Smelly Boars.

Question
I have 2 boars. Elvis is about 3 to 5 months. Mick is 2 months. I clean their cage often. Just in the last couple of days the urine smell has become very strong. It wasn't like that at first. I have not found them to have signs of having a UTI. They are eating, drinking, and being very normal. Is that a normal thing for the urine to get stronger? Or should I be worried about a UTI? They are both very active and gaining weight. I notice Elvis rumble strutting, purring, and rubbing on Mick more these last few days. No fighting or anything like that though. Is there  something that will help keep the smell down some? I use fleece with towels underneath. I also use care fresh in some areas of the cage. It is a 2x5 C&C cage with a 2x2 upper level, and a pet store cage is connected with tubes and used as a hay loft with care fresh. Any help wwould be appreciated.
Thanks Tonya

Answer
First of all are you sure that Mick is a male? The rumblestrutting that Elvis is doing is because he thinks he's found a love mate. Of course even if Mick is another male Elvis is just reaching his sexual maturity and is like a teenage boy with an overload of hormones. He's not too selective at this point.

The odor you are smelling may be the 'eau de sex' odor that is emitted by the male when he senses a potential opportunity to breed. Apparently the girls find this attractive while we humans find it nearly repulsive. All animals have a unique odor they emit when they're on the prowl and are ready to breed.

It's doubtful you're pigs have a UTI. Because Elvis is doing so much rumblestrutting he is probably the source of this bad smell. There's no way to reduce the smell and the only way to eliminate it is to separate the two of them completely. Elvis is reacting to his hormonal drive and because he's young he doesn't know or care that his 'love interest' is another male. He'll figure it out eventually, but in the meantime you're stuck with this overpowering odor that the girls find so enticing.

I'm not a fan of fleece bedding because of the lack of absorption of urine and the smell factor. I've always used pine shavings with a layer of hay on top. The hay helps keep the cage sweeter and even if the shavings are wet they're underneath the hay so the pigs always have a dry layer to lie on.

I realize this isn't practical for an inside cage as you'd be sweeping hay and shavings constantly. With fleece you find yourself doing laundry on a daily basis. Carefresh is an excellent product but unless it's all over the cage it minimizes its usefulness.  If you have a window fan that can pull the air out of the room that helps to keep odors down. If you're living in the midwest or east coast the weather isn't permitting that for you yet.

Your cage space is adequate for the two pigs. The odor problem I'm afraid will only be reduced by putting Elvis where he can't continue his quest for a mate and that means separating the boys.