Do tortoise have a smell to them?

[burnt toast]

My torts I have owned for a while dont smell (unless they poo on each other!) But we have a lot of torts who spend a lot, if not all their time outdoors at the health checks that absolutely stink! I have one male who lives in a garden enclosure alone & insists on sitting outside his hut even when its quite cool, (despite having heat/light inside it!) & I feel he has a certain smell to him. He has been tested for both worms & protozoa, none present.

[Roberta]

She got him from a pet sho p6months ago she didnt bother asking him where he was from out any history but he is 8yrs old so I assume someone handed him in to the pet shop to be rehomed? he came to me with wood chipping as substrate. He has a hide, ceramic heat lamp and a uvb tube in there at the mo. He likes to roam about my livingroom which has the heating on and lets me pic him up and stroke him without him hiding away

[cherylahutch]

If you want to save yourself a vet check too soon I think you should put some soil in the viv not woodchip as it's no good for them then as you have the heat and light that should be fine, once he is bathed see how he goes spot clean each day and then if he still smells a vet check is a good idea to make sure he is healthy. You will need to find a specialist reptile vet tho as a normal vet does not usually have a clue. I think I have misread your post and thought you had him in a viv with nothing else that is how it sounds. They do need substrate otherwise they can walk around properly etc. You have just come across as if you have rushed into things and that you have not set anything up for him which may not be the case at all but from reading a few posts that was how it sounds.

[longbowassassin]

we have a leopard and no smell from him.

[Easter Bunny]

My wc rescued tortoises used to have a smell to them. I wasn't too strong but it didn't smell nice. I used a little babybath and a childs toothbrush and gave their shells a little scrub. The smell didn't go straight away but it did in time x

I think maybe your tortoise was in a dirty viv and the smell has lingered on him aswell.. x

[Watermelon]

When I got my Rodney he stank of strawberries, sawdust and just general filth. I gave him a good bath, had to use a tooth brush though to get the muck off him!

[Roberta]

I did mention in my previous posts that I took the wood chip out because it wasnt good for them, and I have already booked him for a vet check so will see what they say monday. I asked my vets where I take my bearded dragon if they saw in tortoises and they said yes I made sure before I got him. I go to nine lives in st albans

[cherylahutch]

That's good then because good reptile vets are hard to find. They will help you out. I think you really do need to put something in the bottom of the viv if he is staying in there because the wood will rot from him weeing and pooing anyway They are sealed but am sure it would not be good for the wood. It really would have been better to put some soil in and would not be a big deal to swap it into his new house if you only had it in there a day or two. If you don't have a history for the tortoise then a vet check is probably a good idea.

[Roberta]

there is lino down but will put a bit of soil today.

[Pussygalore]

you should have left the chips in there untill you have something else, it would have been better than nothing, and a bit of soil won't do! it needs to be a couple of inches deep. To be honest although the idea of 'rescueing' seems nice if the new owner doesn't have a set up then the tort would have been better staying where it was untill the new home is ready. I never let any of my hatchlings go untill the new owner was ready to take them and I'd like to think that most people selling or rehoming would do the same. A tort gets stressed enough just from the move so things need to be done as good as poss, the stress is enough to make some of them ill and they often don't show signs untill they are really bad. Why if the viv smells didn't you put him in the big one straight away although from what I have read that appears to be wanted for the dragon or whatever it is, does that one smell as well or is that new. Do you have the lights etc ordered for the table? I thought that arrived on Monday, its now Thursday!. Some of us may sound harsh but we are only concerned about the torts on these forums, these lovely creatures only deserve the best especially as without us most of them wouldn't survive in this country.