech water even the hard to reach corners and nuts on the fn!!!

Day Duties. Clean litter boxs with only a daily amount of litter. Spot clean rugs if they have an accident. And pick up newpaper they use durring the days they are out and about in the rug protector covered corners. It's up the wall! Don't be a fraid to whip the walls and scrub ether.

All this takes me about 30 min in the mornin, now evenings due to school. And 1 hr of hard cleaning when the ferrets are put up for two days ( laundry time!! ). Plus what ever few min of laundry time I can do. But the only enough litter for the day works SOOO much better than doing it every week.

Also think of air flow. My room normal doesn't stink unless, like this week, I'm stressed and slacked big time. But I try to make everything have some kind of moving air. A small cage fan, or box fan ( They come Mini Sized ) pointed by the ferrets makes stagnant air flow. In the summer I put a fan in my window to blow air in, or out. Usualy if you just crack the window open for a good 30 min a day it gets the air replaced.

I have 12 here. Three Fosters that sometimes have poop problems. Hope this helps!

[taratee]

i worry that she will always smell some, i mean ferrets are ferrets and we can do whatever we want to make them smell like dryer softener but i mean they are still animals, maybe sit down and calmly discuss what it is that hes smelling to understand what you need to do more of, i do everything recommended to get rid of the smell and mine still smell like musky animals

[vkp23]

I agree with the bathing. When I first got Miko I had done some research and it was suggested for weekly grooming to bathe. After I noticed her smelling WORSE I looked into it again and realized bathing that often made the oil glands go into over drive and made them stink worse. I quit bathing her and her smell lessened considerably. Now she only get's a bath if she gets into anything. Also, I don't know how it effects feeding raw as I have yet to get going well on that (due to snow storms here I couldn't leave the house and now during the week my husband hijacked my car ) but I use that Marshall's odor control stuff in their water. The poo and pee really doesn't have a smell to it at all due to putting it in their water. The only thing about the ferrets that smell is if you hold them up to your nose. Other wise my ferrets don't smell at all. But I do also wash their bedding during cage cleaning time once a week.

[miamiferret2]

Their pee kind of smells like battery acid.

[bluemoose]

Bathing should be once a month maximum and even that isn't necessary. I've never bathed any of mine. Only time I would is if they actually got dirty. As stated, bathing just increases the oils that cause odor so a ferret will actually smell worse after a bath. It's also not good for their skin to be bathed too often- dries it out. What you can do it wipe them down with a damp cloth every now and again. This doesn't strip the fur of oils and can be a good bonding experience.