Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This problem doesn't really bother me, but it bothers everyone around me. I keep a bp, a bd, and a leopard gecko and i will be getting more into snakes soon. I clean cages often and clean feces when i see it but my room still always smells. Air fresheners help but not too much. I was just wondering how you guys keep the odors away. No one really likes to be in my room because it smells like "reptiles"
Please Help!!!
thanks!

I have 12 snakes in one room and it is virtually odor-free. The 2 mice in my kid's room generate WAY more smell then the 12 snakes. Most of my snakes are ratsnakes and I keep them all on aspen. I spot clean whenever I see feces, but I probably don't do a complete change of bedding as often as I should. So...

What kind of bedding are you using? I don't know about geckos...do they tend to be stinky? You say you clean whenever you see feces...Do you look for it almost every day? How often DO you clean your cages? Anything else that might be contributing. ARE you raising any mice? If so: Bingo! Tell us more. Duffy

yeah i spot clean and i check a few times a day because i always see the cages because their in my room. I gess it must be my dragon or gecko then
thanks

This is a good question I am the same way. but I have over 40 snakes. I keep them on paper towel and they get cleaned Every day any time they get any signs of a dity cage and they are in totes the totes get cleaned and scrubed with soap/bleach so they are cleaner than my dishes but there is that smell. I am use to it and my family is too, but when my brother or friends come over they always ask.. so I know it is there. I have plugins in the room to keep it smelling fresh or so what it think is fresh. All I smell in the room is freshener. So I am in your boat too. I am wondering what the big breeders use? I am about to make a few calls to just find out what.. what will help hmmmm ?

I'm having the same problem with my Tegu cage and my Tokay Geckos, but those are only mild, the worst smelling lizards I have are my bearded dragons. I've tried scooping the sand, using paper, and everything else. These are just the stinkyest lizards ever. Does anyone know how to keep the beardeds from smelling?

From what I understand, it's all about the bedding you use. Me and my friends all use aspen bedding, the kind bought from a pet store used for reptiles or small rodents. The reasoning is that this line of bedding is almost like cat litter. It is designed to absorb feces and eliminate its odor. It also makes spot cleaning much much easier than sand or any kind of paper product. I believe I have seen some kinds of sand with the odor absorbing "technology", however I believe it was synthetic something or other and was quite pricey.

Unfortunately I can only speak from experience with snakes. Lizards I know nothing about, though I assume that you can't use aspen with reptiles that require a much greater moisture level than most snakes do. Perhaps there is an odor blocking bedding available for high humidity habitats as well.

Good luck! I hope this helps.

I have 4 leopard geckos and i have no smell in my room.

I have found that the smell is usually due to air circulation & humidity. If the enclosures are properly cleaned, and it sounds like you do a good job, it could be that your room is just "stuffy"... not enough fresh air getting around. The water dishes can raise the humidity too. Also if the cages are sealed up tightly that can tend to smell it up quickly when you open the cage (again, air flow problem). Is there any way you can increase the fresh air circulation & control the humidity?

Hmmm .. My so called "snake room"
Consist of 12 rack units and 8 large aquariums, the room is keep at a constant 85% with a night drop to 78, heaters in the room heat it. but it don't seem to have a stale smell..

??

My reptiles don't smell.. my rats do.. but not my reptiles. The cages have to get pretty bad before they smell.. so somethings not being done right obviously.. as a matter of fact.. my boas.. have a rather pleasant smell.. almost fruity to them... Which is odd... My monitor smells.. but only when she goes to the bathroom... Otherwise nothing smells.. and all my animals are in one room with me where I sleep as well.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.2 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 het Blizzard (Lilith) and 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

I need to clarify...I have several aquariums, geckos, terrariums & I used to have a hamster (she died about a week ago at the age of 4!)in my class. My classroom usually has "the smell" on Monday after being closed up on the weekend. My class is nearest the outside door, so during the rest of the week, with people coming in & out, the air gets circulated pretty well. I also have a ventilation system that I can utilize. At home I don't have "the smell" in my herp room. I have frog tanks, iguanas (and his hot air humidifier) as well as several snake & gecko enclosures. The door to my herp room is closed off to the rest of my home. So I don't really know the exact cause of "the smell"! My guess about air circulation & humidity is based on the Monday morning ritual in my classroom Hope that helps.

I've found that the silicon sealant in glass aquariums holds odors...that could be contributing. Even after you disinfect a glass tank, it may still smell of snake or lizard feces.

Certain materials just absorb the odor and hold it.

I have a similar assortment of animals, and I have found the Beardie to have a distinct "smell". The snakes don't smell at all that I can tell, unless they move their bowels, and that goes away when I clean it. The BD smells slightly spicy, but it can permeate a room when they defecate. If they step in it, and it gets on their feet and tail, that can contribute to the smell even if you clean the tank when they go. I try to "bathe" the BD at least once a week to get any accumulation of fecal residue off them. Also, the crickets STINK!!!
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1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
2.0 Solomon Island Boas

Thanks for the replies i will soon try several of your suggestions. I think i may buy an air purifier this summer (maybe that will help?) Overall i think its just something normal so i guess ill just keep trying and do the best i can

Thanks again for all the help!

I used to have some strong reptile room odor years ago when I used aspen. When I switched to newspaper and paper towels as substrates, the " reptile room " smell went away. I have never gone back to aspen since.

I do like aspen though and am not knocking it, but for me, it always amplified the poop smell.

I do agree with some other suggestions here on this thread. Proper air flow/circulation in the room could be a factor. Also....could carpet be a factor by soaking up the smell and keeping the smell there no matter how much you may be cleaning cages?

Take care!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

I use carpet in my ball python's tank and do not have an odor problem at all. For my other snakes I use paper towels, crushed walnut shells or aspen chips. No probelm there either. I thinking that air flow and circulation might really help.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

What snakes are you using the crushed walnut shells or aspen chips for. where do you get that from menards?

Right now I use the crushed walnut shells on my Kenyan Sand Boa. I use the aspen chips (sanichips) on my Rough Scaled and Saharan Sand Boa. I love the crushed walnut shells as they have a pleasant odor and look. I'm thinking of switching my other sand boas to it. I got it from the petstore. I don't know that they sell it at hardware stores. You can get it in the reptile section - it's by ESU and is called Lizard Litter Desert Blend. You can also get it in the bird section (sometimes it's cheaper) - the bird brand is KayTee.

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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Actually, I've kind of found the opposite. I have Pituophis, which are big eaters and defecators, and I have switched to aspen for all my yearling and older Pits and it seems to help the smell compared to newspaper. It seems to absorb better and the smell isn't nearlyu as noticable.
P&S Pituophis

Really? Wow, what a trip! Yeah...for me it has taken that " snake room " smell away. When I used aspen, I had good air circulation and that smell was always there no matter how clean it was.

One thing about aspen is that when you only spot clean....a lot of the times dried up urine is still on the bottoms of the cage, thus making it not 100 % free of waste. I would lift up my cages and see it all. So....in my pursuit of trying to be as clean as I could, I then gave newspaper and paper towels a try, and it has worked better for me. Snake defecates, I then take the paper out, spray down and wipe clean any area that has snake crap on it and it is all gone.

I do like the way aspen looks though, and I do like the clinical look of paper towels and newspaper. My snakes will still " burrow" so to speak but go under the newspaper and hide.

Also.......using paper(s) leaves no chance of aspen being stuck to a food item and being ingested. I have heard that aspen is digestible, but still it can lead to problems and the chance of their bodies not taking to it lightly.

I did check out your site and love it!

Take care!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

BAKING SODA ! werks really good,wont hurt the critters and does a fine job on odors.
In bigger set ups you can hide a box behind fake plants etc. and the smaller ones you can just pour a pile in each of the back corners.
No issues to date here ..........as well as NO Funk in the Air!!

Interesting idea. I'll keep that in mind if I ever develop a problem.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Fresh coffee (not freeze dried instant)also makes a good odor killer,but the baking soda is lots cheaper per pound.

T/

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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Those absorbants are great ideas, never thought of it. I agree that humidity itself has it's own odor, and ventilation is the grand key.
I just wanted to add that occasionally I've noticed my snakes themselves stink even though they look clean and the cage is well kept. A quick swim in the tub has done the trick.

I use Neodesha tanks and aquariums. As long as I was using aquariums with open screen lids, there was never a smell. The Neodeshas, however, had very poor air circulation and really would smell bad when opened. I finally purchased a very large quantity of small computer fans and mounted these on my neodesha tanks. It was a miracle. It made all the difference in the world.It worked even better than I had expected. I have since added timers so that during the day they will run for an hour and stay off for an hour and at night they will stay off for three hours and then run for an hour. I have many of these fans and have been selling them at reptile shows. They retial for $45 and I am selling them for $12 just because I got such a good deal on them from a computer company that was going out of business. I also have a one room air purifier in my reptile room. Oh and the fans are mounted so that the fans are pulling the air out of the tank and blowing it out except in high humidity tanks, then they are faced blowing into the tank.

HMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Sounds interesting........
How ya got these rigged up (built)I have a large tank that could use a breeze.

T/

I use carefresh bedding for my reptiles and it seems to have an odor to it. I can't figure out if it is the carefresh itself or the reptiles. Does any one else seem to notice any type of smell with carefresh? Those computer fans are a good idea. Are they 120Volt or 9 Volt fans?
Thanks

Yes, carefresh does have an odor. The whiter, fluffy version is less stinky...but they grey has a definite smell.

By the way, in my collection...the leopard geckos feces stink. I credit their diet of insects....other mammals, such as hedgehogs, that eats bugs smell horrible too.

Except if they have a bacterial infection, in which case it smells awful & strong! In a normal leo, I think it only smells for the few minutes after they go, when it's really fresh. Are you in a particularly humid environment?
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1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn snake Fuzzy
1.3.0 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
3 Hermit crabs Cletus, Jethro & Bubba
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

They are in my fish room which varies in humidity. At any given point, it's 65%....maybe more.

They are 120 volt AC fans.