Hi,

Honestly a cage with deep dirt substrate shouldn't smell and it should not require any maintenence to keep it smelling fresh and, well, like dirt. The biological activity that occurs within the substrate will break down any usable food very quickly. Leaflitter will enhance this activity. You may have to pick up the occasional uneaten rodent carcass that is getting ripe, but you could also just bury it and it will be consumed by the system. The two ways that you might get a lingering poop odor is if the cage is too dry to support a proliferation of bacteria, or the cage is too wet to support that same colony.

Isopods and springtails will work in a damp cage and you will inadvertantly add them with leaflitter anyway, but they won't thrive in a monitor cage. I had large colonies of each when I bred dart frogs, however keeping a cage moist enough to support them will be too wet for a monitor. Remember, even your ornate wants dry and humid when it is not swimming, and it does not need to swim. As Frank said, the maintenance required to keep a pool (not a dish) of water is counterproductive 99% of the time. Unless you are willing to provide a large, high-volume pond/pump/filter system, such as one that would be required to maintain a large population of dirty fish like koi. Anything less and you are simply making your job much harder, which will detract from the monitor's quality of life.

In short, a deep sandy dirt substrate will maintain itself, you don't have to add anything, except perhaps leaflitter, which will increase the biological activity and help with poop consumption. And unless you are willing to go all in with the pond (large volume and costly {$$&time} filter/pump), ditch the idea, as you will be sorry later. Good luck.

Will

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