It’s been a really stressful past few months. My indoor pets suffered something even worse that has cost me not only thousands in vet bills but also many beloved pets. I kept my baby turtles, juveniles, and weaker adults inside in a variety of enclosures. They got extra care and treatment compared to my adults outside. I work during the day so I spend the early mornings and nights with my turtles. I keep axolotls as well as a planted fish tank. I also have 3 sand boas, a leopard gecko and 2 horned lizards We had an ant infestation in our kitchen months ago and my roommates bought ant killer. I told them don’t even spray that near my room door knowing that it was toxic to my pets. Then it started happening. A turtle in my room would get lethargic, eye swelling, breathing issues and then it would pass away. This only took less than 2 days to occur from a completely healthy turtle. I didn’t even connect the ant killer because it had been so long since I’ve seen it used. What tipped me off was the sudden death of my planted tank. Not much besides contamination causes everything to die overnight. My axolotls began to get sick and by the end of the week I had lost 8. I found the empty ant killer bottle and asked my roommates where they sprayed it. They didn’t go near my room but went around an intake vent. They also sprayed outside around the house. I ripped the vent off the wall and found what happened. The filter was half the size of the opening. In the ac unit itself was the same issue. It pumped the ant killer into my room since I’m the first room the ac hits, it sprayed it over my tanks. The stuff becomes inert when dry so nothing happened to my snakes and lizards. But my aquariums, turtles, even my worm farm crashed. I packed up all my turtles and moved them to my gfs who was kind enough to let me keep them there after seeing me breakdown at the vets office hearing that they all need to be treated immediately before any more succumb. My roommates didn’t know so I can’t blame them. They have no access to my room so they didn’t see what was happening. The last sick turtle was on fluids at the vet and given meds. She’s on the second round of antibiotics and has finally eaten and opened her eyes. My adults and remaining babies are safe. My axolotls are finally showing signs of healing. I plan to move out in the spring. It’ll be a big move but the safety of my pets comes first.
Cautionary tale :(
- Thread starter jakskillz
- Start date
Also if anyone is curious what the vet diagnosed here is the shortened version. Since housing and diet were deemed exceptional, she concluded that the ant killer poisoned them and knocked down their immune systems. The ones that were throwing up were succumbing to the poison. The others were getting respiratory infections that immediately turned to pneumonia since X-rays confirmed fluid in the lungs. Turtles kept in the same enclosure were passing it around. I would leave for work and see a healthy hungry turtle and come home to a lethargic wheezing turtle and by morning it would be too late.
Aw, geez. That's awful. I'm so sorry.
Thank you [emoji173]️
It’s been tough because I went from having most of my turtles on an automatic watering system outside to having to clean 9 different water dishes daily. It sucks that they don’t have as much room to roam around but when the weather warms up I’ll end up taking them outside for some sun. I had to rig every clamp lamp and tube lamp I had in a small bedroom for them all to stay happy and healthy. It’ll only be a few more months of this then I can start rebuilding a new outdoor setup. I’m glad the last of the antibiotics are finishing up and I have more on hand just in case any more show signs. Injecting pissed off turtles has done too much damage to my hands.
MrMarg&me
Well-Known Member
I am very sorry. This is a disturbing but important story. When our daughter was a baby my stepmother wanted to spray Raid on the patio around her toys. I said we will go home if you do so. She said if it was so dangerous we would all be dead. I said why do you think there are so many people with cancer that can not be attributed to a direct cause.
Exactly! I had to prove to my roommate that the ant killer was harmful even though it says “safe for pets after 30 min!” If you look through the label it specifically says toxic to aquatic life keep away. It stays active if kept wet and that’s exactly what my humidifiers were doing for it. The worst part is the ants were only there because of food left out and I told them by cleaning up they would eventually disappear
MrMarg&me
Well-Known Member
Yes! Keep your living space clean and neat. Use ant bait stations correctly. Be tolerant of insects in your environment. They out number us by millions. The only way life will endure on this planet is if we learn to respect all life and do not jump to eradicate something out of convenience.
Well put. I spent most of today cleaning out the bins my turtles now reside in. My gf said their had been flies around her place so I said I will clean everything out. The fruit flies tipped me off so I wasn’t surprised when I found out that some of my female turtles had been burying their food when they go under the dirt. I’ll have to figure a new feeding regime because right now i still have some turtles who are either too shy or too aggressive during feeding.
That is so sad and stupid. There are so many ways to get rid of ants without spraying toxic aerosols.
So very sorry. This is awful. Don't want you to feel worse but sprays should never be used around animals unless the cage/aquarium is completely enclosed and then a blanket, towel or tarp wrapped around and over it. You can never, ever, control a spray. Turn only used if that is the only source available.
So very sorry.
So very sorry.
Trust me my room has always been a no go and I’ve installed seals around my door to prevent anything flying under. After I moved all the turtles out of my house I found out that the intake vent for my AC has a filter maybe 2/3rds the size it should be so it leaves a gigantic gap. The same size filter is in the actual unit so that leaves the same issue. It sucks in air outside my room and then my room is right next to the unit and gets hit first. It turns out that’s the reason why my room gets Smokey with the door shut when my roommate doesn’t know how to turn the fireplace on. It’s ridiculous that that was even like that. That’s why turtles, fish and axolotls all got affected when they are in isolated habitats that remain wet or damp. I had about 10 dozen crickets and 2lbs of worms die over night which wasn’t great either. My roommates are more sheltered than most so don’t always make the smartest decisions. The ants came into my room and I just used traps placed away from any of the turtles and they were gone in a week. I spoil my turtles so it’s been heartbreaking. My boss was understanding about it and let me take time to get them vet treatment when it was really bad.
Thats nice your boss was understanding. Glad too you didn't have a total wipe out. Still heart breaking I know. Sounds like you caught it pretty fast, once signs started showing, good for you for paying such close attention to your animals.
Again, very sorry.
Yeah I wish I caught it earlier :/ even the vet was a bit startled by how it seemed to be spreading and killing them so quickly even though most of them are separated. I was confused because it looked like a typical respiratory infection at first so after the first one I freaked thinking it began to spread. I can understand my adults where it seemed to spread amongst them but when it hit my babies I knew it couldn’t just be that. My babies are kept extremely separated that I didn’t even feed them from the same food or handle one to the other. I hope people will learn from this and if any pet shows signs of poisoning or you think you know what’s wrong to just consult with a vet ASAP. Reptiles go inactive for a variety of reasons so it’s hard to always tell but there are always some signs
One has to wonder how many chelonians are inadvertently killed by agricultural sprays.
So very sorry for your loss. I refuse to spray even Lysol or febreeze or anything of the like in fear of harming my tortoise, aquatic frogs and fish. I couldn't even begin to imagine the heartache you've been through. Happy that you still have some left and you were able to diagnose the issue.
The lessons I learned is always educate anybody who will have any contact with your pets on safety concerns for both them and the animals. Also keep a fund for the absolute worst case which is all pets getting sick at once. I had money set aside just for vets but it only covered about half of my turtles so I had to dip into other funds. And lastly, check your pets health daily. Box turtles hiss when annoyed but wheeze when sick. They wheeze because it’s becoming difficult to breath as mucus builds and this becomes deadly very quickly if left untreated.
Always a great idea to have money set aside for emergencies with pets. We have horses as well so know all too well that emergencies can and do happen quickly. The cost of vets is crazy now a days. It costs me less for bills for my horses than it does for our cats, dog and other small critters. I wish your little ones speedy recoveries and you as well. Thank you for sharing this for everyone to become aware of the dangers.
It's funny how you said "even Lysol...". Lysol is definitely proven to be toxic to reptiles.
NO spray except water!!!!!
The vet gave me a bottle of disinfectant that you mix with water. You use it to clean out any area a sick animal may be but obviously not near any pets. Then you rinse with water and it’s better at killing any nasties in the enclosures.
It was said because I feel some people think because things are safe to spray around people that it is ok around pets too. We have a strict no spray policy.
