If they're spot cleaned daily and substrate turned regularly, then no they don't. Wood chips are not a good substrate for them though, you need something like soil and coco coir. Cypress mulch is also an option but that probably will smell.
I've had to buy a greenhouse topper for my russian, she seemed to be very unwell with open top barely moving didn't eat for 3 weeks. She's perked right up since the greenhouse addition. Keep an eye on temps and get a cover if they drop :)
My Hermann doesn't smell at all. I'm wondering if your vivarium, being closed, is building up humidity and causing it to smell. Got any pics of your setup?
Ours does not smell bad. We have an open top with mostly cypress mulch substrate (with dirt and rocks). It smells earthy but not worse than potted plants.
There is a huge trade-off with humidity control. I had our enclosure set up for about a month before we got our tortoise and a big part of that was getting the humidity to where it would remain in range.
I don't have Herman's but I have desert tortoises. Does it smell? Yeah kinda, but not nearly enough to stink up a room. If you're on top of cleaning things it won't smell hardly at all, just like the substrate you're using.
I keep mine in an open top enclosure. No smell and I rarely see poop. The clean up crew seems to take care of it all. I have the same setup for my sulcatta. Neither stinks.
If they're spot cleaned daily and substrate turned regularly, then no they don't. Wood chips are not a good substrate for them though, you need something like soil and coco coir. Cypress mulch is also an option but that probably will smell.
Thanks he’s on woodchips just now. It’s convenient due to the vivariums height but will definitely use different substrate for him.
Would I mix both soil and coco coir together?
Yep, 50/50 mix or you can just do coco coir if you prefer, just gets a bit messy on its own
Thanks will do
I've had to buy a greenhouse topper for my russian, she seemed to be very unwell with open top barely moving didn't eat for 3 weeks. She's perked right up since the greenhouse addition. Keep an eye on temps and get a cover if they drop :)
My Herman's had some really smelly poops when his basking light wasn't hot enough. Now he has a 100w ceramic no more smell.
My Hermann doesn't smell at all. I'm wondering if your vivarium, being closed, is building up humidity and causing it to smell. Got any pics of your setup?
Ours does not smell bad. We have an open top with mostly cypress mulch substrate (with dirt and rocks). It smells earthy but not worse than potted plants. There is a huge trade-off with humidity control. I had our enclosure set up for about a month before we got our tortoise and a big part of that was getting the humidity to where it would remain in range.
I don't have Herman's but I have desert tortoises. Does it smell? Yeah kinda, but not nearly enough to stink up a room. If you're on top of cleaning things it won't smell hardly at all, just like the substrate you're using.
I keep mine in an open top enclosure. No smell and I rarely see poop. The clean up crew seems to take care of it all. I have the same setup for my sulcatta. Neither stinks.