I agree with you on that. Reptiles that are well maintained and have their cages cleaned thoroghly still smell. In a house, zoo, anywhere. I'm a sanitizing/clean freak and they just flat out stink. You have to really love reptiles to deal with the ordor. Even the food they eat stinks. There's nothing you can do about that.
I have had several reptiles in every room of my house and even with the cages getting cleaned EVERYDAY, it was never enough to control that nasty odor. I don't care for reptiles for a living anymore, but I do own a few now and eventhough they stink, my home smells a million times better.