Zilla-Where Reptiles Rule

Reptiles rule but zilla doesn't care enough to make quality!

Let me urge everyone thinking of purchasing there products to reconsider. I purchased some zilla 40gal tanks one at beginning of May and one on the 13th. The one I just purchased the screen lid is coming undone and the bottom of the tank is cracked over UTH(UTH is on a thermostat). My brother just bought the same tank and his screen too is coming undone. The silicone in the corners are peeling off on all three tanks and am sure the screens on this one other tank will come off sooner or later. Keep in mind these tanks are not even a month old and haven't even been washed yet. The plastic lids all have a bow right in middle of lid top side front where locking mechanism is located.

Companies are just cutting to many corners to save a buck now a days and it is we the consumers who seem to pay. We don't have to anymore! Stop purchasing junk not made to last let these companies know they have to make quality to sell!

These tanks just need a 1m thicker application for the tank. The silicone needs to be a higher grade and tucked under plastic top brim of tank. The lid screen needs to be incorporated into the plastic lid mold. If these engineering steps would have been taken this would of been a fine product. Yet they wanted to save a buck and produce more tanks! Cut down on the material for the tank. Assembled everything then siliconed. Snapped the screen into a plastic groove without any sealant.

Sincerely,
James Norred

1st, how are you using the cage? anything on top? i find it hard to believe the screen would be coming out if you dont have anything on top of it. have you contacted Zilla and reported the issue?

2nd, where did you buy the cage? im sure Petco and Petsmart would give you a refund.

3rd, what animal are you keeping in there? if its a monitor they could be trying to clay it off to get out. same with beardies.

Have you tried contacting them or taking them back? You might want to take pictures to document what has gone on with your tank (as well as your brother's). Have you tried contacting the place where it was originally purchased?

On a side note, I own three Zilla cages (two I bought, one given to me), and all of them have worked fine thus far. The oldest cage is from (October? November? something like that) of last year. All of them have UTH and none have cracked. The screens are good on the two I personally bought (the other was found with a partially broken screen).
I just checked my 40 gal- it looks alright to me. No cracking (knock on wood).

I suggest you try contacting them. You might come away with a new cage, but you will definitely have the satisfaction of knowing you voiced your opinion to them.
Good luck! If you decide to do that, keep us posted! I'm sorry about your experience with these cages, and I hope this gets sorted out somehow.

I have a 40 gallon and it's still in decent shape considering my Bearded Dragon has been living in it since 2004. The only thing that is wrong with it is a crack on the outside which I did when moving it. In fact the top latch still works perfectly. I also have several of their tanks, and I think I've only had to toss one which I broke that one as well.

I have bp's in the tanks.

For mine I did have my 8.5" light sitting on top but was moved when screen seperated a little.

I use a zoomed 8x12(30-40gal pad) on a rt-500 thermostat. I use coconut husk as my substrate. I have the rt-500 set to high and at night it is 83F. I say at night because I don't have the lights on and my gauge is reading the temp over uth. The coconut husk is nothing like cypress bark or aspen insulating a lot of heat. The husk seems to vent better. I monitor my temps with a springfield digital temp/humid meter. I have a 8.5 light fixture on a 75w basking bulb. The light has a dimmer and I have it set I would say halfway. Just enough light for a day cycle but not to much to bring my temps over 95F. My temps during the day climb to 93F by 3pm highest point then lights kick off at 6pm. 12/hr schedule. By midnight temps drop to 83F and stay for the remainder until 6am and light kicks on. By 11am temps are 89F 90F. Humidity stays around 30-40% I spray every morning to bring it up to 70-80% it drops by 3pm to normals(30-40%).

A paragraph I sent zilla tech. Give you a idea of my set up. The pads are on a thermostat so it wasn't like temps were blaring. Maybe for a day until I realized the heat pad was to hot without a thermostat. Still the heat pad I believe doesn't get hotter then 115. Shouldn't have cracked the glass in that short of a period I would think. I did peel it to insert probe and crack was not there nor did I sit tank on probe. I have glass baking pans thinner then the tank!

The tanks were purchased at petsmart. I was able to return 1 still have to wait I believe the zilla tech is suppose to set up a warranty exchange. The 2nd tank is over 14 days old. Still doesn't make the tank any better. If you look on your tank lids by the locking mechanism front top side right in the middle it seems all the lids have a bow. Poorly manufactured! How about the silicone seems in your tanks? I know mine are peeling off. Unless my snake is like a dog and pulling on it? Maybe. He likes to come out of tank at night. Very domesticated. I still doubt he is pulling on the silicone. Maybe just a bad shipment. I did purchase them at different times due to supply.

I have tons of pictures.

The tech from zilla has been good. but it doesn't make up for such a poorly manufactured tank. I felt obligated to spread the word of my experience. I sure had expected more from a 100$ tank. It doesn't cost that much for a little safety glass plastic and screen. That took some line worker 30min. to assemble. Zilla is aware I even shared my thoughts on how they could improve there quality of tanks.

On the shipment note. My brother and I seem to be running back and fourth with problems. His zoomed 8x12 UTH has went out on him. I had a bad light fixture and the zilla tanks as well as him with his tank issue after 11 days. None of the equipment or tanks are a month old. The structural integrity could of been compromised in shipment. It seems everything that is shipped to me down here gets beaten up. Fedex seems to be the worst! I have had fragile packages come in that the boxes were falling apart open. A trail of packing peanuts from road to door. So the carriers could of beaten up tanks but the silicone peeling, the bow. How about the plastic lid clips? Those sure aren't meant to last! That's why they have a locking mechanism.

James Norred

As far as the crack goes is there any chance water got spilled on it? Cold water on hot glass (even glass that isn't blaring) will easily cause the glass to crack.

I don't use the Critter Cages myself as I hate the sliding lids but I have sold quite a few over the years and I have not had complaints like that. It is possible that the quality has gone down since the re-branding (they used to be all glass aquarium and now they are zilla) but I have not noticed it. I know they have changed the lid a bit and I like the new style even less (no way you can open it with one hand with the two clips in the back) but as far as quality goes it still seems to be the same. It's possible they had a bad batch. Maybe new people working on the assembly line caused a run of bad product but my zilla rep has always been more than helpful.

Originally Posted by sschind

As far as the crack goes is there any chance water got spilled on it? Cold water on hot glass (even glass that isn't blaring) will easily cause the glass to crack.

I didn't think of that. I keep a 1 gallon of water out so all the water i use is room temps. I refill my spray bottle and water bowls with it. I will run some test tonight. I will bake a piece of glass tonight and pour some on it. I believe with a oven on warm it gets like 120F or something like that. I will keep you posted of my evaluation. I have my substrate thin so glass is exposed maybe the mist. Definitely a good guess there sschind. Could of done it.

Originally Posted by -C@jun-

I didn't think of that. I keep a 1 gallon of water out so all the water i use is room temps. I refill my spray bottle and water bowls with it. I will run some test tonight. I will bake a piece of glass tonight and pour some on it. I believe with a oven on warm it gets like 120F or something like that. I will keep you posted of my evaluation. I have my substrate thin so glass is exposed maybe the mist. Definitely a good guess there sschind. Could of done it.

Even room temp water can easily crack hot glass...especially since it sounds like your tanks have some thin glass. For my beardie, I keep her UTH on the back of the tank. I don't think this would do any good if I misted it, but I never mist my beardie's tank. It just keeps an accidental water bowl spill from causing a crack.

Originally Posted by Matt2979

Even room temp water can easily crack hot glass...especially since it sounds like your tanks have some thin glass. For my beardie, I keep her UTH on the back of the tank. I don't think this would do any good if I misted it, but I never mist my beardie's tank. It just keeps an accidental water bowl spill from causing a crack.

1/8" glass Would it help to just lay the pad on the shelf under tank still with the feet on the bottom of tank? The heat will not be in direct contact. BUT I would have to get rid of the thermostat. I have the rt-500 on high my pads don't get over 83F

Still this tank is suppose to be designed for this. Don't you have to put a little water in the bottom of tank for turtles. You have to supply some sort of heat for reptiles. Aren't they suppose to be sprayed during shed if your ambient humidity is right. This is a reptile tank. There is no reason for this trouble!

Sorry had to get back on subject