smells like ammonia

[brenandmom]

I have a nine month old viel. Ihve cleaned his cage a couple of times. but he smells like ammonia. what to do? his cage has real dirt and rocks and live plant with vines. She eats alot of crickets 25 since saturday. Help????

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Are you sure its the cham your smelling and not dead crickets? They give off a bad odor if they die.

 

[chamlover]

Crickets smell REAL bad....Also where you have dirt in the bottom of his enclosure, just as a precaution, i would cup feed him. Also a 9-mos old can eat alot more than 25 crickets sometimes. They're still growing and need the protein. What size crickets are you giving him?

 

[brenandmom]

Crickets smell REAL bad....Also where you have dirt in the bottom of his enclosure, just as a precaution, i would cup feed him. Also a 9-mos old can eat alot more than 25 crickets sometimes. They're still growing and need the protein. What size crickets are you giving him?

I feed her med to large crickets.

 

[brenandmom]

Are you sure its the cham your smelling and not dead crickets? They give off a bad odor if they die.

yes even after she is out of the cage and in different room you can smell her.

 

[draetish]

Has she ever layed eggs? Can you post a pic of your set up, there may not be enough air flow. The smell is not normal, so there is something going on and it could be her set up.

 

[laurie]

You really need to correct her cage. Having dirt on the bottom is just asking for trouble.

 

[Elizadolots]

Is it possible the smell is just sort of sticking to her? I'm imagining moist dirt, dead crickets and chameleon poop/urate.... that could linger.

Is there any bark mixed in with the dirt? I know some of the bark actually says "clean if it starts to smell of ammonia" in the directions.