Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
*Preframe
I have a general idea of how to accomplish what I am asking/attempting but wanted to hear from people that have done this before with success...here it goes....

I am currently adopting a very large pair of full-grown Iguana’s
I have an outdoor cage that is 12 feet high, 10 feet long and 10 feet deep.
This adoption is last minute but very urgent – for now I will house them in a spare bathroom. With the current weather I have no other choice but to put my large outdoor enclosure in the garage temporarily. I have plans to split the garage and make a large reptile room ( I have one in the house already) but there is no time to do this with these new arrivals. Here is the problem, lighting heating etc are covered the real problem is if these reptiles are to be placed in the garage there is 1 car that needs to be housed there as well. My thought is any exposure to carbon monoxide would kill these guys slowly or quickly but there must be some way to insulate them against any carbons and or dangerous fumes put off by a car. The car faces out fumes can escape the garage thoughouly after 20 minutes or so, quicker with an industrial fan. I am definitely not going to try anything stupid but I will be building a room within this garage and want to know if anyone out here has done this before. How safe can this be – can it be done etc? Also what data is there online or anywhere about how car fumes (however light) effect reptiles. I plan on getting a carbon monoxide reader but need to know what level is considered deadly. I house my reptiles outside in the summer and we definitely are not in the country and all have bred and done well so far. My urgent need is how to do this for a couple weeks but safely, my long range need is how to do it the right with a separate room with outside ventilation and air flow.
Thanks Steve

First off, add a few vents in the garage if you don't already have them. I believe the danger with carbon monoxide is that it displaces oxygen (could be wrong, but I think that is what happens). Having vents will help with this. Also, a small fan in a vent will help tremendously. It can be turned on manually, and with the help of a timer, can be set to run say for 20 minutes, then off, each time it is turned on.

I have 3 small vents in my garage (no fan), and I house some colubrids there for brumation (3-4 months). They don't seem to have been affected by the car fumes. Inactive snakes don't intake as much air per breath as humans obviously and probably not as much as active iguanas, but I still think with a little ventilation you're fine. It will also help alot if you seal the partition wall as much as you can so fumes in one side are not as likely to affect the other side.