strange odour

Question
QUESTION: My male rat currently has a very unusual and strong smell. In fact, most of the counter that his cage is on smells. It's a much more distinctive and potent smell than his urine. Is this hormonal (he is about 10/11 months old) or due to the heat (it has recently become summer here)? What causes it? And what should I do?

ANSWER: Hi

If could be from many things:

What type of litter do you use?
How often do you change his cage?
Is the cage galvanized steel or is it powder coated?
Does he urine mark alot more lately since he is in his prime (puberty hits right around now)
Is there an unusual color to his urine or blood in it?
Does he drink alot of water?
What is his diet??


Sorry to ask so many questions but its the only way I can try to help pinpoint what the problem may be. Please let me know and hang in there!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for you response Sandra.

I generally use cat litter for his litter - there's not much variation here (South Africa) in terms of litter etc.
The litter in his cage gets changed weekly, I do a full wash of everything one a month.
I think his cage is powder coated (painted white).
I'm not really sure if he urine marks more than usual - he does mark quite a bit and I haven't seen any blood in his urine.
No, he doesn't drink a lot of water from what I can see - well not enough by my standards (due to the heat).
His diet is a mixture of seeds, parrot pellets and vegetables (with the occasional piece of cheese etc).

The only environmental thing that could have changed was that I used wood shavings (the traditional hamster ones) as ground cover for a week or so when I couldn't get cat litter. But I changed that 2 days ago.

I know males don't go on heat, but would something hormonal like that be an option?

Answer
Please let me know what type of hamster litter you have available. Catlitter is not suitable nor is it safe health wise to use  with rats. If they eat it, this can clog their intestines and cause death.

Pine and cedar should never be used but aspen is fine.

Also, his diet should be evaluated more. Rats normally do not live in seeds and bird food.  Check out my website for proper diet.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/ratsandahealthydiet.htm


Too much protein causes kidney disease and if his urine is that strong I fear he could have an infection with his bladder or possibly kidneys.   It would not be hormonal.