# zoo med tortoise house= BAD IDEA!



## tortoise_luvergirl (Oct 20, 2014)

Well now thanks to that stupid cedar tortoise house, my poor little willow is at the VETS at least overnight with an IV in her so they can flush the poisons from her system. I Just hope we caught it in time. We do know she was sick from the cedar, even after being in the dog crate becuase bloodwork was done on her and the vet tested specifically for poisons in her blood and stool. When I got her in yesterday afternoon she was still eating but acting like she was drunk and a bit lethargic. I cried the whole way to the vets.. EVIL TORTOISE HOUSE.. needless to say I will be persuing a lawsuit against zoo med for the expenses. I do have the vets documentation it was the tort house that made her ill. He said I was doing everything else by the book and besides the poisoning she looked good. her gasping worries me alot so i hope they can help her. tortoise owners.. PLZ PLZ DO NOT BUY THESE! Willows eyes are good but then again I was using vitamin A eyedrops for turtles/tortoises once week. WHY doesn't zoo med TELL what kind of wood they use? My vet said cedar,pine and oak are all extremely toxic to reptiles and small animals like gerbils and guinea pigs. Sorry but this really saddens and angers me they would mislead people and cuase animal suffering  Guys, please pray for Willow.


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## tortoise_luvergirl (Oct 21, 2014)

I appologize if this post offends anyone on here.. I guess right now I need some support as I am in fear of losing my best freind.


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## ZEROPILOT (Oct 21, 2014)

I'm just thinking that every small mammal for sale at every pet shop has cedar as their bedding. Did the vet say how exactly it made him sick? Could you tell how he ingested enough of anything to make him ill? I know that cedar and pine oil is annoying, but just being in the vacinity...He/She is sure it wasn't an over heating issue or anything else? I don't have this type of an enclosure, but many do. This will be of great interest to many...I'm very sorry for your distress and for your torts sickness.


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## Krabby (Oct 21, 2014)

Please keep us updated! I am praying for your tort. So sorry you are both going through this.


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## tortoise_luvergirl (Oct 28, 2014)

Got willow back from the vets ( sorry for the late reply.. been busy building her another and visiting with my sister) the vet said it actually wasn't the CEDAR itself but something they used to weatherproof the tortoise house. I couldn't find cypress lumber anywhere but online so i ended up going with maple.. vet said this is OK since it's an indoor enclosure.. had to get UNTREATED lumber. then I had to sand each piece so she wouldn't get slivers from the rough wood. the only issue I have now being she's very hyper once again is she tries to climb out and literally goes NUTS when she sees me or one of my family in the room. her vet also informed me she's one of these torts that does not like to be alone.. but also dont like other turtles/torts.. she wants people company. maybe thats just her personality?


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## Matt Panos (Jan 28, 2015)

This item is not made of cedar and does not have a weather proof sealant.


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## TortsNTurtles (Jan 29, 2015)

I can't find anywhere were it states what the materials are fir the Tortoise house. 

I am glad your tortoise is feeling better.


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## kathyth (Jan 29, 2015)

Glad your tortoise is better!!


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## Yvonne G (Jan 29, 2015)

Matt Panos said:


> This item is not made of cedar and does not have a weather proof sealant.



Matt: Can you expand a bit on your statement? I don't encourage people to buy these tort houses, but many of our members do use them. We'd all like to understand a bit better why you've made the statement.


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## cmacusa3 (Jan 29, 2015)

I can't speak for others but after modifying mine (A lot) It works great. I wouldn't recommend buying it. Abrams now Squints (thanks to my daughter changing the name), Has out grown it in just 3 months. Squints is now moving to my new closed chamber enclosure and once I clean it out the zoo med crash is moving in.


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## Tom (Jan 29, 2015)

I don't like the ZooMed houses because they are too open and too small, and the design is just not right for my preferences, but thousand of people use them and I can assure you that the wood and any treatment on it does not make tortoises sick.

I say this because you clearly do have _some_ issue there, but the ZooMed house is not it. Once you know that the house in not the issue, you can continue looking for the real cause and correcting it.

What species and age is Willow? What are your four temps? What are you using for heating and lighting? Using any coil type bulbs for UV? Diet?

I hope we can get to the bottom of this.


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## Matt Panos (Jan 29, 2015)

Hi Yvonne, I work for Zoo Med and that product is made from a species of fir tree. Firs are closely related to cedar trees, but they do not contain the harmful toxins found in cedar. Also, we do not coat that product with a weatherproof sealant. I do agree that the tortoise house is too small for many full grown species of tortoises but it is suitable for babies, smaller species, and box turtles.


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## Heather H (Jan 29, 2015)

Matt Panos said:


> Hi Yvonne, I work for Zoo Med and that product is made from a species of fir tree. Firs are closely related to cedar trees, but they do not contain the harmful toxins found in cedar. Also, we do not coat that product with a weatherproof sealant. I do agree that the tortoise house is too small for many full grown species of tortoises but it is suitable for babies, smaller species, and box turtles.


Hi Matt and welcome. Do you have torts? Or turtles? Would love to see picks. Since you work for zoo med then you can answer questions I might have . That's so cool. Maybe you can help I'm looking for a talking temp/hydro meter. Do you know if zoo med makes one.


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## puffy137 (Jan 29, 2015)




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## Heather H (Jan 29, 2015)

puffy137 said:


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I love your set up


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## puffy137 (Jan 29, 2015)

I made these from heavy duty styrofoam light blue so no need to paint . There is no bottom so they can just dig .The wind used to be a problem with the older models but these are just great . No predators so we are all set.


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## Heather H (Jan 29, 2015)

tortoise_luvergirl said:


> Well now thanks to that stupid cedar tortoise house, my poor little willow is at the VETS at least overnight with an IV in her so they can flush the poisons from her system. I Just hope we caught it in time. We do know she was sick from the cedar, even after being in the dog crate becuase bloodwork was done on her and the vet tested specifically for poisons in her blood and stool. When I got her in yesterday afternoon she was still eating but acting like she was drunk and a bit lethargic. I cried the whole way to the vets.. EVIL TORTOISE HOUSE.. needless to say I will be persuing a lawsuit against zoo med for the expenses. I do have the vets documentation it was the tort house that made her ill. He said I was doing everything else by the book and besides the poisoning she looked good. her gasping worries me alot so i hope they can help her. tortoise owners.. PLZ PLZ DO NOT BUY THESE! Willows eyes are good but then again I was using vitamin A eyedrops for turtles/tortoises once week. WHY doesn't zoo med TELL what kind of wood they use? My vet said cedar,pine and oak are all extremely toxic to reptiles and small animals like gerbils and guinea pigs. Sorry but this really saddens and angers me they would mislead people and cuase animal suffering  Guys, please pray for Willow.


Hope your baby is fine


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## Heather H (Jan 29, 2015)

puffy137 said:


> I made these from heavy duty styrofoam light blue so no need to paint . There is no bottom so they can just dig .The wind used to be a problem with the older models but these are just great . No predators so we are all set.


Wish I had no predators my son said our coyote group has grown to at least 5. Plus tons of other things in my back yard


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## puffy137 (Jan 29, 2015)

Not very familiar with coyotes , except from cartoon films . Guess they aren't so funny after all.


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## Heather H (Jan 29, 2015)

puffy137 said:


> Not very familiar with coyotes , except from cartoon films . Guess they aren't so funny after all.


No they are as mean as raccoons


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## puffy137 (Jan 29, 2015)

wow you live in an open air zoo, are raccoons bad news too ?


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## Heather H (Jan 29, 2015)

puffy137 said:


> wow you live in an open air zoo, are raccoons bad news too ?


Yes I do. Not fun at times.


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## puffy137 (Jan 29, 2015)

I think the only enemy we have is the burning hot weather in the summer. The occasional cat is not interested in tortoises. Right now my adults are sleeping as the weather is cool, they only get active when the weather gets warm . The babies still show for food around 11 am.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 30, 2015)

I know it's interesting to talk about wherever it leads, but this is a thread about the Zoo Med tortoise house. Please try to keep on topic.


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## TortsNTurtles (Jan 30, 2015)

[QUOTE="Heather Hilliard, . Since you work for zoo med then you can answer questions I might have . That's so cool. Maybe you can help I'm looking for a talking temp/hydro meter. Do you know if zoo med makes one.[/QUOTE]

If they don't maybe you can convince of the need for something like that !!! And to get back to the Zoomed House a way to make it water proof for moist substrate and humidity.


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