Stinky Sulcata

[gg888]

Hey everyone! I have a male sulcata who's just over four years old. We adopted him a year ago. He had pyramiding when we got him. I have improved his diet, humidity and temps so hopefully his new growth will be a little smoother as he gets older now! My issue is that he is SO dirty. He is an eating and pooping machine! When he poops, he walks straight on through it, despite my endless efforts to clean it out before he gets a chance to.

I soak him every day for at least 20 minutes in warm water, and do my best to sponge all the dried stuff off of him. The top of his shell is squeaky clean, but his underneath and his legs and feet are proving to be an issue. He hates me touching his limbs and I don't want to flip him over and stress him out to clean his underneath.

Has anybody got any tips? (I've attached a picture of the big fellow enjoying the sunshine on his favourite rock that he has recently discovered he can climb)
Thanks in advance!

 

[Tom]

This is a problem for every one. All you can do is clean more often and give them more space, so that the "mess" is less concentrated. I have a 7000 sq. ft. enclosure for mine and I find poop all over it, but they seldom come into contact with it after they drop it because its such a large area. The poop dries out in the sun and disintegrates if I don't pick it up fast enough.

I have your problem in some of my over night heated boxes. My leopard girls seem to hold it all day and "release" it in their night box every night. What a mess!

 

[gg888]

This is a problem for every one. All you can do is clean more often and give them more space, so that the "mess" is less concentrated. I have a 7000 sq. ft. enclosure for mine and I find poop all over it, but they seldom come into contact with it after they drop it because its such a large area. The poop dries out in the sun and disintegrates if I don't pick it up fast enough.

I have your problem in some of my over night heated boxes. My leopard girls seem to hold it all day and "release" it in their night box every night. What a mess!

I wouldn't mind, but when I soak him in warm water, it sort of heats it up and makes the smell worse! If only there was a tortoise soap on the market!

 

[Tom]

I wouldn't mind, but when I soak him in warm water, it sort of heats it up and makes the smell worse! If only there was a tortoise soap on the market!

This gave me another idea. I soak babies every day and they only poop in their soaking water. I never have to clean poop from their enclosure because it just gets dumped out with the soaking water every day.

Perhaps you could start soaking more often to reduce the amount of poo deposited in your enclosure? It has the added benefit of being very good for their health.

 

[gg888]

My horsefield is brilliant, because he does all of his business in his soaks so his enclosure stays clean all the time. But my sully just does it whenever he wants. As an example, I just soaked him for about 30 minutes and he did nothing. I put him back in his house and he decided to empty the whole contents of his bowels all over the place whilst tucking into his food. Multi tasking at its finest! Perhaps he needs longer soaks!

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

My horsefield is brilliant, because he does all of his business in his soaks so his enclosure stays clean all the time. But my sully just does it whenever he wants. As an example, I just soaked him for about 30 minutes and he did nothing. I put him back in his house and he decided to empty the whole contents of his bowels all over the place whilst tucking into his food. Multi tasking at its finest! Perhaps he needs longer soaks!

One of my russians does this. It can be frustrating and funny. When she poops and is about to walk in it, Ill move her to the other side of the enclosure and get my pooper scooper, but as im lifting the screen from the tank up, there she is stomping in her poo.
She also loves to do it buy the food dish, and in the mornings when I feed her, she'll spread her legs, take a bite and pee/poop, then go back to eating. every morning. Lol. I mean Im glad shes hydrated and is eating enough but sheesh.

 

[Rue]

...feed her on a pee pad?

 

[Tom]

Perhaps he needs longer soaks!

Yep.

 

[MPRC]

...feed her on a pee pad?

I've been known to do this. Seems that with the redfoots it goes in one end and comes immediately out the other so they get their breakfast on a pee pad while I run their baths. If they don't go on the pad they almost always go in the water.

Not sure how big your sully is, but could you balance him on a cup/bowl/bucket and scrub his underside in the bath? After mine have soaked they usually come clean really well with just a soft tooth brush.

 

[gg888]

I've been known to do this. Seems that with the redfoots it goes in one end and comes immediately out the other so they get their breakfast on a pee pad while I run their baths. If they don't go on the pad they almost always go in the water.

Not sure how big your sully is, but could you balance him on a cup/bowl/bucket and scrub his underside in the bath? After mine have soaked they usually come clean really well with just a soft tooth brush.

Actually I'm not sure how big he is, as he's due his weigh in next week! Last time I checked he was about 7lbs. He's been putting weight on really fast since I got him last October. I'll try a soft toothbrush. He withstands a sponge for about 30 seconds before he starts getting annoyed and thrashing himself around!