Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got four female leopard geckos Tuesday Morning. They are kept in a long 30 gallon tank with lots of hiding places. I use newspaper as the substrate and I spot clean their cage daily. They smell, in more or less words, like crap. I don't know why they smell. I clean them daily and I have not even had them for 72 hours yet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My first guess would be because you are housing 4 of them in a 30 long. I doubt spot cleaning will take care of the urin and associated smells.
My Research and Collection

I know you probably already checked for this but - Make sure that you don't have a dead cricket in the tank somewhere... those things can really reek. Waxworms are also pretty stinky when they die... but they don't usually have a chance to get away and hide like the crickets can.

I have two young adult females in a 20 gal tank which I spot clean (for now). I've had them in there for a week and a half and there is virtually no smell from the tank at all. I'm using reptile carpet as a substrae, if that matters.

BTW, to long term owners, how often do you recommend a complete tank cleaning?

Sue

a 30 gallon tank is plenty of space for 4 leo's. I'd recommend doing a complete cleaning of the tank. Like you said there are lots of hiding places so there may be a dead cricket in one of those places. But a complete cleaning should resolve the problems.

Are the defecations solid or runny? From my experience, when geckos have bacterial infections the stools are runny and have quite a stench. Once treated they went back to normal.

As stated before the urine stench can be strong and you might be missing some of it. I have tile for substrate. My female always goes on the paper towel area. My male goes everywhere and anywhere and he likes to walk through it and sit in it. I think it is his goal to use every square inch of cage as a bathroom at least once.

Matt

They have very solid poops, but I'm going to go ahead and do a cleaning and hopefully that will take care of it. Thanks for the advice.

I spot clean all the time and do complete cage cleanings every 2-3 weeks. I have a 55G divided in 2 with a Gecko on each side I don’t have a smell problem at all. I do notice it can smell a little off when the humidity is higher.
My Research and Collection

give them a bath, but dont drown them. i had a girl like that and i just gave her a bath 2 times a day for 3 days and her smell went away. she use to poop where she would hide.

It has been my experience that when no substrate is used like newspaper or tile that the cage will stink up quickly despite cleaning. Then there are the health hazards of using substrate. It is kind of a trade- possible health hazards of smell?