Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, here's my deal. My family and I just purchased a new house. My wife has agreed to let me have a 13' x 14' area of the basement to be a herp room. Here's the deal though--the basement is concrete and stone foundation but unfinished, and as such not well heated (right now the temp outside is 12 degrees, and the air temp is 46). First thought is that I should wall off the designated area and heat it--BUT, my house is in a flood area, so while all my caging will be made to be moved easily and quickly if the need be, I would hate to have to build and then re-build walls should a flood occur. So...I was thinking of using the cages themselves as the walls, run a heater with thermostat on the inside of the "room" during the winter, and insulating my cages, all the while working with species that can handle cooler temps if need be. Am I missing anything? any thoughts to improve my design before I begin moving forward? ( as an aside, all electric outlets are GFCI protected and 4' off the ground so I think I have the electric under control)

An unheated basement is a GREAT place for a herp room. Most people with full rooms dedicated to their reptiles have trouble keeping it cool enough. It is easy to provide a hot spot in every cage. Even if the rest of the room stays cool most species will appreciate the wide temp gradient. I would frame out some walls and not go crazy with finishing them if you think they might get damaged. Just some plywood would be enough. A room full of cages will heat itself and the basement has great insulation. I would not try to use the cages as walls. That seems like it would be really annoying.

Even if it gets chilly in winter, just throw an electric heater with a thermostat in there. One room is easy to heat that way.

Like the others said, a basement, even a cool one is a great herp room.

It is much easier to add heat to a herp room that is too cold than it is to cool a room that is too warm.

I wouldn't use the cages as the wall. You would only be asking for trouble.

First off, you won't be able to move them should you decide to make changes to the layout of the room. You would essentially be stuck with whatever layout you first select.

Secondly, if your house does suffer from flood damage, most likely you will have water coming in your basement and flowing down the walls. If your cages are mounted on the walls all of that water will end up destroying your cages, possibly killing your animals and shorting out any of the electrical elements you have in them.

Which brings me to the third reason: it would make changing your heating elements an additional chore.

The fact that your house is on a flood plain shouldn't discourage you too much. Sure floods happen, but they don't always result in six feet of water in your basement. (In which case, I doubt you and your family would be worrying about your cages and racks too much... your family and your home would be a greater concern.)

I would frame up the walls (make sure to seal them to prevent water seepage, humidity, etc. from leaching into the basement). You can insulate as needed for your own comfort. Concrete floors are that big of a problem... I have a concrete floor in my herp "room" and love it - clean up is easy. I'd place my cages about 4-6 inches away from the walls to prevent any water that may find it's way in and down your walls from damaging your caging. Also, if you are able, mount some locking caster wheels on the bottom of the cages to make it easier to move them and to keep them a few extra inches off of the floor.

Not every flood is going to be deep and it really doesn't have to be to cause major damage. Just a couple inches in a persons basement can be very expensive to clean up after. However, if you have your cages away from the walls and on casters those (potential) couple inches of water wouldn't affect your animals as much.

Preparing for the possibility of a flood is a good idea, but find out when the last time your neighborhood was flooded and the extent of the damage that your neighbors faced at that time. Are you close enough to the water that sand bagging was necessary? How deep was the water? Etc.
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Stay United!

"...I say 'apparently' because despite all our progress she is not at all a tame or handle-able snake and gettting her from that cage would re-start a war.. and we've had a good armistice for several months now."-Gus Rentfro - I love this quote!