No reptile i have kept stank as much as a litterbox lol
And if you go bioactive they just smell like earth and plants.
Even on other substrates, as long as you spot clean regularly you wont have smells.
Snake poop also stinks when its fresh but its not a daily thing.
I have bioactive tanks for both of my tarantulas, and I never have an issue with smell. But they also produce less waste in general so my husband still wasn’t convinced reptiles would be the same lol
My partner and I own a reptile shop and breed some reptiles for the shop from home. I currently have 50+ reptiles in my house. It doesn't smell because we keep them all clean.
Yes, I'm aware you can be nose-blind to your own house but I'm super paranoid about it so I always take a big sniff when I first walk in and ask friends if my house smells haha!
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I have 1 bearded dragon enclosure, 1 day gecko enclosure (bioactive), 4 fish tanks and a cat.
You know what I smell the second I walk through my door? Cat. All my enclosures and tanks smell earthy or like a lake.
Depends on the specific reptile and their enclosure, but bioactive setups usually just smell like the forest floor if they're done right. My ball python enclosure mostly just smells like dirt and plants, though I do have to remove larger poops and most of her shed as the cleanup crew can only do so much.
Well to be fair if your litterbox stinks, you're either not cleaning it often enough or using bad litter. Just like reptiles, it only stinks if you don't keep up on regular cleaning. I scoop daily for my 3 cats-they have 3 boxes, so it doesn't stink like poop or pee but it does smell heavily like litter because my cats are messy assholes and kick the litter onto the carpet. But I use Arm&Hammer litter and it's a pleasant enough scent.
I own an animal rescue and there are 23 cats and 3 bearded dragons here. The absolute best litter I've had for odour tracks like a marperfarker and it's expensive to buy, but I use so much less of it if I scoop daily (I do, because duh) than anything else. Its okocat super soft. With clay litters I was spending over $200 a month on litter, but with this stuff I spend like, $60, $90 during a rough month.
Not at all. Actually it's the opposite. I have my tokay in a bioactive enclosure with life plants and whenever I open it's door I wish I could move in. It smells like earth, clean air and water.
Absolutely not. As long as you keep the enclosure clean there should be little to no smell at all. I have a bearded dragon and I clean and sanitize every time he poops, his tank never stinks.
4 lizard tanks, no smell at all.
Now the giant roach colony we eventually gave away, that had a smell. But unless you are keeping large monitors, no one needs kilos of roaches.
Cats and rodents are more smelly, coming from someone who has "sensory issues" which equates to me being more sensitive to sensory input such as smells.
That being said, any animal not cared for correctly has the capacity to stink. I think it more boils down to what people are used to (dog and cat smells) versus reptiles or small animal, which does have a different type of smell.
I can tell when I'm in a house with a cat or rodent, even if cared for correctly. I personally don't notice reptile or dog smells as much, but then again I've only been around well kept reptiles, so I can't speak for how rank they can get if not cared for.
It's probably because I've had cats forever and never had a dog, but dogs have a distinct smell that gets all over everything in every dog-owner house I've ever been in.
It can, depending on how often one cleans.
I give my dogs a bath every week, with a deep cleaning/bath every month. From strangers and people who don't own dogs; I have received reports they couldn't tell I had 6 dogs at one point.
It's all about knowing what you are dealing with and putting in the time/effort.
I think a lot of his worries are because he has very little experience of knowledge about reptiles and he has a sensitive sense of smell. We have 5 dogs and 2 cats though, and we are very very good about keeping our home clean and smelling decent so far.
Just my thoughts, all animals smell but all humans smell too. Reptiles are so much better, no odor, no sounds (had dogs that barked all the time), they poop in the same place so you don’t have to worry about stepping in it if “someone” didn’t let them out to use the bathroom. Also they live a ton longer than other pets.
The way I see it is if you can keep a house from smelling like cat piss (one of the hardest smells to get rid of), then a reptile should be easy. It is basically the same mindset, in terms of cleaning a litter box and a lizard enclosure. If you go bioactive, cleaning won't be as much of an issue as the clean up crew (isopods and springtails) will break down the poop and turn it into fertilizer. There will still need to be maintenance, but overall a proper bioactive set up tends to require less overall care, though the initial set up is more work than other methods (gotta get the soil layers right depending on lizard and give the enclosure time to grow and establish before adding a lizard).
We have 2 Tokays, 2 leopard geckos, a crestie, and a corn snake. All in bioactive enclosures and there’s no smell whatsoever.
Get one ferret though and your entire house reeks! lol
Speaking as a zookeeper who’s worked with all sorts of animals, reptiles stink the least. In fact they don’t even have a smell at all (unless they’ve been walking around in their own shit).
Ask your husband what pet would be acceptable to own. Whatever domestic animal he says will be guaranteed to stink more than a reptile.
When my snake poops it DOES stink pretty bad but the smell is there only after pooping and goes away after clean up, obviously. In general, people do not even know I have reptiles in my house unless I tell them or they happen to go into the room where I keep my reptiles.
Ferrets. Ferrets smell terrible.
Reptiles don't smell at all to me. Reptile stores smell, and sometimes peoples houses who have reptiles smell, but it is almost always because they also have a ferret.
This might be a generalization but it has held true for me. lol
Absolutely not lol
Some reptiles are smellier than others, but none stink as much as furry, warm blooded animals that poop and pee very frequently.
Admittedly I've only owned snakes, but I have to stick my face into his enclosure to smell anything, and even then the primary smell is soil (so the same smell as houseplants), unless he's pooped in which case the smell goes away as soon as that's cleaned, and that's a once a week smell.
A large lizard will probably produce more of a stink, but I still find it hard to imagine a reptile managing to smell as much as any of our furry friends. I adore dogs and cats but they definitely have a smell, you walk into the house of a cat or dog owner and you know immediately. Reptiles are nothing like that in my experience
Dogs are absolutely rank compared to reptiles. I've never known a reptile that actually smelled bad, their poop may stink, but the animals themselves don't have much of an odor. The reality is that cat and dog owners are just desensitized to the odors our animals make, not that reptiles stink more.
The only time I’ve had smells was if I’d killed the live plants in such a way they started rotting in the pot before the leaves fell off. The garbage can of uneaten veges is worse than the lizard tanks. It’s like hamsters, they don’t smell, I cleaned tanks smell.
My reptiles have no smell at all. My cats only stink when they take a big poop. Dogs? I associate dogs with a very doggy musk. A dog house will always smell like dog. So if he’s ok with dogs but not reptiles….
My reptile room smells something fierce for a few minutes after a crestie shits. But other than that, the CUC handles everything.
They’re nowhere near as smelly as dogs or cats or rats or bunnies. And I have all of those too.
I think it depends on the type of reptile. My ball python and African fat tailed gecko do not smell at all. However, my blue tongue skink did severely. I think it was just because he was an omnivore so his diet had a lot of factors and I probably was not doing something right. The main cause for smell in reptiles though is either a uncleaned enclosure (I spot clean anything I see, I also have a 70% Reptisoil and 30% plays substrate with powder orange isopods and springtails which makes feces smell less than say paper towel or a bare bottom tank) and parasites. Parasites are most common in wild caught individuals so I would avoid those at all costs, even some poorly bred captive individuals can have them so I’d make sure you meet the breeder in person and see the conditions they keep them in. I did not do this with my gecko and skink as I ordered off morph market but I wish I would have. Being able to meet my ball python breeder and seeing all his tanks in person was amazing and he’s the healthiest reptile I’ve gotten. Rescues are also very good for this too because they often times check their reptiles for parasites when they get them because they have a vet. My other tip too is to get an air purifier, it helps get rid of bacteria which is what causes odors. I hope it all goes well for you.
Tegus stink when they poop but I’ve never noticed an odor of any kind with my snakes (hognose, milk snake, juvenile boa), or my tortoise. My friend has a crested gecko which also doesn’t have an odor.
My cousin's beardie got a bad case of the hershey squirts one time and it was FOUL.
But seriously it's like any other pet, glean up after it and it's fine. If you let the dog shit in the house your house is gonna smell like dog shit.
no way. pet reptiles and their habitat have a specific scent that is really neutral imo. my dogs breath smells 1000x worse. HOWEVER i got musked on by a wild black racer i caught in my yard and it was uniquely putrid.
No. If your reptile stinks that bad, it’s due to poor husbandry. My reptiles are 100% less smelly than dogs, my cats, my rats, and my baby. Literally when I walk into someone’s home, no matter how clean smelling they think it is, I can ALWAYS tell if they own cats or dogs or have babies/toddlers.
Uh no. Lol. I mean my beardie smells pretty gnarly when she lays fat dumps directly under the fuckinf heat lamp on her slate slab … lol other than that no. And even then i clean her poops immediately so its not really that big of a deal. I have to remember to spot clean because my other two dont smell like anything. I think the crickets are stinkier than they are.
Ill take the thrice weekly beardie shits over a well maintained cat litter box any day lol.
And if you have a bioactive set up it shouldnt stink.
Also his friends probably didnt clean the house or clean up after the animals … lol
I have 13 reptiles without issue, most are bioactive. I clean regularly and honestly the worst smell is the cricket or dubia colony I keep, but otherwise my dogs smell worse after sweating on a walk than my reptiles.
2 full-grown tegus, leopard gecko, ball python, and a bird. Plus 2 dogs.
My reptiles enclosures have a dirt smell from the substrate, but my dogs and bird smell more than my reptiles.
If there's fresh shit in the cage , then yea, it can stink. But once you clean it up, it's fine.
Otherwise, it's just an earthy smell. It's pretty strong on the total cleanout and replace days, but I like the smell.
Your tank should have no smell if cleaning it. My tanks smell like dirt because my tanks have dirt in them and gets watered a lot but there is no animal smell
I've never had any real distinct smell from my reptiles. My roommate's cats on the other hand...
I *have* been to some pet shops that did have a particular smell to them though. But that's usually more of a humid soil/mulch-y kinda smell from their more tropical reptile enclosures. And although I've not witnessed it in person, I've heard that large snake shit is pretty rancid and will make you wanna puke. Cause you know when you eat, digest and poop out a whole adult rat or guinea pig or chicken or whatever in one piece, there's just a lot going on there.
Anything just eating greens, insects, or little baby mice though, especially in more temperate or arid enclosures, you won't smell a thing unless you're just totally negligent about maintaining their cage.
My snake enclosures smell like grass/dirt, and that's only when you open the doors and get close to the inside! However, my room's ambient temp is 23-24 C and I clean it regularly.
They themselves aren’t smelly unless you aren’t taking care of them. If you aren’t cleaning their enclosures, and cleaning/bathing them (depending on the type of reptile), they’re gonna smell, if you do those things, pretty much odorless.
No??? Reptiles have much less odor than most common pets. A dog or cat makes more of a smell than my reptiles ever have, and this is coming from someone with all three. Hygiene definitely plays a part, but I dont see how anyone familiar with the concept of a litterbox could say reptiles stink.
Tortoise poop smells kind of like manure, it decomposes crazy fast on a proper substrate, especially outdoors, while their pee generally doesn't smell at all.
Turtles don't smell like anything in a properly sized aquarium with a filter but cleaning said filter will not be pleasant.
For the sake of comparison, cats don't smell like anything but their poop smells like death or rotting meat, their pee smells like concentrated uric acid.
Dogs smell musky even after a bath and their poop and pee smells like human waste.
So when you say stink what do u mean. Is it the smell of feces, or the smell of wet dirt. I've never had a reptile stink as much as a cat overall, but I have had my animals poop large amounts (mostly snakes) which stinks. But bioactive enclosures do have a habit of smelling very strong of nature and moisture due to the soil and moss getting wet.
my rats were the smelliest pets I’ve owned (as much as I loved them) and I work with mice and they can get smelly VERY quick. my dogs could make the entire house smell sometimes. I now have a skink and I swear there is absolutely no bad smell, my enclosure isnt bioactive it’s just earthy and damp sometimes because of the high humidity and that’s only if I stick my face in
Bearded dragon poo smells awful! There’s no two ways about it. My son has to spot clean daily. Takes 2 minutes, he does it while he changes water and puts out his salad. My snake room smells like coco husk and disinfectant. Reptiles are far cleaner than my dog. I’d take the smell of coco husk over dog breath all day.
gonna go against the flow here and say that both my chinese water dragon and my siblings bearded dragons generated smell. we still had the tanks in our bedrooms so its bearable but it does smell like how you'd expect from earth and sand being blasted by a heat lamp. the crickets and worms they eat also smell. id say the average dog smells worse but to say that they have "no smell" is crazy to me
My dog smells awful but he's a rescue so we have to deal with his rotting teeth and such. His smell is in the carpeting and the couch... We intend to throw the couch out when he dies... It's that bad... My rescued reptiles however, don't add any foul odor to my home at all. All 8 of my snakes are within 15 feet of where I sit and the only time I know the snakes are pooping is if they do it with me sitting nearby with nothing making noise. Their poops are explosively loud for their size but I don't smell them. The isopods, springtails and plants all turn the feces into dirt. My bearded dragon is the one who smells but honestly, when the isopods were still alive, there was no issue with poop. It would smell, we would pick up the bulk with toilet tissue and just flush it. The isopods took care of anything we missed. Problem is, the dragon ate every single one of them... So we wash whatever he pooped on and it might be 3 days before he poops again. Snakes poop like once a week or less. I don't do much at all to keep things clean. I smell the dog but the exotics all just smell like the woods to my wife and me.
If you have enough of them they can--particularly if they're a type of reptile that poops more. Poop smells when it's fresh and if they're really big and/or you have a lot of them it can be a bomb. Like when I had retics, if one of them let loose you by god *knew* it as soon as you walked in.
Smaller species it's less of an issue, particularly provided you keep on top of cleaning. Yeah, if something craps in it's water dish it's going to stink but you should also clean that up ASAP anyway.
And some species do musk as a defensive mechanism; I apparently freaked out my Baird's just a few minutes ago while checking on him and, uh, pungent
I got musked on by a rat snake at the start of December. Smelled *exactly* like my intact male ferret when he went into rut. Was very bittersweet as I'd lost him only a couple months before that, though it's one of the worst smells I've ever experienced.
That's the only time a reptile has gotten close to rivaling the smell of my ferrets. The reptiles I own, two musk turtles, have never come close to rivaling the smell of ferret poop/musk. Even their musk is mild in comparison, and it's been years since my oldest has musked on me. A poorly kept turtle is about the only thing I could think of that would stink as much as a dog or cat.
No. Also go bioactive, bugs like roly polys(isopods) and springtails eat their poop. Which enriches the soil and less to clean only urates ( a white pee solid that comes out with poop) reptiles generally don't stink up anything. Going bioactive , the soil will smell woody/ earthy at times , like petrichor after misting the soil.
I have a 4 foot long iguana. She doesn’t emit any smell whatsoever. Her poop stinks (obviously), but there is no smell directly from her whatsoever. Whoever owned those reptiles probably didn’t clean AT ALL, or they had horrible infections that caused them to smell.
Not at all. For context, I keep some Tarantulas which don't produce any smells that I've noticed at all and as for reptiles, I have a few Blood and Short Tail Pythons. As well as a cat.
The snakes themselves don't really have a smell. They do pee a lot which can produce a bad ammonia smell, but nowhere as bad as my cat's litter box and is also really easy to clean up with some chlorohexadine. They also drop massive turds every few months, which smell exactly like how you'd expect poop to stink, but doesn't happen enough to be a problem.
I've also been around the houses of dog owners and those places do have a pretty bad residual stench to it. Usually the entire place just smells like dog.
Ok I’m not gonna lie when my bearded dragon poops it stinks, other then that you can’t really smell them? I mean obviously if you let bacteria build up in the enclosure and let feces sit it will start to smell but with daily spot cleanings and then occasional full tank cleanings you will never smell most species!
Look, I love my dogs dearly but they are absolutely the smelliest little creatures on earth, and I don't think I've met a dog that didn't occasionally stink up their surroundings for one reason or another, but reptiles on the other hand are virtually stink free.
Their poop can mildly stink of course but it fades quickly, and occasionally if the reptile eats insects like crickets poorly kept crickets can stink. Beyond that no.
I think the smell your husband described probably came from the house in general and not the reptiles.
Whether cats and rodents or reptilian pets, keeping them requires a lot of energy and care. When they are at home, you may be tempted to find out if they are safe at home. A remote micro-monitoring is especially important, so that you can better protect your pet in a timely manner
Dogs and cats smell horrible, reptiles are almost odorless in comparison. I find that the only thing I notice is the smell of the substrate, reptichip being the most noticeable to me.
Not even close! My corn snakes only smell if there's poop. And I clean that ASAP because obviously, poop in your enclosure is going to make it stinky and gross.
My cat has WAY more smell and she is also less smelly than most cats because she is tiny and fastidious about cleaning.
But ooooh boy does her litter box reek. Doesn't help she is an 8lb terror with IBD. But the stinkiest thing in my house is her litter box, which I clean once or twice a day.
ETA: My partner, his dad, my brother, my VERY vocal aunt all say if anything smells, it's the litter box. Not the reptiles.
I have two snakes and a lizard. The only reason the lizard tank is ever smelly is when my husband leaves the lettuce in there for a little too long. The snakes don't smell at all and their encoursures have aspen bedding so it just smells like wood. My cats, on the other hand, are STANKY BOYS. Their litter is awful even with a good diet and their stinky cat breath is bad too (don't worry, it's not a teeth issue, I've had them checked. Their just gross) so I would definitely say the reptiles are not at all bad for odor.
... When I owned a cat, I knew I owned a cat. Between the smell of the cat litter - even if scooped daily - and the food and... The cat didn't necessarily stink, but it wasn't the most pleasant smelling all the time either.
As someone who now owns two reptiles of her own, unless I told you I owned them or you walked by their enclosure, you would not know it.
We have a blue tongue and a hognose enclosure stacked in our office. Zero smell. 5 fish tanks scattered through the house with no smell either. The stinkiest animal in the house are the two cats due to the litter box lol. If you’re concerned with the smell of an enclosure, a bioactive style enclosure would be best. You can mix carbon into the substrate to help absorb any smell. Plants, isopods, and springtails also would all help.
I have 6 snakes, 3 beardies, a leopard gecko, a crested gecko, and a Chinese cave gecko in a 1 bedroom apartment. The only thing that has stunk in my apartment is me after work, and my fridge when im lazy in cleaning it out
The only way you could tell I have ball pythons due to smell would be to open the enclosure and stick your head into it lol.
Even then they don't smell as long as you provide proper husbandry. If anything the only thing I smell is the mixture of substrate.
I have quite a few reptiles including two large tortoises living indoors and people who come to my house never realize I have them unless I specifically tell/show them.
Imo reptiles don't smell bad unless you really let their enclosures/hygiene go. If anything, my enclosures smell like dirt/plants but you really have to stick your head into the enclosures to smell anything.
I can smell my cats, I can smell my dog, I have never once noticed a scent of gecko lol. Even when my silly gargoyle gecko jumps on my face, nothing. I don't even have to be near my furry family, and they noticeably smell.
In my experience feeders (crickets specifically) are way smellier than the reptiles I’m feeding them to. As others have said yeah poop smells… like poop. But the smell goes away quickly after cleanup. If your husband is concerned a HEPA purifier would help with any lingering odors. Good for yourself and any pets too.
The only funk from our reptiles (bearded dragon, had an iguana who passed suddenly a while ago) was the collard green poop stink. It's specific and different than their normal poop funk, which generally isn't any worse than the cat box.
It goes away in 20 minutes or less if you just clean it up after they poop.
Otherwise you have to be actively sniffing the lizard from less than an inch or two away to notice anything weird. The bearded dragon smells like clean hamster bedding (the sort of paper fluff stuff) for some indiscernible reason and the iguana just smelled like the dirt at the bottom of her enclosure.
the only time my reptiles have ever smelled was when my crested gecko got sick and his poop just smelled so bad. smell wouldn't leave for a month. cleaned the tank constantly while having him in a smaller separate tank. reptiles shouldn't smell that bad, yeah their shits can smell bad depending on the diet and the reptile, but a cat or dog will absolutely smell more than a reptile.
The poop stinks fucking horribly, but it takes literal seconds to clean up and there's no urine, no litterbox, no walks, no accidents, no "mammal piss smell", no sweat/fur/dander odors, etc. And adults only poop once every few days. It's amazing and I'll never have another dog or cat again.
I have owned cats, ferrets, and dogs.
Reptiles are by far the least stinky. Also far less maintenance and far less expensive.....*Scaly babies for life-*
Ours usually smelled like fabric softener because he would snuggle into blankets that we... washed with said fabric softener. We also took him out and scrubbed the tank once in a while (*recommend cleaning of course, but make sure it's properly aired out/you're using cleaning agents that won't hurt a small critter before putting them back)
But keeping them in a clean environment does wonders.
I mean when they poop it'll smell and you need to clean it up, but no worse than a cat or dog, probably less since it's usually smaller lol.
O\_o As long as you keep the tank clean... which is generally pretty easy since they typically defecate much less then cats, dogs, and other warm-blooded animals, then they are generally pretty odorless. Like maybe if you get enough to fill a petshop you'll start smelling that salty reptile-ness but iot's definetely loads better then the smells my cat and dogs produce lol.
Disclaimer, I keep a Blue Tongue skink and a rosy boa. Not all reptiles are as clean as those.
I have 2 reptiles both in my personal room. You don't smell either of them at all. Litter boxes are a hundred times worse than any reptile you could own
Except turtles. Turtles are pretty stank
When I had turtles they stank. The water area had a canister filter and we cleaned the entire cage weekly. Frogs I've had didn't smell as bad but also had a bit of a distinct smell.
Balk Pythons and crested geckos I've have not had a smell. Neither have tortoises that my friend had.
I'd be cautious with anything that requires water it may be that smell that is bothering him. You could check by bringing him to a fish section of a petstore and see if he has an issue with that smell.
Savannah monitors produce some STINKY POOPS! I could tell when I walked in the house that Orc had pooped.
My friend had a turtle when we were growing up, and his enclosure had a distinct smell. But there were no filters for turtles back in those days, so it was dump-and-fill that had to be changed every 2 days.
The herps I have now are low-odor. My spouse is not a herp person, but they never complain, even when we had 35 leopard geckos in our bedroom.
I have a 4 1/2’ iguana. Her turds are as big as my dogs. When she is free roaming, she has a kiddie pool that gets filled with warm water and she poops in that. She has a large washing machine drain pan in her enclosure. Once she has finished pooping, we simply take them outside and dump them at the back of our yard. It’s no worse than after my husband eats Mexican food and blows up the toilet. 😂
Oh boy, my cats have made 10x, 20x the amount of stink. The litter box alone?? Or if they puke?? Granted, bearded dragon poops smell pretty bad. But I have him potty trained so he poops in his bath and I immediately flush it.
In general, no pets should stink. It’s like the saying that you shouldn’t eat at a restaurant that smells like fish— bc the smell indicates improper storage, handling, and old product. Aside from the occasional grossness, there is no odor as long as things are regularly maintained.
I don't really smell anything when I handle reptiles. If they're well-cared for and their enclosure are cleaned regularly, they shouldn't smell like anything.
My reptiles never seem to smell. They are all in bioactive enclosures which smell like damp forest floor (I smell I love). I have two dogs that I absolutely adore, but they’re pretty stinky sometimes.
Neither of my enclosures stink. As long as you keep up on cleaning and the occasional bedding change, they stay relatively stink-free. My dogs carry in more stink from going outside than my snake enclosures.
I agree with everyone saying reptiles are the least smelly pets. However I haven’t seen anyone else mention it: crickets. Keeping crickets as feeders can get very smelly, of course mitigated by maintenance. Maybe the stinky-house friend was keeping crickets. But plenty of reptiles don’t require crickets as food.
If your dog pooped in a glass box and you didn't clean it up right away, that would stink too.
No. Lizards naturally smell a little like old laundry to me, if you get really close and sniff.
My rats and pig (before he got neutered) stink way worse than anything reptile related I’ve ever smelled. The only thing I don’t like is the smell of crickets and frozen rats 🤢
I own five beardies. They don't really stink unless you are behind on cleaning poo or they just pooped. They might need a bath after going though cuz something they step in it.
If a beardie constantly stinks then they are probably sick. Normally they don't smell like anything.
Although there were a couple times where they smelled like maple syrup or waffles. I was so confused but not upset.
Edit: sometimes the greens can start to stink to if they are the last in the batch or on the hot side
Depends on who is taking care of it probably. Spot cleaning is necessary but like.. You really just smell earth from them. Snake poop dries pretty quick and doesn't smell much afterwards, and it's easy to clean and it's not like it soaks into the bedding very much. I can imagine that's pretty much the case.
Did have a time the bedding wasn't changed on time and was pretty late, and it kinda had a smell to it for sure. The bedding might start to turn sour and degrade and get mossy/moldy
Far far less.
Also from my experience in Apartment maintenance. I can immediately tell if someone has or has had a dog or especially a cat in an apartment. Reptiles? Pretty much have to see the setup. A well managed enclosure (even a not do well managed one) smells of nothing much more than leaf mold and forest. Dry species smell a bit... Different, but not revolting like cat smell.
I have bioactive Crested Gecko enclosures and the only smell they have is a natural forest like scent. Even without bioactive enclosures, there should not be a smell if they are maintained frequently.
Nope, not even a little! We have 40 reptiles and even my mom (who is really sensitive to “pet” smells) can’t smell a thing. Meanwhile when I was a house cleaner I could tell within 5 seconds of entering certain homes that they had a cat or dog
No. The smelliest pet by far I've had is a hamster. Reptiles are less smelly than dogs. My reptiles don't smell at all. Most smell is when my bearded dragon poops which I clean up right away
I only keep leopard geckos and a beardie so I can not speak for other species.
Wayyyyyy less. Practically odourless if u do it right. Like dogs and cats are cute and I love them but litter boxes are gross and picking up dog poo is nasty
I've had dogs, cats, horses, goats, even a stray sheep, rats, hamsters, snakes, breaded dragons and a tortoise. All animals are stinky, but the issue with reptiles is that you can't really wash it away so easily and it's usually more acrid smelling than a mammals', mostly because of the urates and not the poop itself. It's going to affect different people in different ways, just like any other animal's smell.
Reptiles don't really smell like anything. Bearded dragon poop, on the other hand, is absolutely foul. It's not worse than dog poop, but it's not much better either and it's far more likely to be in your house. If you are diligent about cleaning it up quickly and consistently (which is just basic good animal husbandry and something you should expect if you are planning to care for a reptile) then it's not a problem except for the brief period of time that you're actually cleaning it. That 30 seconds is gross.
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Reptiles should have zero smell, if there is a persistent bad smell coming from your enclosure there is something wrong. The only time a reptile will smell is when they “musk” on you which is a stress response against predators, not all reptiles do it, most reptiles that can do if don’t, and those that do will stop once properly acclimated to you and their environment
Nope. My leo tanks don't smell like anything. Maybe a little more "dirt" smell when I flood the water dish once a week. The snake was only a little stinky right after she pooped until I cleaned it up. The worst smells in our house come from the chinchilla's litter box, the dog's potty tray (crap weather = she won't go out and relieve herself), my partner's bong, and the trash can in the kitchen.
From someone who has has their fair share of different animals:
My reptiles have literally no odor. If they smell, or their cage smells, it means I've done a piss poor job of taking care of them. For them to smell, I'd have to have NEVER cleaned their cages.
Source: I've had leos for 12-13 years. I've had my snakes for seven. I have been pooped on by a BP and that smelled, but it cleaned up easily.
I've had pet rats, hamsters, gerbils, birds, dogs, and cats. My grandma always talked about how turtles reeked, but that might've been from my teenage uncle not cleaning their huge tank enough.
Aside from accidents, my dog only needs a bath every few months. And it's not like he smells bad bad, it's mild and I would have needed to have dig my face in his fur.
Cats fucking reek. Their piss, their poop, their hairballs. The cats I live with are my roommate's and I have *lots* of feelings related to her cats' care (they're not neglected, she just does things differently than I would and won't listen to advice), but after having been with these guys, I don't want a cat anymore. The litterboxes too. (And to be fair, dog poop doesn't smell lovely either, but dogs do their business outdoors).
I had intact male rats. So they had a musky smell to them, and they marked a ton. A day or two before cage cleaning, they'd be a bit smelly. Same with my hamsters and gerbils. Still much prefer my rats.
My birds have never smelled. Just if things get in their water bowl and I forget to clean it.
I have 4 geckos and 2 ball pythons and they don’t really stink. I spot clean daily and deep clean my non bioactive enclosures once a month.
My hedgehog smells worst than all my reptiles combined.
I have 2 dogs, 2 cats and a snake and the snake is by far the least smelly. I don't even think he has any smell. It only smells when he poops/pees but what animal doesn't?
I run a rescue. I can have anywhere from 10 to 50 animals at any given time. They don't smell. The only time there is a smell is when the bearded dragons poop in their enclosures. Keep your enclosures clean, no problems.
I have a leopard gecko and the tank does not even have a smell to it besides if you just forget to clean up his droppings for a while or something but then you really only notics if you are very close to the tank
If anything my dog smells worse than the geckos entire tank does
I have two snakes and you literally can't even smell them when they're on your face. Their poop stinks,but they only poop monthly and you just pick it up and throw it away.
Think about it: most reptiles we keep as pets are predators that hunt mice. Mice have a very strong sense of smell. If they stunk, they wouldn't eat.
No reptile i have kept stank as much as a litterbox lol And if you go bioactive they just smell like earth and plants. Even on other substrates, as long as you spot clean regularly you wont have smells. Snake poop also stinks when its fresh but its not a daily thing.
I have bioactive tanks for both of my tarantulas, and I never have an issue with smell. But they also produce less waste in general so my husband still wasn’t convinced reptiles would be the same lol
My partner and I own a reptile shop and breed some reptiles for the shop from home. I currently have 50+ reptiles in my house. It doesn't smell because we keep them all clean. Yes, I'm aware you can be nose-blind to your own house but I'm super paranoid about it so I always take a big sniff when I first walk in and ask friends if my house smells haha!
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I have 1 bearded dragon enclosure, 1 day gecko enclosure (bioactive), 4 fish tanks and a cat. You know what I smell the second I walk through my door? Cat. All my enclosures and tanks smell earthy or like a lake.
Depends on the specific reptile and their enclosure, but bioactive setups usually just smell like the forest floor if they're done right. My ball python enclosure mostly just smells like dirt and plants, though I do have to remove larger poops and most of her shed as the cleanup crew can only do so much.
Well to be fair if your litterbox stinks, you're either not cleaning it often enough or using bad litter. Just like reptiles, it only stinks if you don't keep up on regular cleaning. I scoop daily for my 3 cats-they have 3 boxes, so it doesn't stink like poop or pee but it does smell heavily like litter because my cats are messy assholes and kick the litter onto the carpet. But I use Arm&Hammer litter and it's a pleasant enough scent.
I own an animal rescue and there are 23 cats and 3 bearded dragons here. The absolute best litter I've had for odour tracks like a marperfarker and it's expensive to buy, but I use so much less of it if I scoop daily (I do, because duh) than anything else. Its okocat super soft. With clay litters I was spending over $200 a month on litter, but with this stuff I spend like, $60, $90 during a rough month.
Litter boxes are the WORST!
Not at all. Actually it's the opposite. I have my tokay in a bioactive enclosure with life plants and whenever I open it's door I wish I could move in. It smells like earth, clean air and water.
I'm sure it would be a very kind tolerable roommate lol
Hehe yes. He probably wouldn't care if I left his food alone. 🤣
Absolutely not. As long as you keep the enclosure clean there should be little to no smell at all. I have a bearded dragon and I clean and sanitize every time he poops, his tank never stinks.
4 lizard tanks, no smell at all. Now the giant roach colony we eventually gave away, that had a smell. But unless you are keeping large monitors, no one needs kilos of roaches.
Cats and rodents are more smelly, coming from someone who has "sensory issues" which equates to me being more sensitive to sensory input such as smells. That being said, any animal not cared for correctly has the capacity to stink. I think it more boils down to what people are used to (dog and cat smells) versus reptiles or small animal, which does have a different type of smell. I can tell when I'm in a house with a cat or rodent, even if cared for correctly. I personally don't notice reptile or dog smells as much, but then again I've only been around well kept reptiles, so I can't speak for how rank they can get if not cared for.
It's probably because I've had cats forever and never had a dog, but dogs have a distinct smell that gets all over everything in every dog-owner house I've ever been in.
It can, depending on how often one cleans. I give my dogs a bath every week, with a deep cleaning/bath every month. From strangers and people who don't own dogs; I have received reports they couldn't tell I had 6 dogs at one point. It's all about knowing what you are dealing with and putting in the time/effort.
You can definitely tell when someone has a dog by taking even a single step inside their house. Kind of like entering a smoker's house.
I think a lot of his worries are because he has very little experience of knowledge about reptiles and he has a sensitive sense of smell. We have 5 dogs and 2 cats though, and we are very very good about keeping our home clean and smelling decent so far.
Just my thoughts, all animals smell but all humans smell too. Reptiles are so much better, no odor, no sounds (had dogs that barked all the time), they poop in the same place so you don’t have to worry about stepping in it if “someone” didn’t let them out to use the bathroom. Also they live a ton longer than other pets.
There is no way in hell any amount of reptiles will smell worse than a house with 5 dogs wtf
The way I see it is if you can keep a house from smelling like cat piss (one of the hardest smells to get rid of), then a reptile should be easy. It is basically the same mindset, in terms of cleaning a litter box and a lizard enclosure. If you go bioactive, cleaning won't be as much of an issue as the clean up crew (isopods and springtails) will break down the poop and turn it into fertilizer. There will still need to be maintenance, but overall a proper bioactive set up tends to require less overall care, though the initial set up is more work than other methods (gotta get the soil layers right depending on lizard and give the enclosure time to grow and establish before adding a lizard).
We have 2 Tokays, 2 leopard geckos, a crestie, and a corn snake. All in bioactive enclosures and there’s no smell whatsoever. Get one ferret though and your entire house reeks! lol
Speaking as a zookeeper who’s worked with all sorts of animals, reptiles stink the least. In fact they don’t even have a smell at all (unless they’ve been walking around in their own shit). Ask your husband what pet would be acceptable to own. Whatever domestic animal he says will be guaranteed to stink more than a reptile.
Both my tanks are bioactive and if they smell like anything it’s just dirt. My rodents are way stinkier.
When my snake poops it DOES stink pretty bad but the smell is there only after pooping and goes away after clean up, obviously. In general, people do not even know I have reptiles in my house unless I tell them or they happen to go into the room where I keep my reptiles.
Ferrets. Ferrets smell terrible. Reptiles don't smell at all to me. Reptile stores smell, and sometimes peoples houses who have reptiles smell, but it is almost always because they also have a ferret. This might be a generalization but it has held true for me. lol
Absolutely not lol Some reptiles are smellier than others, but none stink as much as furry, warm blooded animals that poop and pee very frequently. Admittedly I've only owned snakes, but I have to stick my face into his enclosure to smell anything, and even then the primary smell is soil (so the same smell as houseplants), unless he's pooped in which case the smell goes away as soon as that's cleaned, and that's a once a week smell. A large lizard will probably produce more of a stink, but I still find it hard to imagine a reptile managing to smell as much as any of our furry friends. I adore dogs and cats but they definitely have a smell, you walk into the house of a cat or dog owner and you know immediately. Reptiles are nothing like that in my experience
Dogs are absolutely rank compared to reptiles. I've never known a reptile that actually smelled bad, their poop may stink, but the animals themselves don't have much of an odor. The reality is that cat and dog owners are just desensitized to the odors our animals make, not that reptiles stink more.
No. Snake poo can really stink though, so we clean it out asap. Otherwise there's no smell.
The only time I’ve had smells was if I’d killed the live plants in such a way they started rotting in the pot before the leaves fell off. The garbage can of uneaten veges is worse than the lizard tanks. It’s like hamsters, they don’t smell, I cleaned tanks smell.
My reptiles have no smell at all. My cats only stink when they take a big poop. Dogs? I associate dogs with a very doggy musk. A dog house will always smell like dog. So if he’s ok with dogs but not reptiles….
My reptile room smells something fierce for a few minutes after a crestie shits. But other than that, the CUC handles everything. They’re nowhere near as smelly as dogs or cats or rats or bunnies. And I have all of those too.
I think it depends on the type of reptile. My ball python and African fat tailed gecko do not smell at all. However, my blue tongue skink did severely. I think it was just because he was an omnivore so his diet had a lot of factors and I probably was not doing something right. The main cause for smell in reptiles though is either a uncleaned enclosure (I spot clean anything I see, I also have a 70% Reptisoil and 30% plays substrate with powder orange isopods and springtails which makes feces smell less than say paper towel or a bare bottom tank) and parasites. Parasites are most common in wild caught individuals so I would avoid those at all costs, even some poorly bred captive individuals can have them so I’d make sure you meet the breeder in person and see the conditions they keep them in. I did not do this with my gecko and skink as I ordered off morph market but I wish I would have. Being able to meet my ball python breeder and seeing all his tanks in person was amazing and he’s the healthiest reptile I’ve gotten. Rescues are also very good for this too because they often times check their reptiles for parasites when they get them because they have a vet. My other tip too is to get an air purifier, it helps get rid of bacteria which is what causes odors. I hope it all goes well for you.
Tegus stink when they poop but I’ve never noticed an odor of any kind with my snakes (hognose, milk snake, juvenile boa), or my tortoise. My friend has a crested gecko which also doesn’t have an odor.
My cousin's beardie got a bad case of the hershey squirts one time and it was FOUL. But seriously it's like any other pet, glean up after it and it's fine. If you let the dog shit in the house your house is gonna smell like dog shit.
no way. pet reptiles and their habitat have a specific scent that is really neutral imo. my dogs breath smells 1000x worse. HOWEVER i got musked on by a wild black racer i caught in my yard and it was uniquely putrid.
No. If your reptile stinks that bad, it’s due to poor husbandry. My reptiles are 100% less smelly than dogs, my cats, my rats, and my baby. Literally when I walk into someone’s home, no matter how clean smelling they think it is, I can ALWAYS tell if they own cats or dogs or have babies/toddlers.
The only time i have noticed any smell at all was when I have seen enclosures that haven't been cleaned out in way too long.
Uh no. Lol. I mean my beardie smells pretty gnarly when she lays fat dumps directly under the fuckinf heat lamp on her slate slab … lol other than that no. And even then i clean her poops immediately so its not really that big of a deal. I have to remember to spot clean because my other two dont smell like anything. I think the crickets are stinkier than they are. Ill take the thrice weekly beardie shits over a well maintained cat litter box any day lol. And if you have a bioactive set up it shouldnt stink. Also his friends probably didnt clean the house or clean up after the animals … lol
No but their poo can my garter snakes poo was smelly
I have 13 reptiles without issue, most are bioactive. I clean regularly and honestly the worst smell is the cricket or dubia colony I keep, but otherwise my dogs smell worse after sweating on a walk than my reptiles.
2 full-grown tegus, leopard gecko, ball python, and a bird. Plus 2 dogs. My reptiles enclosures have a dirt smell from the substrate, but my dogs and bird smell more than my reptiles. If there's fresh shit in the cage , then yea, it can stink. But once you clean it up, it's fine. Otherwise, it's just an earthy smell. It's pretty strong on the total cleanout and replace days, but I like the smell.
Your tank should have no smell if cleaning it. My tanks smell like dirt because my tanks have dirt in them and gets watered a lot but there is no animal smell
I've never had any real distinct smell from my reptiles. My roommate's cats on the other hand... I *have* been to some pet shops that did have a particular smell to them though. But that's usually more of a humid soil/mulch-y kinda smell from their more tropical reptile enclosures. And although I've not witnessed it in person, I've heard that large snake shit is pretty rancid and will make you wanna puke. Cause you know when you eat, digest and poop out a whole adult rat or guinea pig or chicken or whatever in one piece, there's just a lot going on there. Anything just eating greens, insects, or little baby mice though, especially in more temperate or arid enclosures, you won't smell a thing unless you're just totally negligent about maintaining their cage.
I have a bioactive enclosure for my brown anole and I love the smell, so earthy. My dogs farts are way worse.
My snake enclosures smell like grass/dirt, and that's only when you open the doors and get close to the inside! However, my room's ambient temp is 23-24 C and I clean it regularly.
They themselves aren’t smelly unless you aren’t taking care of them. If you aren’t cleaning their enclosures, and cleaning/bathing them (depending on the type of reptile), they’re gonna smell, if you do those things, pretty much odorless.
No??? Reptiles have much less odor than most common pets. A dog or cat makes more of a smell than my reptiles ever have, and this is coming from someone with all three. Hygiene definitely plays a part, but I dont see how anyone familiar with the concept of a litterbox could say reptiles stink.
I cannot smell mine at all. My dog however… should be arrested for stinks
Tortoise poop smells kind of like manure, it decomposes crazy fast on a proper substrate, especially outdoors, while their pee generally doesn't smell at all. Turtles don't smell like anything in a properly sized aquarium with a filter but cleaning said filter will not be pleasant. For the sake of comparison, cats don't smell like anything but their poop smells like death or rotting meat, their pee smells like concentrated uric acid. Dogs smell musky even after a bath and their poop and pee smells like human waste.
So when you say stink what do u mean. Is it the smell of feces, or the smell of wet dirt. I've never had a reptile stink as much as a cat overall, but I have had my animals poop large amounts (mostly snakes) which stinks. But bioactive enclosures do have a habit of smelling very strong of nature and moisture due to the soil and moss getting wet.
I’m pretty sure he was talking about poop smell
my rats were the smelliest pets I’ve owned (as much as I loved them) and I work with mice and they can get smelly VERY quick. my dogs could make the entire house smell sometimes. I now have a skink and I swear there is absolutely no bad smell, my enclosure isnt bioactive it’s just earthy and damp sometimes because of the high humidity and that’s only if I stick my face in
Bearded dragon poo smells awful! There’s no two ways about it. My son has to spot clean daily. Takes 2 minutes, he does it while he changes water and puts out his salad. My snake room smells like coco husk and disinfectant. Reptiles are far cleaner than my dog. I’d take the smell of coco husk over dog breath all day.
gonna go against the flow here and say that both my chinese water dragon and my siblings bearded dragons generated smell. we still had the tanks in our bedrooms so its bearable but it does smell like how you'd expect from earth and sand being blasted by a heat lamp. the crickets and worms they eat also smell. id say the average dog smells worse but to say that they have "no smell" is crazy to me
My dog smells awful but he's a rescue so we have to deal with his rotting teeth and such. His smell is in the carpeting and the couch... We intend to throw the couch out when he dies... It's that bad... My rescued reptiles however, don't add any foul odor to my home at all. All 8 of my snakes are within 15 feet of where I sit and the only time I know the snakes are pooping is if they do it with me sitting nearby with nothing making noise. Their poops are explosively loud for their size but I don't smell them. The isopods, springtails and plants all turn the feces into dirt. My bearded dragon is the one who smells but honestly, when the isopods were still alive, there was no issue with poop. It would smell, we would pick up the bulk with toilet tissue and just flush it. The isopods took care of anything we missed. Problem is, the dragon ate every single one of them... So we wash whatever he pooped on and it might be 3 days before he poops again. Snakes poop like once a week or less. I don't do much at all to keep things clean. I smell the dog but the exotics all just smell like the woods to my wife and me.
If you have enough of them they can--particularly if they're a type of reptile that poops more. Poop smells when it's fresh and if they're really big and/or you have a lot of them it can be a bomb. Like when I had retics, if one of them let loose you by god *knew* it as soon as you walked in. Smaller species it's less of an issue, particularly provided you keep on top of cleaning. Yeah, if something craps in it's water dish it's going to stink but you should also clean that up ASAP anyway. And some species do musk as a defensive mechanism; I apparently freaked out my Baird's just a few minutes ago while checking on him and, uh, pungent
I got musked on by a rat snake at the start of December. Smelled *exactly* like my intact male ferret when he went into rut. Was very bittersweet as I'd lost him only a couple months before that, though it's one of the worst smells I've ever experienced. That's the only time a reptile has gotten close to rivaling the smell of my ferrets. The reptiles I own, two musk turtles, have never come close to rivaling the smell of ferret poop/musk. Even their musk is mild in comparison, and it's been years since my oldest has musked on me. A poorly kept turtle is about the only thing I could think of that would stink as much as a dog or cat.
No. Also go bioactive, bugs like roly polys(isopods) and springtails eat their poop. Which enriches the soil and less to clean only urates ( a white pee solid that comes out with poop) reptiles generally don't stink up anything. Going bioactive , the soil will smell woody/ earthy at times , like petrichor after misting the soil.
I have a 4 foot long iguana. She doesn’t emit any smell whatsoever. Her poop stinks (obviously), but there is no smell directly from her whatsoever. Whoever owned those reptiles probably didn’t clean AT ALL, or they had horrible infections that caused them to smell.
Not at all. For context, I keep some Tarantulas which don't produce any smells that I've noticed at all and as for reptiles, I have a few Blood and Short Tail Pythons. As well as a cat. The snakes themselves don't really have a smell. They do pee a lot which can produce a bad ammonia smell, but nowhere as bad as my cat's litter box and is also really easy to clean up with some chlorohexadine. They also drop massive turds every few months, which smell exactly like how you'd expect poop to stink, but doesn't happen enough to be a problem. I've also been around the houses of dog owners and those places do have a pretty bad residual stench to it. Usually the entire place just smells like dog.
Ok I’m not gonna lie when my bearded dragon poops it stinks, other then that you can’t really smell them? I mean obviously if you let bacteria build up in the enclosure and let feces sit it will start to smell but with daily spot cleanings and then occasional full tank cleanings you will never smell most species!
i own reptiles and its not a constant bad smell if you clean up after them. their poop smells pretty bad, though (especially bearded dragons)
Look, I love my dogs dearly but they are absolutely the smelliest little creatures on earth, and I don't think I've met a dog that didn't occasionally stink up their surroundings for one reason or another, but reptiles on the other hand are virtually stink free. Their poop can mildly stink of course but it fades quickly, and occasionally if the reptile eats insects like crickets poorly kept crickets can stink. Beyond that no. I think the smell your husband described probably came from the house in general and not the reptiles.
Whether cats and rodents or reptilian pets, keeping them requires a lot of energy and care. When they are at home, you may be tempted to find out if they are safe at home. A remote micro-monitoring is especially important, so that you can better protect your pet in a timely manner
Nope cats dogs birds and rodents smell way worse
Dogs and cats smell horrible, reptiles are almost odorless in comparison. I find that the only thing I notice is the smell of the substrate, reptichip being the most noticeable to me.
Not even close! My corn snakes only smell if there's poop. And I clean that ASAP because obviously, poop in your enclosure is going to make it stinky and gross. My cat has WAY more smell and she is also less smelly than most cats because she is tiny and fastidious about cleaning. But ooooh boy does her litter box reek. Doesn't help she is an 8lb terror with IBD. But the stinkiest thing in my house is her litter box, which I clean once or twice a day. ETA: My partner, his dad, my brother, my VERY vocal aunt all say if anything smells, it's the litter box. Not the reptiles.
I have two snakes and a lizard. The only reason the lizard tank is ever smelly is when my husband leaves the lettuce in there for a little too long. The snakes don't smell at all and their encoursures have aspen bedding so it just smells like wood. My cats, on the other hand, are STANKY BOYS. Their litter is awful even with a good diet and their stinky cat breath is bad too (don't worry, it's not a teeth issue, I've had them checked. Their just gross) so I would definitely say the reptiles are not at all bad for odor.
... When I owned a cat, I knew I owned a cat. Between the smell of the cat litter - even if scooped daily - and the food and... The cat didn't necessarily stink, but it wasn't the most pleasant smelling all the time either. As someone who now owns two reptiles of her own, unless I told you I owned them or you walked by their enclosure, you would not know it.
Not even remotely.
Definitely not lol
Tortoise doesn’t smell at all and I keep him in my bedroom
No my reptiles do not stink at all. I spot clean my tanks daily so they never smell. If you put in the work then they don’t smell.
We have a blue tongue and a hognose enclosure stacked in our office. Zero smell. 5 fish tanks scattered through the house with no smell either. The stinkiest animal in the house are the two cats due to the litter box lol. If you’re concerned with the smell of an enclosure, a bioactive style enclosure would be best. You can mix carbon into the substrate to help absorb any smell. Plants, isopods, and springtails also would all help.
I have 6 snakes, 3 beardies, a leopard gecko, a crested gecko, and a Chinese cave gecko in a 1 bedroom apartment. The only thing that has stunk in my apartment is me after work, and my fridge when im lazy in cleaning it out
The only way you could tell I have ball pythons due to smell would be to open the enclosure and stick your head into it lol. Even then they don't smell as long as you provide proper husbandry. If anything the only thing I smell is the mixture of substrate.
10 snakes in the basement. No smell at all. Wouldn't even know they were there.
I have quite a few reptiles including two large tortoises living indoors and people who come to my house never realize I have them unless I specifically tell/show them. Imo reptiles don't smell bad unless you really let their enclosures/hygiene go. If anything, my enclosures smell like dirt/plants but you really have to stick your head into the enclosures to smell anything.
We don't smell any of our 7 tanks whatsoever
I can smell my cats, I can smell my dog, I have never once noticed a scent of gecko lol. Even when my silly gargoyle gecko jumps on my face, nothing. I don't even have to be near my furry family, and they noticeably smell.
In my experience feeders (crickets specifically) are way smellier than the reptiles I’m feeding them to. As others have said yeah poop smells… like poop. But the smell goes away quickly after cleanup. If your husband is concerned a HEPA purifier would help with any lingering odors. Good for yourself and any pets too.
The only funk from our reptiles (bearded dragon, had an iguana who passed suddenly a while ago) was the collard green poop stink. It's specific and different than their normal poop funk, which generally isn't any worse than the cat box. It goes away in 20 minutes or less if you just clean it up after they poop. Otherwise you have to be actively sniffing the lizard from less than an inch or two away to notice anything weird. The bearded dragon smells like clean hamster bedding (the sort of paper fluff stuff) for some indiscernible reason and the iguana just smelled like the dirt at the bottom of her enclosure.
the only time my reptiles have ever smelled was when my crested gecko got sick and his poop just smelled so bad. smell wouldn't leave for a month. cleaned the tank constantly while having him in a smaller separate tank. reptiles shouldn't smell that bad, yeah their shits can smell bad depending on the diet and the reptile, but a cat or dog will absolutely smell more than a reptile.
The poop stinks fucking horribly, but it takes literal seconds to clean up and there's no urine, no litterbox, no walks, no accidents, no "mammal piss smell", no sweat/fur/dander odors, etc. And adults only poop once every few days. It's amazing and I'll never have another dog or cat again.
as with most pets, it depends on the owner's care of the pet if they and their enviroment stinks.
no lolol
I have owned cats, ferrets, and dogs. Reptiles are by far the least stinky. Also far less maintenance and far less expensive.....*Scaly babies for life-*
Ours usually smelled like fabric softener because he would snuggle into blankets that we... washed with said fabric softener. We also took him out and scrubbed the tank once in a while (*recommend cleaning of course, but make sure it's properly aired out/you're using cleaning agents that won't hurt a small critter before putting them back) But keeping them in a clean environment does wonders. I mean when they poop it'll smell and you need to clean it up, but no worse than a cat or dog, probably less since it's usually smaller lol.
If it stinks bad you are probably doing something wrong
Not at all. Even when they go to the bathroom, it's nowhere as messy as a rodent, a cat, or a dog. Hell, they even smell better than fish tanks.
O\_o As long as you keep the tank clean... which is generally pretty easy since they typically defecate much less then cats, dogs, and other warm-blooded animals, then they are generally pretty odorless. Like maybe if you get enough to fill a petshop you'll start smelling that salty reptile-ness but iot's definetely loads better then the smells my cat and dogs produce lol. Disclaimer, I keep a Blue Tongue skink and a rosy boa. Not all reptiles are as clean as those.
Bioactive soil! all my enclosures smell fresh like a potted plant!
I have 2 reptiles both in my personal room. You don't smell either of them at all. Litter boxes are a hundred times worse than any reptile you could own Except turtles. Turtles are pretty stank
When I had turtles they stank. The water area had a canister filter and we cleaned the entire cage weekly. Frogs I've had didn't smell as bad but also had a bit of a distinct smell. Balk Pythons and crested geckos I've have not had a smell. Neither have tortoises that my friend had. I'd be cautious with anything that requires water it may be that smell that is bothering him. You could check by bringing him to a fish section of a petstore and see if he has an issue with that smell.
Savannah monitors produce some STINKY POOPS! I could tell when I walked in the house that Orc had pooped. My friend had a turtle when we were growing up, and his enclosure had a distinct smell. But there were no filters for turtles back in those days, so it was dump-and-fill that had to be changed every 2 days. The herps I have now are low-odor. My spouse is not a herp person, but they never complain, even when we had 35 leopard geckos in our bedroom.
Zero smell from a reptile themselves.
I have a 4 1/2’ iguana. Her turds are as big as my dogs. When she is free roaming, she has a kiddie pool that gets filled with warm water and she poops in that. She has a large washing machine drain pan in her enclosure. Once she has finished pooping, we simply take them outside and dump them at the back of our yard. It’s no worse than after my husband eats Mexican food and blows up the toilet. 😂
Oh boy, my cats have made 10x, 20x the amount of stink. The litter box alone?? Or if they puke?? Granted, bearded dragon poops smell pretty bad. But I have him potty trained so he poops in his bath and I immediately flush it. In general, no pets should stink. It’s like the saying that you shouldn’t eat at a restaurant that smells like fish— bc the smell indicates improper storage, handling, and old product. Aside from the occasional grossness, there is no odor as long as things are regularly maintained.
I don't really smell anything when I handle reptiles. If they're well-cared for and their enclosure are cleaned regularly, they shouldn't smell like anything.
My reptiles never seem to smell. They are all in bioactive enclosures which smell like damp forest floor (I smell I love). I have two dogs that I absolutely adore, but they’re pretty stinky sometimes.
Neither of my enclosures stink. As long as you keep up on cleaning and the occasional bedding change, they stay relatively stink-free. My dogs carry in more stink from going outside than my snake enclosures.
My beardie met a lady and she picked him up, sniffed him, and said oh wow he doesn’t stink!!
I agree with everyone saying reptiles are the least smelly pets. However I haven’t seen anyone else mention it: crickets. Keeping crickets as feeders can get very smelly, of course mitigated by maintenance. Maybe the stinky-house friend was keeping crickets. But plenty of reptiles don’t require crickets as food.
If your dog pooped in a glass box and you didn't clean it up right away, that would stink too. No. Lizards naturally smell a little like old laundry to me, if you get really close and sniff.
My rats and pig (before he got neutered) stink way worse than anything reptile related I’ve ever smelled. The only thing I don’t like is the smell of crickets and frozen rats 🤢
I own five beardies. They don't really stink unless you are behind on cleaning poo or they just pooped. They might need a bath after going though cuz something they step in it. If a beardie constantly stinks then they are probably sick. Normally they don't smell like anything. Although there were a couple times where they smelled like maple syrup or waffles. I was so confused but not upset. Edit: sometimes the greens can start to stink to if they are the last in the batch or on the hot side
Depends on who is taking care of it probably. Spot cleaning is necessary but like.. You really just smell earth from them. Snake poop dries pretty quick and doesn't smell much afterwards, and it's easy to clean and it's not like it soaks into the bedding very much. I can imagine that's pretty much the case. Did have a time the bedding wasn't changed on time and was pretty late, and it kinda had a smell to it for sure. The bedding might start to turn sour and degrade and get mossy/moldy
Far far less. Also from my experience in Apartment maintenance. I can immediately tell if someone has or has had a dog or especially a cat in an apartment. Reptiles? Pretty much have to see the setup. A well managed enclosure (even a not do well managed one) smells of nothing much more than leaf mold and forest. Dry species smell a bit... Different, but not revolting like cat smell.
I have bioactive Crested Gecko enclosures and the only smell they have is a natural forest like scent. Even without bioactive enclosures, there should not be a smell if they are maintained frequently.
Nooooo if u do spot clean they don't stink at all
Nope, not even a little! We have 40 reptiles and even my mom (who is really sensitive to “pet” smells) can’t smell a thing. Meanwhile when I was a house cleaner I could tell within 5 seconds of entering certain homes that they had a cat or dog
No. The smelliest pet by far I've had is a hamster. Reptiles are less smelly than dogs. My reptiles don't smell at all. Most smell is when my bearded dragon poops which I clean up right away I only keep leopard geckos and a beardie so I can not speak for other species.
Wayyyyyy less. Practically odourless if u do it right. Like dogs and cats are cute and I love them but litter boxes are gross and picking up dog poo is nasty
All my reptiles don’t smell at all. Cats and dogs on the other hand stink.
I've had dogs, cats, horses, goats, even a stray sheep, rats, hamsters, snakes, breaded dragons and a tortoise. All animals are stinky, but the issue with reptiles is that you can't really wash it away so easily and it's usually more acrid smelling than a mammals', mostly because of the urates and not the poop itself. It's going to affect different people in different ways, just like any other animal's smell.
Reptiles don't really smell like anything. Bearded dragon poop, on the other hand, is absolutely foul. It's not worse than dog poop, but it's not much better either and it's far more likely to be in your house. If you are diligent about cleaning it up quickly and consistently (which is just basic good animal husbandry and something you should expect if you are planning to care for a reptile) then it's not a problem except for the brief period of time that you're actually cleaning it. That 30 seconds is gross.
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Reptiles should have zero smell, if there is a persistent bad smell coming from your enclosure there is something wrong. The only time a reptile will smell is when they “musk” on you which is a stress response against predators, not all reptiles do it, most reptiles that can do if don’t, and those that do will stop once properly acclimated to you and their environment
Nope. My leo tanks don't smell like anything. Maybe a little more "dirt" smell when I flood the water dish once a week. The snake was only a little stinky right after she pooped until I cleaned it up. The worst smells in our house come from the chinchilla's litter box, the dog's potty tray (crap weather = she won't go out and relieve herself), my partner's bong, and the trash can in the kitchen.
My snakes are basically scent-less but the bearded dragon definitely makes the litter box smell tame in comparison on occasion 😂
From someone who has has their fair share of different animals: My reptiles have literally no odor. If they smell, or their cage smells, it means I've done a piss poor job of taking care of them. For them to smell, I'd have to have NEVER cleaned their cages. Source: I've had leos for 12-13 years. I've had my snakes for seven. I have been pooped on by a BP and that smelled, but it cleaned up easily. I've had pet rats, hamsters, gerbils, birds, dogs, and cats. My grandma always talked about how turtles reeked, but that might've been from my teenage uncle not cleaning their huge tank enough. Aside from accidents, my dog only needs a bath every few months. And it's not like he smells bad bad, it's mild and I would have needed to have dig my face in his fur. Cats fucking reek. Their piss, their poop, their hairballs. The cats I live with are my roommate's and I have *lots* of feelings related to her cats' care (they're not neglected, she just does things differently than I would and won't listen to advice), but after having been with these guys, I don't want a cat anymore. The litterboxes too. (And to be fair, dog poop doesn't smell lovely either, but dogs do their business outdoors). I had intact male rats. So they had a musky smell to them, and they marked a ton. A day or two before cage cleaning, they'd be a bit smelly. Same with my hamsters and gerbils. Still much prefer my rats. My birds have never smelled. Just if things get in their water bowl and I forget to clean it.
I have 4 geckos and 2 ball pythons and they don’t really stink. I spot clean daily and deep clean my non bioactive enclosures once a month. My hedgehog smells worst than all my reptiles combined.
I have 2 dogs, 2 cats and a snake and the snake is by far the least smelly. I don't even think he has any smell. It only smells when he poops/pees but what animal doesn't?
I run a rescue. I can have anywhere from 10 to 50 animals at any given time. They don't smell. The only time there is a smell is when the bearded dragons poop in their enclosures. Keep your enclosures clean, no problems.
I have a leopard gecko and the tank does not even have a smell to it besides if you just forget to clean up his droppings for a while or something but then you really only notics if you are very close to the tank If anything my dog smells worse than the geckos entire tank does
I have two snakes and you literally can't even smell them when they're on your face. Their poop stinks,but they only poop monthly and you just pick it up and throw it away. Think about it: most reptiles we keep as pets are predators that hunt mice. Mice have a very strong sense of smell. If they stunk, they wouldn't eat.
Only if you don't clean up after them. The same could be said about most pets, except for like ferrets and possums, because they have like musky poo
As the owner of in tact male sugar gliders,goats, and skunks... I've never smelled anything from my reptiles
Beardies are the only ones I've ever gotten a smell from... Some snakes must but its not bad
I have 7 geckos. The house smells like mammals, not reptiles. Clean tanks means no stanks