Posted by:
chris_harper2
at Fri May 15 10:19:25 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by chris_harper2 ]
>>what is a good reptile room size and what features could be added to make it better? and if anyone keeps iverts as well what size room/feature would be good?
I have a dedicated 17'x9' snake room in the back of my third garage stall. Would love to keep them in a large office inside the home but the wife shot that idea down.
Size is a matter of preference. One thing to consider is that it is almost always cheaper to heat a room than it is individual cages. Supplemental heat for temperature gradiants is one thing but in general the more you can provide heat with ambient room temperatures the better off you'll be.
So while I agree with bigger is better, do take into consideration how what temperature you'll be heating (or cooling) the room to and what sort of costs will be involved.
The features of my room that I really like:
1) 220V power to run the radiant heaters I used. I can heat my room to 90* when it's below freezing outside for less than a dollar a day. I do wish I had used 220V radiant heat panels to heat the room instead. With the cove heaters I have to be careful about how high I can stack cages or racks at their ends of the room.
2) Radiant barrier insulation. Plays a major roll in how cheap my room is to heat but also means I never have to use an air conditioner in my room, even on 100* days. But some of that also has to do with that fact that third stall is partially below grade (dug into a hill). I would never use standard insulation in a reptile room if I could avoid it. You really need an insulation with a foil layer in a reptile room. Even if you'll be using forced air to heat the room you'll still have radiant heat being produced by the cages.
I also have the floor framed out and insulated. Really helps with heating costs when using radiant heat.
3) 36" door - the biggest I could get without going custom.
4) A lot of receptacles, but this has actually turned out to be a regret. With hindsight I wish I had run plugmold with a cord long enough to raise or lower the strips at my convenience.
Also, I would have like to have one run of plugmold on a built-in heavy duty timer. One set of plugmold or outlets providing power 24/7, the other on a one of those timers.
5) Heavy duty exhaust fan on a timer. It's one of those twist timers so I can crank it on and leave the room and it will shut off on its own. My timer goes up to an hour.
6) Ceiling fan that keeps air moving in the room.
Are you converting an existing room or building from scratch? If building from scratch, will be using any existing walls?
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Currently keeping:
6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)
0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri
1.1 Philodryas baroni
1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata
0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus
0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback
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RE: reptile room size - chris_harper2, Fri May 15 10:19:25 2009