# tortoise house.. do not buy!



## tortoise_luvergirl (Oct 17, 2014)

Just wanted to let anyone know who is considering buying Zoo med's tortoise house for their tort.. don't. Not even for a small species.. had one for my tort and even being small at 1 yr old she had continuosly scraped her plastron on the interior frame, so I had to first have a "bandage" on it ( duct tape.. TEMP) and later hoof repair to protect the hinges on willow's plastron. Not only that but these are very flimsy and cheap made.. the scraping sound from your tort's claws if it's indoors will get to you ( like nails down a chalk board). the wood shreds and actually made mine sick to where I had to take her to the vet for a costly bill. I don't know what wood they use ( my dad said it was cedar) but it made my tort very sick. I also heard PINE is bad too so now I have her in a metal type dog crate untill I find wood thats tortoise safe to build her NEW enclosure with. That horrible tortoise house also cost me my relationship with my tort becuase the clawing noise got to me and I ended up yelling my head off at night at her despite the black light. Now willow hides when she see's me and pulls her head in ( sometimes she stomps or rams my hand as well).. something she never did before. I wouldn't even recommend the tortoise house for a small species.. waaayyyy too flimsy. Now I know why seripous tortoise keepers build their own enclosures.


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## Yvonne G (Oct 18, 2014)

I've never been a big fan of those tortoise houses. I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience, but you can rest assured that yelling at a tortoise does not make it hide from you. Tortoises don't hear like we do. I'm sure the yelling was nothing more than background noise to the tortoise and in no way did he understand that it was directed at him.


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## N2TORTS (Oct 18, 2014)

Your Father is absolutely right. and worst yet most of the so called Cedar....is not even from the USA , it's from China and a whole different species of tree. There has been a major lawsuit with a swing set company involved in this type of failures and reactions , by false advertising to the public of the so called material it's made of. Good post! ......


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## N2TORTS (Oct 18, 2014)

you can make your own ....much more efficient and " custom to your style of tort and species"








This made from old solid core wood doors......




with hinged large lid for access.......




Enclose multi habitats if needed......




Even smaller heated hide boxes .....





or a flow blown building .....that I could even live in when I'm in the "dog house' .....


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## Elnewman622 (Oct 18, 2014)

I also have the zoo med tortoise house right now and we're Currently trying to have someone build my tort a new enclosure.


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Oct 18, 2014)

N2TORTS said:


> you can make your own ....much more efficient and " custom to your style of tort and species"
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I can't see your pictures? I would love to ,though, if you could maybe please repost, because I'm building a little something new too!


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## tortoise_luvergirl (Oct 19, 2014)

Yvonne G said:


> I've never been a big fan of those tortoise houses. I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience, but you can rest assured that yelling at a tortoise does not make it hide from you. Tortoises don't hear like we do. I'm sure the yelling was nothing more than background noise to the tortoise and in no way did he understand that it was directed at him.


 perhaps but what's really shocking is when I call her name she will come to me!  especially if I babytalk to her. even when she is sleeping she will wake up and come to me.. food or none. then she will stretch her neck out for pets. I wonder why she was hiding from me before but now that i'm not yelling at her she comes to me? I swear she can sense my moods.


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## tortoise_luvergirl (Oct 19, 2014)

N2TORTS said:


> you can make your own ....much more efficient and " custom to your style of tort and species"
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Thanks! this gives me a great idea.. and also to make it go with my indoor decor( I cant put her outside with NO supervision.. BAD kids. too cold right now and I have had people threaten to steal her from me becuase they said she is Gorgeuos.) I was wondering.. perhaps get some cypress lumber? I use cypress mulch for her bedding.


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## tortoise_luvergirl (Oct 19, 2014)

My father says cypress wood is expensive but when it comes to willow I dont like sparing expense. afterall tortoises are not what he'd call "cheap pets". I like to use both a mercury vapor lamp and a tube UV ( in her cool spot during the day). vet bills are expensive too and an ounce of prevention is worht ten pounds of cure when it comes to her.


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## N2TORTS (Oct 19, 2014)

Pops is right again ...EXAMPLE: 1" X 8" ROUGH SAWN CYPRESS 12' LONG IS CURRENTLY $12.00 PER BOARD FOOT!..... Now back to Cedar, it has been long used in the building industry (not just for pets/reptiles) for years. Mostly because it's naturally resistant to insects and decay. Unfortunately, cedar is one of the most dangerous woods for reptiles and should not be used in their care at all. Several species are known to be particularly dangerous, including white cedar (Thuja occindentalis), Japanese cedar – Like I mentioned (Cryptomeria japonica) and western red cedar (Thuja plicata); unfortunately, commercial products seldom make it clear which species has been used. Reptiles exposed to cedar may exhibit respiratory symptoms or develop skin lesions. Redwood , another “outdoor” lumber should also not be used “internally”.... as wet Redwood can/will leach resinods that are also toxic. An external frame is fine, but you will need to “box in” using different material. If this a permanent outdoor structure, Doug Fir can be used and non-toxic stains and paints can be used to help with the longevity of the building structure. Ever thought about using block? The cells themselves can be insulated and internal walls as well. A local mason can whip up a small structure in no time, and compared to wood pricing be very competitive. Plus the savings in heating from being so well insulated (if you happen to live where it freezes). I'm just shooting ideas and experience at you as I really don't even know how big
of structure were talking about.


JD~


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## N2TORTS (Oct 19, 2014)

When building this last structure..... I too, was worried about and have had problems in the past with moisture and wood rot. So the floor joists themselves are a galvanized I-Beam type that sits directly on the ground. This would assure me of having no " wood product" touching the wet ground and start to rot.


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