zoo med tortoise house= BAD IDEA!

[tortoise_luvergirl]

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.

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

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.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

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.

 

[Krabby]

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

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

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?

 

[Matt Panos]

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

 

[TortsNTurtles]

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

I am glad your tortoise is feeling better.

 

[kathyth]

Glad your tortoise is better!!

 

[Yvonne G]

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.

 

[cmacusa3]

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.

 

[Tom]

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.

 

[Matt Panos]

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.

 

[Heather H]

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.

 

[puffy137]

 

[Heather H]

View attachment 116349 View attachment 116349 View attachment 116349 View attachment 116349

I love your set up

 

[puffy137]

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.

 

[Heather H]

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

 

[Heather H]

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

 

[puffy137]

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

 

[Heather H]

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

No they are as mean as raccoons