An ongoing success story

The US company Zoo Med introduced the first American reptile vitamin in 1982. Today the company, based in California, holds 8 reptile product patents and 9 aquatic product patents in the USA and internationally, with more pending. Its greatest accomplishment has been the invention of UVB lighting for reptiles, which took place in 1993 and became the standard the world over for zoos, veterinarians and the reptile hobbyist. The current range includes products for reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds. The company is proud to manufacture 50 per cent of its product line in the USA and 25 per cent in Europe.Growing glassworksThis year, Zoo Med has added more space and capacity to the California facilities. New buildings allow for increased production of glass tanks, naturalistic terrariums and "ReptiHabitat" kits. Including the main warehouse, Zoo Med now operates out of five buildings in San Luis Obispo county, and the company points out that it is still running out of space.Live breeding programmeWhile Zoo Med does not deal in live animals, the company regards itself as the caretaker of a large live animal collection. Inevitably, along with a large collection of healthy animals comes reproduction. Over the past few years, Zoo Med has successfully bred and hatched many difficult species including Spiny Hill Turtles (Heosemys spinosa), Pancake Tortoises (Malacochersus tornieri), Central American Wood Turtles (Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima manni), Spotted Turtles (Clemmys guttata), Black Knobbed Sawback Turtles (Graptemys nigrinoda) and Star Tortoises (Geochelone elegans) among many other turtles, tortoise and lizard species. The live animal facilities consist of two indoor animal rooms, outdoor pens and a state-of-the-art greenhouse, which Zoomed has named "Turtle Nirvana." Between these facilities, the company cares for approximately 71 different reptile species, 8 amphibian species and 40 fish species represented by over 365 turtles, 67 tortoises, 120 lizards, 20 amphibians and thousands of fish.EducationZoo Med Studios is an exciting addition to the education department at Zoo Med Labs, which looks back on a 36-year long history. Videos made in the studio provide information about new products, tips for using existing products and animal care. The animal care and customer service staff work together with the new media department to produce short, educational videos which can be found on the product pages at Zoomed.com as well as on YouTube…