Do Russian tortoises smell?

Hi so my parents were gonna let me get a russian tortoise but now they don't want to because the PetSmart lady said that they smell. I've done a ton of research online and alot of people were saying they dont smell, so can any of you on here please tell me if they do smell or not? I told my parents I'd clean the enclosure everyday and that I've done a ton of research and I know how to take care proper care of them.

The only smell mine ever had is when the enclosure get dirty, keep it cleaned out real good and no smell.

its not like a cats litter box, but they can get 'musty', but thats usually the substrate or old food. Its minor..

Sound like the petstore lady is nuts!! Why would she say that unless they never clean the cage out. ? Other people have posted that its just a musty smell. If you keep the cage cleen, you should not have a smelly tortoise!

A while back I took in a Russian to foster for a few weeks. He smelled so bad! BUT it was because the poor thing was filthy and caked in his own poop

Some baths, tooth brush scrubs and clean husbandry later there was no more smell.

Thank you all so much! I keep telling them, it's like a dog or cat, don't take care of them and clean them up then yeah they will stink but if you do your part and take care of the little guy they won't smell.

Team Gomberg said:

A while back I took in a Russian to foster for a few weeks. He smelled so bad! BUT it was because the poor thing was filthy and caked in his own poop

Some baths, tooth brush scrubs and clean husbandry later there was no more smell.

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Omg!!!! That is so sad! some people dont deserve to have a precious tortoise!

As long as you keep them and their enclosure clean, they have next to no smell.

-Jen

Torties are pretty odorless creatures. Just keep their enclosure clean.

any animal will smell if you don't care for it properly, which I'm sure the pet store didn't. they would only smell if you leave their waste and food leftovers in the enclosure. and they may need a bath if they have trampled through their waste.

I have CDTs and they don't stink nor does there poop. I would think that a Russian which is also a veggie eater would NOT stink. It seems to me that reptiles that stick to a vegitarian diet don't have stinky poops. But I would find out if you have a rescue in your area. It is very cheap to adopt and the people you get the animal from are not stupid and don't try to sell you a lot of the WRONG stuff. Good luck

Angi said:

I would think that a Russian which is also a veggie eater would NOT stink. It seems to me that reptiles that stick to a vegitarian diet don't have stinky poops.

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i highly disagree. my Russian and leopard tortoises poop smells foul......fresh. i find that if i miss some one day, the next day (after it's been kicked around) it doesn't smell. but if i pick him up and he gets scared and poops, IT'S DISGUSTING. and actually, greens and veggies cause a lot of gas haha.

I got a Russian and he doesn't smell at all!!

To us they don't smell but they dohave a smell not a bad smell but the enclosures will smell like pine chips,dirt and other smell if you are not used to them.I can bet that a mom will smell it.get one of those plug ins.

Yes, I think they are a little bit smell indoor. Actually I found that pets mart employee are selling to person they believe can make pet survive. Your question might show you do not know how to feed a tortoise. Thus, possibly they found some excuse to not let you buy.

I keep my tortoise enclosure in my room and it has very little smell mainly the substrate and that's not even that bad.

I don't notice any smell, really.

When I put in fresh substrate, it has a bit of a smell for a while. Not a bad one, just the smell of whatever substrate you put in.

Much less smelly than cats or dogs!

Their poop (when healthy) shouldn't really have much smell to it, either. And more times than not, they eat it or bury it. If you find stray poop in the pen, just take it out, and flush it.

Of course my russian tort poops smell, she poop it smells! All poop smells... I have never pooped and it smelled like roses..lol I clean my torts box every day and it dont smell. Same with my cats box, I have had poeple come to my house and say "wow your house dont smell like cat s@#$t!". And that is becaue I clean it every day. Some people are just plain lazy and should not own torts or other things that poop.

You're parents paid her to say that!lol all animals have some smell.they are just beeing nice to you.they smell %4%#* that that is why they say it doesn't smell.if they didn't smell it they wouldn't comment on it.lol

Only smell I get is from her fresh (very fresh) poop and when I toss up the substrate with fresh water I can smell the cocoa coir that's about it though....I havn't noticed anything else my female dog is very interested in her and sniffs the air near her pen but I'm not sure what she's smelling.