Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone ever tried to convert a outdoor storage shed into a snake room? I live in southern california and am trying to expand. Do you think with some insulation that it would be suitable for the kingsnakes?

What should I do to ensure that this shed is a safe place to house my snakes?

If this is not really an option, do people rent office or industrial space to house collections or is it mostly garage or retail stores?

Thanks
James

We've just finished building our snake room. We got done doing the first room and will start the second and the top floor. We are using a garage at the moment.

An outdoor shed may not be the best. We basically built in room inside another if you imagine it. The shed is exposed to everything, and will need tons of insulation and electrical power for the extreme weathers. This is why I designed my rooms to be small.

I would suggest using your garage like I am, or use your basement. How about posting pics of where you want to build this so I can better help...

Here is what we did. I have a youtube vid out aswell:

Before:

Starting to get grimy:

Starting with the back wall:

My friend apply tar to the exterior walls by the door to act as a barrier against water, snow, etc:

A quick fast forward:

Framing the door:

Installing the outlets and wiring them up:

Applying the fiber glass insulation:

Putting up the walls:

A pic that kinda shows the finished product:

It's not a big room, becuase I wanted it to be small. This way, I can reduce the amount of heat and cooling needed during intense weather. Will have vids out shortly. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed.

Thanks,
KMR.

Basement and garage space is all but used up. That is why I am trying to work something else out, short of renting space for my reptiles. I am in southern California so the weather I was hoping would be minimal.

Will get those pics up asap.

Thanks for your response
James

Renting will be alot, so that may not be your best option. Why don't you ask a family member to use part of their basment or something similar?

How big do you want this space to be?

Thanks KMR.

Trust me I have already used most of the garage space at the only place I could, and I am way too poor right now to rent anything. It is an 8 by 10 aluminum shed that is sitting on concrete adjacent to the north side of the house. I am hoping to fully insulate and convert it a small room that will house 50-100 kingsnakes.

Still working on getting a camera that is working to post pics.

James

The best thing to do with what you're working with, is to first properly insulate the innerwalls of the mini room. Next, you want to build walls over this mini room, using ply wood or something that will last long. In other words, you're actually building another room, over the existing. ONce you insulate everything and sheetrock, you should be fine. The extra walls over the existing one acts as a barier.

You can use the higher R valued insulation like R-25 . The higher, the better...

Where you are located it will be no problem. There are wild kings in the area aren't there????

Your bigest issue in a metal sided shed will be insulating. GO CRAZY WITH IT. Otherwise you will have no control over your temps and you will waste a TON of money on heating/cooling.

I would say your biggest problem will be cooling over the summer. You will need am AC of some kind. If I were you I would insulate everything inside, including the ceiling, with foam. Then I would pack sand bags or dirt around the outside as high as possible.

I also live in SC. In between Augusta, GA and Columbia. I have a friend that has his snakes in a small shed. As far as I know, he doesn't use anything to heat or cool the place. Not my personal preference, but his snakes are alive and well,(also breeding happily). I only know that it's insulated and about 8'x12'.