My tegu smells terrible!

[Misfitcreatures]

I haven't heard about tegus having a smell to them. I'm not sure if they all do or of mine is just weird. He smells like a wet dog. I bathe him and it only makes it worse. When he's dry it isn't noticeable until I handle him. But there are days where he'll stink up the room with that wet dog smell.
His poo is also god awful, but after reading through the forums that's not something new haha.
Is there anything I can do to help the smell? Or is it just the natural tegu aroma?

 

[dpjm]

I have never noticed that type of smell on my tegu, but I have only ever really worked with him, so I can't speak about other tegus. I have never heard of this before on the forums though.

What makes a wet dog smell are volatile, or evaporative, organic acids, same with, say, your armpits. One way you could try to neutralize them is to give your tegu a sponge bath with a solution of baking soda and water. Let the solution sit on him for a few minutes and rinse off. If you don't notice a smell then it is probably acid-related.

The acids are usually produced by bacteria. If it does turn out that the baking soda solution helps, the smell will probably return because the solution will only neutralize the acids, not kill the bacteria. That could be accomplished by another sponge bath, this time with warm water and mild soap.

I say sponge bath instead of soaking bath to avoid having any of the non-water solutes get into eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

 

[Misfitcreatures]

Thank you very much! I couldn't find anything about it and it was a bit odd that he smells this way.
I'll definitely give him a sponge bath and update you on how that goes.
I never wanted dogs because of that doggy smell, but yet I end up with a lizard with just that haha.

 

[Justin]

You know I have smelled my tegu and he has a piney aroma similar to some Burberry perfume that I have smelled. I find his smell quite pleasant his poo on the other hand well you know....