cage odor?????

[jmkbama]

I just got a baby leopard gecko. He is temporarily in an 11.5" X 24" plastic reptile container from petsmart. I have ordered a cage that is 42X18X18, from this custom cage place I found on line, but it has not arrived yet.

I had reptile carpet in the cage until two days ago, after cleaning out the cage, I decided to just go with paper towels for now. There are two hides, one on the warm side (staying between 86-90) and one on the other side. A humid hide and a food and water dish. I have been trying to feed him mealworms, but he is not eating them. The breeder I got him from said he was feeding on mealies when I got him. I am going to go back to small crickets, since they were apparently eaten. I thought maybe they were hiding under the carpet, but they are not. He is defecating and it looks normal.

He seems to spend most of his time in the humid hide, which I mist daily.

The problem is that the enclosure has started to smell. each of the hides, etc have picked up the same odor. It kind of smells like a urine type of smell.

I am new to geckos, I have a couple of turtles that I have had for a few years. I have read in books and on the net that they do not smell.

Is this odor normal and/or do you have any idea what is causing it? I cleaned the enclosure out with jurrassic wipes and a cleaner I got from reptilesupply.com.

Thanks for any help and advice.

 

[Stitch]

Re-clean the cage and clean all of the cage equipment (hides, bowels, etc.). If the odor comes back then my feeling is that maybe you are keeping the cage to moist by spraying each day. Leos do not require a lot of humidity, only when shedding.

 

[jmkbama]

Thank you. I will try that. I cleaned all of the hides, etc. with wipe out 2. I have only been misting the moss in the hide daily. The moss is not moldy and it doesn't smell by itself. Should I let the moss dry out inside that hide and just mist it occassionally?

I will try recleaning it and see if that helps. Again. Thank you.

 

[Stitch]

Mist the moss 1-2 times a week. When you see that your gecko is getting ready to shed, then mist it once a day or as needed until it is done shedding. You geckos colors should dull and become more white looking. If the odor does not go away with cleaning the cage and less moisture maybe it is the hides them selves. Are all of the hides made of the same material?

 

[jmkbama]

No, one is a little wood cave, one is hallow log that I think is made of plastic and the humid hide is one of those shed caves. All from a pet store.

They all have this same odor. I am going to reclean everything today. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't some kind of parasite or something that is causing the odor.

Again. Thank you, your help and advice is appreciated.

 

[Stitch]

A parasite may cause the feces to have an odd odor but not necissarily the hides/cage.

It sounds like all of your hides may have porous surfaces. They may be harboring some mold or odors that the feces gives off. When you do the clean out soak the hides in warm water with a diluted cleaning solution (no Wipe out stuff), most people use one part water and one part bleach. Remember to rinse thoroughly and make sure no odor is left behind.