Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am starting design work on a 2000 to 2500 sq. ft. building in which to breed reptiles. Currently I have a 400 sq. ft. room that I use to breed my snakes.
I am interested in, over the next few years, breeding other types of reptiles also.
I would like to know what types of things would be on your wishlist if you could build this type of facility.
Type of heating/cooling system? Types of cages? Set up for cleaning area? Type of ventilation system? Best methods of housing the animals
I would need an area in which visitors can view some of the animals, area for brumation of certain species, areas of different climate conditions, an area to raise mice and insects.
I plan to design the building to be built from concrete and concrete block.
The list of animals that I am thinking about breeding goes like this;
Colubrids of all sorts
Boas and Ball Pythons
Bearded Dragons
Geckos
Chameleons

My facility will be built in Virginia which has mild climate although our summers are very humid and winter is typically dry.

I need ideas for effiency and eas of care.

Thanks in advance for your ideas and advice.

John Phillips

Do you mind me asking where in VA you are? I am moving back to VA in January for that is where I grew up.

Just curious, g'luck with your setup.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

so am i, if i dont hurry up and find a job here in miami
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proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake
1.0.0 leopard gecko
0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa
0.1.0 bearded dragon
1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (on the way!)

what area if you don't mind me asking?

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

dc metro
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proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake
1.0.0 leopard gecko
0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa
0.1.0 bearded dragon
1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (on the way!)

cool i am moving back to NOVA. That's funny, yet another small world example!

b'
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Dragons by Nature

personally i would set up the facility to make it as simple and easy on both you and the animals ( not the public) by this i mean you will need to look into what type housing you will be using ? wether it be custom wall cages ( meaning multiple housing built in place or if its going to be movable units) will you want to seperate the species ... IE: snakes one side lizards the other ? me myself i would have seprate rooms for these snakes oneside / lizards the other i would have built in units along the walls and row them accordingly kinda like the libary so you maXIMZE YOUR SPACE WHILE STILL GETTING THE MOST USE FOR KEEPING sorry for caPS JUST WOKE UP LOL i myself would also incorperate a mising system in the type cages just to keep from having to hand mist each unit also i would heat this building with a larger type heat source so that you wont need to do so on each unit unless needed i would have housing units probably 18"-20 high per cage and have it built upto about 6ft to the tallest depending on your height. and i would have sliding fronts made of glass on these units so that it makes it easier for me to clean them all and i would probably even add built in plumbing to each of the larger cages ( boas/ pythons etc) to n make it easy to clean cages with just a simple "hosing down" this would allow water to drain out the back of the cage and then just simply dry them out.
now as to your wanting the public to come in ? i wouldnt waste the money or effort on this aspect of the building make it user wise not public wise ... by this i mean if your want to have the general public come in to " choose there own animals " let them do so amongst the building made easy for you. have you made plans for this ? you also said block walls ? if i were you i would go with 2'x6" walls this allows you better insulate the building as block walls do not insulate all that well IMHO
if you would liek id be glad to do you a drawing of what i have described i have several design programs and really enjoy using them ...lol email me if ya would like this added help it would show the inside layout aswell
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Buisnesses come and go everyday, what keeps you here is how you treated the customer the day before....

I am in the initial stages (thinking) of doing the same thing as you. Some of the things I am pondering about it are:

1. I am definitely going to have a shop vac setup like in a woodshop. With the Vac unit on the exterior of the building for ease of emptying. plumb the walls with pvc pipe and connectors so I can move from station to station and just suck up substrate without having to lug a vac around the shop.

2. I might do the same thing with water lines, putting elbow ball fittings at strategic locations in the shop.

3. definitely will have a brumation area within the building away from any exterior walls. I may be doing a building within a building thing there.

4. I am still contemplating whether to go with studded walls or just build an insulated metal building. (I can build the metal building myself, I would just have to contract out the cement and wiring, so I am leaning towards that)

5. One of the things I need a little help with is the heating/cooling aspect of the building itself. I know I want to break the building down into several rooms, I will probably want these rooms at different temps. I am going to talk with some folks I know about how best to go about this. This part ay be expensive. I also want to be able to control humidity levels within reason so as to reduce the amount of cage to cage control I will have to take.

Oh yeah, definitley will also have the following:

bathroom---duh
dishwasher---I use a dishwasher to clean cage furniture and bowls
deep industrial style sinks

I also will probably be using plastic stackable caging. I have been buying several brands. I am currently looking into buying a plastic welding system and may build some multi units on casters.
I will have to do a little more research on that as well to see if it is worth it. I suspect it may be, single cages as much as 3300 bucks a pop are gonna break me... I think I can cut the cost of caging by 70% (not counting my time).

Scott

had a little typo there... Im not paying 3300 dollars a pop for cages!!! I meant 300!!!

if I was paying 3300 dollars a cage, my wife would have already had me commited.

I like your ideas. I have been looking around for a used commercial dishwasher like they use in restuarants. These cycle thru a load very quickly and are big enough to put sweater boxes in. Plus they don't waste a lot of water.
I am planning on building the outside walls of the building with insulated concrete wall forms and probably use steel stud framing for interior partitions. I have considered using cinder block for interior partitions and painting them like they do in a lot of school buildings.
I am leaning towards radiant in floor heat which uses plastic hoses with heated water in them to heat the building. I will have seperate zones for each room.
As you said a large utility sink is mandatory.
I have not decided what to do for caging yet. Since I will be breeding several different types of animals I will have to consider each individual species needs and go from there.
They other thing that is a must is to have a complety sealed of room for raising mice. This will need a very good ventilation system automatic watering system and be easily hosed down. (I do not like the mice but it is a part of what I do) The object for the mice breeding is to make it as low maintenance as possible and control the oder.

Thanks for your ideas
John