# leopard gecko smell



## wildee (Apr 29, 2008)

I did have four young leopard geckos and found my mack snow dead in the tank on Saturday. The others seem fine and she was always the quietest? 
I find they smell a bit. I did have lino flooring but thought it might be holding urine around the edges so now put newspaper in the bottom which a replace every 5 days or so.
I find it starts smelling within a couple of days? Is this normal and what can I do to stop the smell. I don't really want to get in the routine of changing the paper daily!!!
Martin


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## Morphene (Jun 28, 2008)

Is the smell from runny stools ?

Maybe with our geckos you will have to change the newspaper more often - every 2 days ?

Are the geckos all in the same cage ?


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## wildee (Apr 29, 2008)

*smelly geckos*

Yeah, I now have 2 females and one male in together. female normal and albino - male albino.


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## Siman (Apr 12, 2008)

So you're leaving crap and pee in for 5 days and wonder why it smells?


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## spider_duck (Feb 25, 2008)

have they got a light/heatmat over/under where they poop? Their urine is part of their poop so that can stink if it gets warm.

What's their diet like? How long have you had them?


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## tomsdragons (Dec 23, 2007)

Siman said:


> So you're leaving crap and pee in for 5 days and wonder why it smells?


was thining the same...:blush:
i spot clean mine daily if required!


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## wildee (Apr 29, 2008)

*smelly geckos*

They seem to mess all over the tank and do a lot for such small animals! 
I have had them for around 2 months and feed them on gut loaded meal worms.
I have loads of hides and branches in the tank so changing the paper every day or 2 is a bit of a nightmare. I have been told not to use sand but at least this can be sifted easily.


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## Siman (Apr 12, 2008)

Trials and tribulations of owning leopard geckos I'm afraid.


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## suez (Jul 8, 2007)

you should be spot cleaning daily think of it like this would you like to live eat and sleep with your own poo.this may sound harsh mate but if it is a task for you dont keep the animals


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## GECKO62 (Jun 12, 2008)

I have never noticed them smelling ,but they are messy the babies anyway ,i change there kitchen roll every day . I spot clean the girls adults every day and clean completely once aweek .


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## xclairex (Apr 9, 2008)

I find kitchen roll better and try to change it every day even if its just the piece they have pooed on. If left i think it would smell as its getting warmed up, to make it easier you could possibly take a few bits out so you can change it more regularly i dont have much in the vivs just a few hides and bowls and i get them out every day so its not a prob cleaning them as well


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## R0NST3R (Nov 28, 2007)

News paper and/or kitchen roll as a substrate then you can;t have a smelly enclosure. Change the paper daily. Give a full clean out once a month and you wont get the smell.


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## Jen Jen (Feb 24, 2008)

Doesnt Leos poo smell more if they eat Mealworms?? or am i wrong:blush::lol2:Normas poo always stinks!!:lol2:


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## LouiseK (Mar 17, 2007)

I think you need to completely purge your enclosure and give it a good old scrub and all the hides etc too - everything...

Get a decent sized hide and stick in a corner, and put a piece of folded kitchen roll under it.

Any poop you find around the viv, pick up with some cloth and throw away - then using the same un-rinsed cloth, rub the inside of the hide.

Just keep doing it and maybe the leos will recognise it as the toilet and start all pooping in that hide. All you'd need to do is replace the single piece of kitchen roll once a day - you need to make sure you scrub any smell up from poop not under the hide.

...I have no idea if it will work, but i don't know what alternative there is - you really need to be cleaning out the enclosure more frequently, smell = bacteria.


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## MrEd (Jul 12, 2008)

DUDE!! i change my substrate ( paper towel) EVERY day without fail, and at the most every 2nd day. I never have smells, do this and neither will you.

cleanliness is paramount to prevent infection and disease


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## Mal (Jul 22, 2007)

Wow the alarm bells are ringing here !!! You found a leo dead in the viv a few days ago and the vivs stinking. How big is the viv and what sort of viv is it ? How are you heating the viv and what are your temps ? What is the ventilation like ? To find a young leo dead in a multiple occupancy viv would concern me greatly. Yes young leos can be messy, but with daily cleaning the viv shouldnt stink that bad. You havent answered the question about the stools. Are they solid with a white bit at the end or are they squishy/ liquid ? Does the stink smell like ammonia ? The viv needs a thorough clean and I would recommend you switch to paper towel as substrate and change it daily with spot cleaning as required. I think a full review of your set up would be useful and a rethink on your husbandry. To be honest, it sounds like you should be seperating the three youngsters. I think you need to be asking why did the young mac snow die and is this in some way connected to the stink in the viv. If you dont look at all the issues connected with it, you may have others go the same way. You need to review your husbandry.

Im sorry if Im coming across strong and sounding a bit harsh. You have come on a forum asking for help and I hope you get the help you need to keep your leos well.


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

ditto as others have said ~ I spot clean *every* day (replacing soiled kitchen paper) and considering the amount of vivs/leos I have there's never any smell ~ sure wouldn't leave then 5 days between cleaning!


> To be honest, it sounds like you should be seperating the three youngsters. I think you need to be asking why did the young mac snow die and is this in some way connected to the stink in the viv. If you dont look at all the issues connected with it, you may have others go the same way. You need to review your husbandry.


*nods* and would definately seperate the male away from the females especially as it could lead to probs with them breeding when too young ~ also investigate as to why the mac snow died.


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## CT1974 (Mar 29, 2007)

Have to agree with Mal & SleepyD. You should be spot cleaning the viv every day - poop smells, so if you leave it in there, then it figures that the viv will smell. 

I think that you should have a thorough clean of your viv, with all the leos and furniture out (clean this too). This should eradicate any left over smell, and you can then start again with a fresh viv.

It is a worry about the one leo dying - do you know why? Was she poorly beforehand, and are the others showing signs of illness too?


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

i know that crypto smells in dogs, you can smell them dieing apparently.. thas what they say on animal lcops phoneix anyway lol..
anyway...
why did the other one die? old young? thin? was it eating? is there blood in the stoools? is it runny?


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## Mal (Jul 22, 2007)

Crypto is perhaps the greatest fear when thinking of diseases in reptiles. If appropriate action isnt taken quickly it can wipe out whole collections. That said, I dont want to set the OP panicking thinking he has crypto in his collection, that really needs a vets input to confirm such a diagnosis. Without the complete picture of the set up it is hard to say what the problem is. Obviously it is worrying that one animal in the set up has died and it does sound like issues need addressing. Hopefully it is just husbandry issues and not an infectious disease problem. The OP obviously cares about his animals or he wouldnt have come to the forum asking questions. Hopefully he will give us enough info so that between us we can advise him how to sort things out and obviously if indicated point him towards a vet.


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