Smelly Assassin bugs

[draconisj4]

Anyone know a safe way to get P. horrida stink out of cork bark, or at least mellow it out a bit?

My P. horrida enclosure started to smell terrible and I always remove their leftovers so I assumed it was their poop. I cleaned it out, replaced the substrate and scrubbed down the cork but the bark still reeks. I could replace it but cork bark is spendy and the pieces in there are perfect for the enclosure. I'd like to get the smell out so I can at least reuse it for them only of course.

 

[chanda]

Is it an ammonia smell? My P. biguttatus cage smells like that - particularly when they go into a feeding frenzy. I suspect it's a defensive chemical they secrete - or possibly their digestive enzymes - or maybe a combination of both. Whatever it is, it is strongest immediately after I feed them, but lingers in the cage after feeding, even through substrate changes. As you say, I believe it soaks into the bark.

I have not noticed it with the P. horrida -yet - but they are young still and there aren't as many of them. Once they mature and start breeding, I fully expect them to stink, too.

 

[draconisj4]

Is it an ammonia smell? My P. biguttatus cage smells like that - particularly when they go into a feeding frenzy. I suspect it's a defensive chemical they secrete - or possibly their digestive enzymes - or maybe a combination of both. Whatever it is, it is strongest immediately after I feed them, but lingers in the cage after feeding, even through substrate changes. As you say, I believe it soaks into the bark.

I have not noticed it with the P. horrida -yet - but they are young still and there aren't as many of them. Once they mature and start breeding, I fully expect them to stink, too.

No, it doesn't really smell like ammonia. It's more like a sweetish, heavy musky smell. That's the best way I can describe it. It stinks though, I can smell it from several feet away and I smoke so I don't have the best sense of smell. It's been slowly building up over the last few months. It does seem to only be the adults though. My nymph enclosure has plenty of poop( due for a cleaning) and it doesn't stink.

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

Unfortunately cork bark likes to hold onto bad smells. Haven’t used any with snakes after I learned that lesson.

Paper egg cartons work really well with most assassins, and they’re replaceable. They certainly don’t look as nice though.

 

[draconisj4]

Unfortunately cork bark likes to hold onto bad smells. Haven’t used any with snakes after I learned that lesson.

Oh yeah, I used to have an 11 foot boa, I remember the smell of snake poop very well

Paper egg cartons work really well with most assassins, and they’re replaceable. They certainly don’t look as nice though.

My nymphs are on egg crate but I like for my adults to have a more natural enclosure. I'm probably going to replace the cork bark because the adults are in my living room, but maybe I'll experiment with the stinky pieces.

 

[Sheldon13]

Have you tried soaking it in hot vinegar water?

 

[Galapoheros]

I'd try putting it in a bucket of water out in the sun for a day and drying it out in the sun the next, put a brick or rock on top of it so it doesn't float. I'd use rain water, pond or creek water if it's convenient.

 

[draconisj4]

Have you tried soaking it in hot vinegar water?

I haven't tried anything yet, they are still in the enclosure. I had to order some more cork bark because I have plans for the clean pieces I already have. I will try the vinegar. I also thought maybe boiling it in plain water or sealing it in a vacuum bag with baking soda or maybe some plain clay cat litter. I have several pieces in there so I just might try everything.

I'd try putting it in a bucket of water out in the sun for a day and drying it out in the sun the next, put a brick or rock on top of it so it doesn't float. I'd use rain water, pond or creek water if it's convenient.

That might work, but it would be difficult to do here. I don't really have anywhere to set it where it would be undisturbed for any length of time. Too many people, the neighbors dog and a lot of over curious wildlife. I pretty much can't leave anything outside. If someone or something didn't knock the bucket over, I'd end up with a bucket full of snails, slugs and probably a frog or two, lol.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

The sweetish musk smell is their defensive secretion. Maybe it becomes more prevalent at feeding time because they start accidentally attacking each other? My assassins do that.

The good news is that it's not a "filth" smell, the bad news is it may well be irritating or somewhat toxic to other animals.

 

[Galapoheros]

I've never messed around with these. Would this smell be something they use in the wild, a kind of territorial thing or is it that they don't have anywhere else to go being in a terrarium?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

I've never messed around with these. Would this smell be something they use in the wild, a kind of territorial thing or is it that they don't have anywhere else to go being in a terrarium?

It's a scent that makes them distasteful to predators (or in the case of assassins, may also serve to warn of their toxicity.) Most heteropterans have such secretions.

 

[Galapoheros]

It's a scent that makes them distasteful to predators (or in the case of assassins, may also serve to warn of their toxicity.) Most heteropterans have such secretions.

I have kept some assassins but I haven't smelled anything unless they're disturbed, feel threatened somehow. So I was just wondering if horrida have "that smell" all the time? I came across some in a pet store here but I passed them up.

 

[draconisj4]

The sweetish musk smell is their defensive secretion. Maybe it becomes more prevalent at feeding time because they start accidentally attacking each other? My assassins do that.

The good news is that it's not a "filth" smell, the bad news is it may well be irritating or somewhat toxic to other animals.

That makes sense, the smell has become very strong just in the last month or so and in the same time period there were a couple of major fights over food. The piece of cork bark that smells the worst is the one the fights happened on. There's only 2 adults and I usually try to feed them when they aren't too close to each other but that doesn't always work.

 

[draconisj4]

I have kept some assassins but I haven't smelled anything unless they're disturbed, feel threatened somehow. So I was just wondering if horrida have "that smell" all the time? I came across some in a pet store here but I passed them up.

These are the first P. horrida I've kept but the first few months they were in that enclosure I didn't notice much of a smell. Now that I think back there was one really bad fight over food right around the same time I started to notice a smell though it wasn't nearly as strong as it is now. My nymphs don't smell at all.