Baking soda question

[paperplanes]

So Dave is starting to stink up the place. My mother bought this little thing that you stick to the glass or the inside of a fridge, and its baking soda encased in some sort of padding or something. anyways my question is if i stick this baking soda package in the tank, will it be hazardous to the dragon? will it give off a harmful odor or anything. if he some how rips the packaging and eats the powder, will he be harmed? it will be mounted on the inside of the glass.

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

I dunno about the baking soda, but what's making him stink?

 

[Denduran87]

yea he shouldn't be that stinky you may want to get a fecal test done!

 

[BadCon]

If you can smell the dragon enclosure throughout the house, then perhaps its time to clean the enclosure? Reptiles shouldn't really have any smell at all...

 

[Mistyck]

What kind of substrate is he on? That could be harboring bacteria and making the place stink as well.

 

[bandit27]

when i first brought my guys home, their viv stank. I was worried about the house smelling too. I bought a cage disinfectant and cleaned it all, an we no longer have bad smells. It's that simple

 

[madmello]

From a chemist's point of view, I agree with the other replies; it shouldn't stink that much. But as far as the baking soda is concerned, while it will help with the stench, if he eats it it will be harmful.

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate if I remember right) is okay for humans to digest in small quantities. It's a "base", meaning that is counteracts an "acid". I take a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in water to get rid of heartburn, which is caused by stomach acid. But just a teaspoon, that's all. It wouldn't be healthy for a beardie to eat

 

[Jamiedog]

From a chemist's point of view, I agree with the other replies; it shouldn't stink that much. But as far as the baking soda is concerned, while it will help with the stench, if he eats it it will be harmful.

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate if I remember right) is okay for humans to digest in small quantities. It's a "base", meaning that is counteracts an "acid". I take a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in water to get rid of heartburn, which is caused by stomach acid. But just a teaspoon, that's all. It wouldn't be healthy for a beardie to eat

The chemistry... it haunts me... (I was studying thermochemistry and gas laws and Schrödinger's wave equation/quantum theory for 7+ hours yesterday. :lol: Summer school, I despise your frantic pace!)

As far as the smell... I find I start getting a bit of a smell if I don't wipe down the substrate (if what you have is non-particle) every couple of days, even if I can't see anything on it. My guess would be in my case that the smell starts to come from bits of fruit and veggies getting dropped; even if I pick up the visible pieces, obviously some of the juices, especially in the case of fruit, may have leaked a bit onto the shelf liner. And after a day or two under the heat, that starts to smell a bit. Not a horrible smell, but I'm aware of it when I open the viv (it doesn't seep out into the room). A quick wipe-down - just with water - solves that problem. If you have a non-particle substrate, it couldn't hurt to do a quick wipe-down every day or every other day, just in case. I usually take Wave out for her playtime when I do it, so I can leave the door open, which keeps the humidity in the viv from going up.

 

[madmello]

The chemistry... it haunts me... (I was studying thermochemistry and gas laws and Schrödinger's wave equation/quantum theory for 7+ hours yesterday. :lol: Summer school, I despise your frantic pace!)

gotta love pchem... ugh

 

[paperplanes]

I have a brand new repti carpet as a substrate. i dont know why he stinks. he never used to stink. i know his poo smells pretty bad but i thought poo in general just stinks. I think he may have stepped in his poo or something and its dried on his scales? i dont know. how much do fecal tests cost?

 

[ziggy23]

fecals at my vet only cost $20. You don't have to bring the animal in, just the poo. They do it while we wait. Then if it's a positive, then they need to know the animals weight for med dosing.

 

[JenFid]

If you think he smells because he stepped in some poo, try giving him a bath and use and old tooth brush or a q-tip to wash it off him. You might also want to wash the repti-carpet too. Find things in his viv he might have pooed on that aren't easy to see, that has happened to me a couple times.

The lizard himself shouldn't smell at all unless he's got something on him, so check thoroughly! It might just be time to clean everything in his viv.

 

[DragonMorphs]

If you think he smells because he stepped in some poo, try giving him a bath and use and old tooth brush or a q-tip to wash it off him. You might also want to wash the repti-carpet too. Find things in his viv he might have pooed on that aren't easy to see, that has happened to me a couple times.

The lizard himself shouldn't smell at all unless he's got something on him, so check thoroughly! It might just be time to clean everything in his viv.

as above just give him a bath in luke warm water and a little scrub under his feet with a tooth brush should work wonders and clean the viv at the same time .

 

[paperplanes]

the bristles wont cause him pain?

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

Nah, just be gentle.