Skink Stink!!!!

[Emz3]

How do I get rid of it?! My skinks make our entire house smell bad. What could it be and how do I fix it?

What do you all do to keep smell down?

[Dakota]

Change the water bowl everyday, spot clean the substrate almost daily (adult will be once a week or so), and change out the food when the skink is done, and change the bedding every 3-6 months or so.. also make sure no poop is on props and stuff, as poo sticks to that stuff pretty hard once dried.

[BlueTonguesOfSA]

Are you cleaning up after them after they excrete waste? I'm familiar with that smell and that usually helps. Also, what kind of substrate are you using? --Jennifer

[donkeybuff]

It could also be food left in the bowl.

[Vengeance]

I spot clean Gizmo's enclosure whenever I see feces/urates (a daily to every second day occurance at his current age) and partial change the substrate on the side he uses as a toilet once a month, he's such a considerate fellow. I perform a full substrate change every three months and I use Kritters Crumble in the coarse variety, although I'm uncertain if it reduces smell. I've noticed that the substrate on the right side of his enclosure only smells bad when I stick my nose in it (figure of speech, although my nose ends up fairly close to it when trying to find the buried feces!).

His food smells awful, I'm not a fan of liver.

[Dood]

Switch to a raw diet

[Linnea]

what veggies do you feed your skink?
some veggies do cause extra stinky poop! like when you eat beans and.....well, its self explanatory i believe

also, leaving food and food bowls in the enclosure is sure to be a stinky issue. id not recommend it if youre having problems with the smell.

just to make sure, it doesnt smell like mold, right? if so, its no good for anyone in the house, and youll have to find the source. some species of mold can be very aggressive and stick to odd surfaces, and pretty much be impossible to get rid of.

[Jeff]

I am keeping 35 skinks at the moment. The only thing that ever smells is the dog food that I feed them. That lasts for about 12 hours because some of them don't eat right away. After feeding day, there is really no smell at all. Can you identify where the smell is coming from? There really shouldn't be much smell other than the 5 or 10 minutes after a big poop.

[Lea]

I've never had issues with smells, either. I think you might have an issue outside the usual just after a poop smell, because ordinarily you shouldn't have smelly issues if fed correctly and you have a healthy animal.

[Emz3]

Thanks all! The smell is definitely coming from their tank. The room that they are in is humid due to a couple of fish tanks. Great for skink skin and scales! I am guilty of leaving their food dish in their tank for 24-48 hours. I will try and be better about that. They usually take 2 days to eat it though. I am also guilty about not changing their water daily. I have always changed it as needed! I will be better about that as well! When they poop, I clean it up as soon as I notice. I use reptile carpet because they had a problem with impaction when I first got them. I think this could be the root of the problem. The carpet gets wet, the carpet gets crapped on. I used to think carpet was easier but I am interested in considering a new substraight. I have a friend that uses some kind of pellets. Any thoughts? I'm looking for the most low maintenance substraight that wont hurt the potato lizards!

Also, because someone asked. I generally feed, acorn squash, kale or collard greens and then any veggies/fruit I have in the fridge. (usually carrots and blueberries) I feed Halo cat food occasionally and then Nature's choice dog food.

Any advise is appreciated!

[donkeybuff]

With good husbandry, there is actually very little chance of impaction from most suitable substrates. I highly recommend aspen, or cypress mulch if your skinks would appreciate the humidity.

[Emz3]

Thanks, I think I will look into cypress or aspen!

[spandangle]

I find Kritters Krumble (coconut mulch) really good for eliminating the odours. I tried every kind of substrate to get rid of the smell and I have found by far that KK is the best. I don't get any smell apart from the dog food that I feed them 2 to 3 times a week.

[dsteamn]

I don't have as many skinks as Jeff, only eight at the moment, but also do not have a smell in my house. Their poo can be potent when it is first delivered, but dries to a much fainter odor. I use cypress mulch which is good for odor control as well as digging and burrowing. I always try to remove food within a couple of hours of giving it to them. I figure I wouldn't want to eat it after that so I don't want them to either. There is waste sometimes, but I look at it the same way as if there were leftovers on my plate. They're garbage.

[Kurt]

I use wipe out from zoo med and it takes odors away very well. Also, good spot cleaning helps a ton. I clean the whole tanks with wipe out weekly too.