Poop smell? cage advice?

[yojon3000]

okay so my veiled chams poop smells only if im very close to it. It smells kinda like pee IMO but ive gotten some leaves in his cage and they smelled the same Im starting to think its the soil and the poop together and it being moist. for the fact that he poops on the soil. anyways. I dont think it could be a parasite
-when I got him at a reptile store he pooped twice on our way home and the poop didnt smell. but in his old temporary cage he had fake plants and no drainage and got poop on the bottom and since there was no drainage it smelled like pee. Im thinking its doing the same but on the plants.

As of now i have a pothos a draecana (however you spell it) and a ficus. but im getting tired of the poop landing on the soil and thinking of just buying alot of fake vines the thing is he eats his ficus sometimes he tried eating the draecana but it was to tough for him to pull off a leaf so he gave up. is there cheap fake vines that are touch and anyone can recomend me? so i can try? I want to see if the smell will go away hopefully . but if i do find vines fake plants im going to put all his real plants outside just incase he tries eating the fake one.

anyways sorry for the long post, its midnight.Im trying to get all my thoughts out and questions
EDIT: and also I dont think theres signs of parasites.. could you lists symptoms? and i could answer them? Ive had him for maybe 4-5 months, i think. im tired right now.... his poops are all round and nice and his urates arent watery

 

[Elizadolots]

I think smelly poop is a sign of parasites...so, I would say it's time to take a sample to the vet....but, I could be wrong.

 

[yojon3000]

did you read the whole thing though?

 

[cstorms]

just try to stay on top of picking up the poop when you see it in the cage. Even with fake plants, poop is bound to end up on whatever you put in there.

I noticed that my cage was a bit smelly when a couple of poops were hidden in the dirt on my ficus.. keep the real plants, just take them outside every once in a while and hose them off and maybe let them have a day or two without being pooped and misted on like crazy.

 

[AngieL]

Have you checked under your plant pots for old water? I think I saw a post on here about a pothos smelling really bad and it turned out there was stagnant water sitting under the pot.

 

[Hoj]

Have you checked under your plant pots for old water? I think I saw a post on here about a pothos smelling really bad and it turned out there was stagnant water sitting under the pot.

This is ture, I have found standing water from a pothos to stink, I dont know why it but it seems to smell worse than the other plants.

 

[Ulrich]

This is ture, I have found standing water from a pothos to stink, I dont know why it but it seems to smell worse than the other plants.

I' second that observation, different plants use different nutrients of the soil/water. My coffee plants produce fairly oily water yet clear, my ficus just stains yet makes the water yellow, my pothos is always in the same planter as any other plants but I would suspect that, as it has air-roots, it somehow processes the odor of the environment as well.

 

[yojon3000]

alright thanks. But the reason I wanted fake plants was cause the real plants in his cage are annoying.
ficus leaves fall constantly
pothos is growing leaves but only at the bottom and its looked the same since i bought it and ive had it for like 2-3 months.and theres no leaves at the top
of his cage so it looks extremely plain at the top
I attached a picture to hopefully show that.
My cham only ate leaves when he was dehydrated though to get more water
I started giving him showers and he hasnt eaten any leaves.
if i put fake plants i wont put them on the bottom so when he poops it will fall straight down and i could get them.
cause right now three pots are crammed in there and he usually poops in the soil and i dont like sticking my whole arm in there. hes only at the top foot of the cage and i want to put fake plants there my plants are to short and pretty much dead . and hopefully if i do that there wont be any smell . and there wont be dead leaves and poop on the ground and i dont have to take 3 plants out and change the paper towel it would make it much easier.

 

[Ulrich]

Pothos is a parasite. It needs a carrier with nutrients. Mesh doesn't work. I use a bark background and pothos loves it. If you don't want the bark, I recommend passion flower. It even curls around the mesh.

 

[yojon3000]

yea but i want to get rid of the plants could i? I want to do it to give him more plants at the top and to clean easier. and for the most...to see if the smell goes away

 

[AngieL]

yea but i want to get rid of the plants could i? I want to do it to give him more plants at the top and to clean easier. and for the most...to see if the smell goes away

We use a combo of fake and real plants. We have a live ficus (I hear you on the leaves falling!) and a dwarf palm. We have used fake ivy and a few other fake leafy thingies to create a 'curtain' at the top of the enclosure so there's plenty of coverage.

The benefits for humidity and a more natural environment totally outweigh the easiness of not having them IMO.

 

[yojon3000]

We use a combo of fake and real plants. We have a live ficus (I hear you on the leaves falling!) and a dwarf palm. We have used fake ivy and a few other fake leafy thingies to create a 'curtain' at the top of the enclosure so there's plenty of coverage.

The benefits for humidity and a more natural environment totally outweigh the easiness of not having them IMO.

im okay with misting more since there'd be less humidity but I hate the leaves falling and the urate between rocks and poop on soil and not seeing it and misting and it molds up.
I am still not sure if his poop smells or it smells cause the moist soil

 

[lausnordah]

Did you get organic soil? Was manure mixed in?

Wet + Manure = poop smell! yay.

I hope it's this simple. I used Miracle Gro's organic soil and the manure smell went away after a while.


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Why are your ficus leaves falling? I have a ficus benjamina that's a rockstar... leaves do not just fall off of it. Maybe it's not getting enough light or water?

 

[yojon3000]

Did you get organic soil? Was manure mixed in?

Wet + Manure = poop smell! yay.

I hope it's this simple. I used Miracle Gro's organic soil and the manure smell went away after a while.


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Why are your ficus leaves falling? I have a ficus benjamina that's a rockstar... leaves do not just fall off of it. Maybe it's not getting enough light or water?

I think I have organic miracle grow but at the top some organic sphagnum peat moss which looked like this i think but its kinda different
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=rel&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1
but i lost the bag so idk if it had manure or not.
but anyways it kinda smells like pee
and idk but my ficus leaves fall so easily only 1/4 of it has leaves

 

[yojon3000]

UPDATE: I noticed the poop on the plants smelled and the poop on the paper towel dont smell (i think) example.
he hadnt pooped in a day or two and i noticed an old poop in the back corner (behind pot , on paper towel) i went to that side..outside the cage and it didnt smell. but today he pooped on his plant (rocks) and it started smelling a few hours later. i dont get it

 

[yojon3000]

sigh* no help? yesterday my cham pooped and it didnt smell for the whole hour it was there UNTIL the SECOND I misted it smelled no one has advice? I think Im going to put fake plants...

 

[lausnordah]

What kind of drainage do you have? I have a drainage tray that I clean out with towels every week. Standing water can get very stinky.

If your cage is always wet and doesn't dry out between misting then that can also cause it to smell, and is bad for your chameleon.

What's your ventilation like?