Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got some playsand and top soil from lowes today....I made sure that nothing was in them.....and this stuff just plain smells like cow feces. Maybe I missed it when reading all the other dirt threads...but this stuff plain smells bad. Sorry for this being a boring topic, but is it supposed to smell like this? Did I get the wrong stuff? Thanks in advance. I'll post pics of the enclosure soon.

I use the washed playsand from Home Depot and I've never run into that problem.
Maybe the sand from Lowes isn't washed and is collected from "berkeley farms."
Sorry I can't be more help.
Jim

>>I got some playsand and top soil from lowes today....I made sure that nothing was in them.....and this stuff just plain smells like cow feces. Maybe I missed it when reading all the other dirt threads...but this stuff plain smells bad. Sorry for this being a boring topic, but is it supposed to smell like this? Did I get the wrong stuff? Thanks in advance. I'll post pics of the enclosure soon.

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2.1 - Rocky, Runako, and RoxyIII

It's the top soil that reeks. The sand is good besides the look.

get rid of the top soil!! stick with the playsand. I've kept uros five years now and it's always been great. no smell, easy to clean and cheap!

Gah I know....but they tend to stay away from sandy areas in the wild and it's just so.......ugly. I'm not placing the look of the cage before the animals health.....but it's just so butt ugly. I used mostly playsand throughout the cage despite its looks and put the top soil in the burrow hides. I provided several forms of hides throughout the cage and only the ones that are low to the ground and under flat rocks with the top soil. I'm too tired to get my point across properly....um.....yeah.....?

the soil should have no smell at all. that is why it is all not acceptable. you need topsoil that is just dirt, no additives or "fertilizer"
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

damnit......will it hurt the uros? The smell has aired out but I don't want anything to go wrong. They should arrive on tuesday...can't wait! I put some pics of the final enclosure up in my gallery. I thought I knew how to put them here but I don't and will just take care of it tomorrow. Anyone who is kind enough to go check them out and then offer comments gets a fine scratch on the back and a hazaah!

Made the same mistake myself originally! Boy the house stunk!!! Get rid of the topsoil, they add manure to it! Finally dug it all out and got some clean dirt from a landscaping or rock site. Much better! Don't risk the health of your new Uro's. Would you want to be stuck in a cage with that smell?
Beth

Damn....I guess empyting out the dirt will be the last thing I do tonight. I just got back from the grocery store with a sackload of uro veggies. I got everything on the lists! I never knew that there were dandelion greens at the grocery store.........and I avoided the collard greens like the plague!