diff --git a/src/duckhuntbot.py b/src/duckhuntbot.py
index d5230e7..4de1d8c 100644
--- a/src/duckhuntbot.py
+++ b/src/duckhuntbot.py
@@ -347,7 +347,9 @@ class DuckHuntBot:
             # Sanitize target and message
             safe_target = sanitize_user_input(target, max_length=100, 
                                             allowed_chars='#&+!abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789_-[]{}^`|\\')
-            safe_msg = sanitize_user_input(msg, max_length=400)
+            # Sanitize message (preserve IRC formatting codes - only remove CR/LF)
+            safe_msg = msg[:400] if isinstance(msg, str) else str(msg)[:400]
+            safe_msg = safe_msg.replace('\r', '').replace('\n', ' ').strip()
             
             if not safe_target or not safe_msg:
                 self.logger.warning(f"Empty target or message after sanitization")