strong plastic smell??? toxic maybe?

[new2BP]

i purchased some plastic plants for my bps cage and i notice that some pof them give off a plastic smell. its strong enough that if i stick my head into the cage and take a wiff, its very noticable. I took them out too soak them an dtry and get the smell to go away. that didnt work, go figure . anyway, i am assuming that if the smell is strong to me, it must be too my BP and may be toxic to him. if it is toxic, than why are they an actuall reptile plant that u can place in your cage.

[jglass38]

Are you using a heat lamp or are the plants over a heat source? That could do it. Most of those plants are made for fish tanks and plastic when heated gives off fumes..

[new2BP]

plants are not anywhere that they could be melting or getting hot. i have them sitting on my shelf right now and if i smell them,. i can smell the plastic and they arnt even in the cage

[jglass38]

I would say that if you have any questions, dont put them in. Your BP doesn't need plants

[JLC]

Ugh....I can't stand that "new plastic" smell and I wouldn't tolerate it in my animal cages either. It makes me sick, and since their sense of smell is a LOT mroe sensitive than mine is, I can only imagine how it might affect them, even if it isn't "toxic" in the strictest sense of the word.


I'd throw them away and try to find something better for greenery in the cage. There are plastic plants/leaves/vines that don't smell...and there are silk ones as well to choose from, although those might be more challenging to clean. If you absolutely insist on using the ones you already paid for, you might try leaving them out in the sun for a couple days and see if that takes the smell out.

[mocolo]

I recently just got a new plastic plant too, and this is what I did. As soon as I took it out of its package, it smelt like that too, so I left it out sitting on a shelf for a week. The smell was about half gone by then. After that, I soaked it in a solution of water and bleach for a bit. Then I washed it out in the sink for about 10 mins. The smell was gone by the end.

[new2BP]

thanks for the help. i have tried everything mentioned. soaking in soap, soaking in water and bleach, even left them outside for about 3 weeks in freezing temps. in all i have 4 plants. 2 which have no smell and 2 which do and they are all made by the same manufacture. however all four look different and have different textures. thanks again.

[ErikH]

Try using baking soda. Put some baking soda in a bowl, add enough water to make it like a paste. Use you hands or a rag to rub it all over the plants and sort of scrub with it, let it sit for a few minutes an rinse. I don't know if it will work on plants, but I know it works on plastic coolers.

[cassandra]

Most new inexpensive plastic "off-gases" for a while. I bet it you just let it sit somewhere ventilated for a while (week or two?), the smell will dissipate.