Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have decided to finish our basement and I have set aside a 10x12 space (w/ windows) tin which to finally build my own dedicated snake room. I am in the planning stage and want to design it for the long term. Here are the things I think I should definitely have:

1. lots of GFI electrical outlets
2. a sink
3. counter space
4. cabinets for equipment storage
5. freezer for rodents and supplies
6. full spectrum lighting with timer and dimmer capabilities
7. closeable heat/AC vent
8. obviously an area for my racks

For those of you with your own rooms, is there anything Im forgetting. Is there anything you think is essential to the perfect snake room?
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0.1 Amelanistic Corn
0.1 Tarahumara Mtn. King
1.2 Thayeri
0.1 Gray Banded King
0.2 Kunasir Island Rats
0.1 White Oak Gray Rat
0.1 Baird's Rat
0.1 Everglades Rat
1.2 Trans Pecos Rats

Smoke detector. Thats something alot of people forget.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
Boas make the world go round.

I have a deep laundry tub, and it isn't even big enough. I will be installing a ceiling fan soon. Keep us posted. Derek

Sounds like a good project. Here is the addy for a similar question back on about page 3

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1220226,1220226

How about a first aid kit, fire extinguisher(sp?) Make it so that the door to the room opens out instead of into the room. If it opens into the room, you will loose a little space behind the door.
Telephone jacks. Maybe an intercome system to the upstairs incase you need help.

Hope this gives you some additional ideas
Rob
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own" Adam Savage
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Creamscicle motley corn
0.1 Creamscicle corn
0.0.1 Normal corn
0.1 Black Pine - Spaz
1.1 Bearded Dragon - Gomer & Piggy

Couch or comfortable chair, spend a lot of time in there and you will want to take a quick break. LOL
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

I agree with this one. My herp room is one half of a two-car garage and I have the luxury of being able to have a small sofa out there as well as cable tv and a stereo/cd player. My wife likes to joke about the fact that with a hot plate, microwave and bathroom, I could probably live out there. Sometimes I don't think she's joking though...

Billy

Ohh thats another thought a bathroom.........

I mean poopy water has to go somewhere.......

A hot plate could warm up frozen food maybe slow but it would do it faster than water or all day on the counter. LOL but over cooked rodents are not my cup o' tea.
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

I'm still trying to finish up the herp room that I split off from the rest of my basement. It's only 13'8" by 7', but it's as big as negotiations with my better half would allow! I'm still not completely done, and there are some things I would do differently, naturally!

I put in 2 bathroom style exhaust fans.

I wired all my outlets to two electrical circuits, one circuit has a timer. I didn't use GFI outlets, but I probably should have.

Make sure you have enough space between your racks/cages and the electrical outlets behind them. This is one thing I wish I had done better. Maybe there's some kind of recessed electrical outlets?

I installed wiring for a phone jack, and 2 network jacks for a PC and/or webcam or whatever. (I'm a techie by day.)

I put a shelf along each side of the room to effectively raise the floor so I can slide Rubbermaid tubs underneath them to store the usual herp room junk. I have mixed feelings about this. I didn't want cages/rack drawers too low to the ground, but now they are (or will be) too tall.

I'm now driving myself nuts trying to figure out the layout of the room and cages and racks. I basically moved all my stuff from my old herp room (which is now my baby's room) and am trying to replace some of the random mix of racks, tanks, and cages with something more standardized, efficient, etc, and it's not easy. Maybe it's just because the room is rather small.

Just some stuff to think about!

Don't forget to add albino TransPecos ratsnakes, maybe some albino annulata, etc.
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Mark

Keep 'em coming! So far I am adding:

smoke detector/fire extinguisher
exhaust fans
comfortable chair
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0.1 Amelanistic Corn
0.1 Tarahumara Mtn. King
1.2 Thayeri
0.1 Gray Banded King
0.2 Kunasir Island Rats
0.1 White Oak Gray Rat
0.1 Baird's Rat
0.1 Everglades Rat
1.2 Trans Pecos Rats

I converted the back of my third garage stall into a snake room. I did not need AC out there since my garage is partially below grade so I never considered having a run from my main furnace for heating.

I have two main regrets with my snake room, both of which are fixable.

1) The use of the radiant cove heaters. With hindsight I wish I had found some sort of gas heater that can run without electric. I guess there are some that generate and store their own power for use during outages. I'd feel much better during my frequent travels with a heater that can operate during outages.

2) I REALLY wish I had done the entire room in plugmold with enough cord so that I could raise or lower as desired.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

This sounds crazy, but I really wish that I had put a dishwasher in my snake room. I'm constantly behind on washing extra waterbowls and tubs, and my wife won't let me use the one in the kitchen.
If you are a breeder, plan where your incubator is going to go.
Other key features - lots of outlets, lights on timers, separate light that you can flick on/off without messing with the light son timers, ceiling fan, sink, counter space, and storage for empty tubs, bowls, and all the other stuff that seems to accumulate.
As someone suggested, a smoke-alarm is a great idea.
Last but not least spend some time escape-proofing. It is maddening to not be able to find a 5 foot snake in an enclosed space!

My list grows longer:

separate light switch so as not to disrupt timers (great idea!)

I have thought of escape proofing. All my edges will be sealed and there will be weather stripping under the dooor for a tight seal. If they get out, they will have no where to go other than behind another rack or something. I will even keep a screen in my sink drain. This is great! You guys are giving me so many more things than I considered alone. Its really cool to hear what others found as shortcomings in their own rooms to help me avoid the same mistakes in mine.

I will definitely be posting detailed pics upon completion. Wwill build in the spring, so I should have pics up by early summer. Keep those ideas flowing!
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0.1 Amelanistic Corn
0.1 Tarahumara Mtn. King
2.2 Thayeri
0.1 Gray Banded King
0.2 Kunasir Island Rats
0.1 White Oak Gray Rat
0.1 Baird's Rat
0.1 Everglades Rat

one thing i did was get regular screening and staple it into my heating vents and then ran small molding to tack it down over the staples. this way i know my snake did not get in the vent and have to take apart all the duct work again!!!
adam
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hybrid breeders association
1.1 sinacorns
1.1 kenyan sand boas
1.1 mbk
1.1 albino corns
1.3 ghost corns
1.0 snow corns
1.0 jurassic milk
0.1 bloodred
0.1 striped albino corn
0.1 childrens python
0.1 albino nelsons
0.1 anery motley
0.1 albino banded cal king
0.1 normal corn het hypo,anery
0.1 hypo tang hondo

A rolling cart
A scale

I am also in the process of making half my basement a rep room.

I already learned to put all my racks on wheels so I can move them to clean and to rearrange the room as needed (add more racks).

I would really like to put bottom floor heat in with a hot water system as the cement slab is a great heat sink. I plan on a 12x12 tile floor also. (The other half of my basement is our entertainment room and it has bottom heat. It is the most comfortable room in the house!)

One the first things I did was get an air cleaner and this helped with smells and dust.

When you are finished putting all these things in your room, where are you going to put the snakes??

I like my computer and microscope in my reptile room.

Ceiling fans have been mentioned already, but I thought I would stress how nice they are. When you fill a tiny room with lots of cages the top gets really hot, and the bottom stays really cool. Unless you have different species with very different temp requirements it can be a problem. My buddies room (16x16 containing about 40 colubrid drawers) had a ten degree difference from floor to ceiling! Since he installed the ceiling fan it is less then a two degree difference.

well its not a neccesity but if your keeping any larger snakes bigger boids, indigos or pythons a spray bottle with denatured alcohal you spray it in their face(mouth) if they bite you and they let go instantly or at least as fast as they can get their teeth out of ya. another thing is a industrial size container of hand sanitizer gotta keep from contaminating other animals. sealed trash can also one with a really tight lid, nothin like searchin your trash for an escaped snake.
adam
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hybrid breeders association
1.1 sinacorns
1.1 kenyan sand boas
1.1 mbk
1.1 albino corns
1.3 ghost corns
1.0 snow corns
1.0 jurassic milk
0.1 bloodred
0.1 striped albino corn
0.1 childrens python
0.1 albino nelsons
0.1 anery motley
0.1 albino banded cal king
0.1 normal corn het hypo,anery
0.1 hypo tang hondo