Tortoise Survivor

By Miss Cellania in Animals & Pets on Aug 1, 2009 at 9:28 am

A fire broke out in Becky Smith’s home when a heat lamp turned over on her tortoise cage, setting the wood chip litter ablaze. The bedrooms were engulfed, and two tortoises died. A third tortoise named Shelli was thought to be dead as well, as his cage was melted.

He was so hot he ‘phfizzed’ when firefighters put him in water – and then poked his head out.

‘The firemen said he was steaming when they put him in the bucket of water and he was so hot they couldn’t pick him up,’ said Ms Smith, 27.

‘It’s a miracle he is OK – especially when you see the state of the cage.’

Vets kept him in overnight and Shelli is now nibbling cucumber again.

Link -via Arbroath

Tags: fire, tortoise, turtle

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nickolas_warner
Aug 1st, 2009 at 12:01 pm
That is disgusting that someone would use wood chips in a tortoises cage and just downright irresponsible to have a heat lamp over a cage that could MELT! Pet stores really need to teach their customers how to care for their animals before they leave the store.
Kalel
Aug 1st, 2009 at 12:07 pm
“Dude, you are soooo baked.”
edvim
Aug 1st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
nickolas_warner — I’m not sure just why you think wood chips in a pet tortoise cage is disgusting. Are you confusing tortoises with aquatic turtles maybe? Roaming over dirt and vegetation is pretty much home for most tortoises. The heat lamp incident appeared to by a very unfortunate accident, assuming there was negligence or ignorance involved doesn’t make sense.
Johnny Cat
Aug 1st, 2009 at 2:38 pm
The heat lamp didn’t melt the cage. I’m pretty sure the fire did that.
Dude
Aug 1st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I, for one, welcome our invincible tortoise overlords.
Vonskippy
Aug 1st, 2009 at 8:07 pm
They should name him Gazpacho.
The Manticore
Aug 1st, 2009 at 8:50 pm
tortoises usually do better on sand. that chick should also get a radiant mat heater or a rock that will absorb enough heat through the day to warm the cage through the night so that she can put a cooler heat lamp on overnight.
emmiline
Aug 2nd, 2009 at 4:54 am
the wood chips are bad because they can irritate the animal’s skin, and they can also cause noxious fumes when they soak up water/urine etc.
wood chips, shavings and that sort of thing are typically a bad substrate for any cage animal.
sand or even newspaper are worlds better for the animal and for general clean up.

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