Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a HUGE closet in my new place that I want to turn into my snake room but had some questions. What do you all think would be the best way to monitor and keep appropiate temps? I know people use space heaters to heat their snake rooms but what thermostat do you use and what heater? Also, how about cooling the closet down? Any tips or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Ranco thermostats work well and handle alot of power. As for cooling you might not need to depending on how well insulated it is.

Greg

I am doing the same, with a closet. I am worried about humidity getting trapped and having mold. How can I avoid this? It's a nice closet so I do not want to damage the walls.....should I cover it in plastic sheeting before I make it into a cage? If I do that I'm worried about mold getting UNDER the plastic........Hmmm..I have never done this before...what are you going to do?

I am not that worried about humidty/mold. I have seen lots of people use closets for incubators for years and never had any problems. I will have 3-4 racks in there and thats it except a heater and thermo to maintain temps.

sorry, im new to this forum, even though i have a 15 year old bp

I am wondering if I should but then I am thinking it may also CONTRIBUTE to mold growth, between the plastic and the walls themselves. The walls are kind of like a ceiling in a house, they are rough and white colored, with those swirls in em. Should I even bother with plastic? Or should I just keep them bare?

a rack is a structure that holds the tubd in which most people who breed keep their snakes in. They are made of either wood, plastic or metal. They look like a big shelving unit and the tubs slide in and out on a individual level.

As far as the plastic goes....I just re-read what you are trying to do. I dont think turning a closet into a natural habitat for your snake would be a good idea. Just my opinion though. In that case I would worry about mold among other things like bugs, hygiene, diseases. There are some places that enclosures for what you are trying to do. Or you could build your own. I would like to see what other people have to say sbout as well though to see if i thinking correctly.

You would probably have better luck getting this answered in the cages forum - but as someone else mentioned if you are planning on turning your closet into a vivarium type setup for your ball - it's not a good idea balls don't require that much space - I could understand tho if you are going to be putting racks or cages in it. As far as mold - I know when we redid our bathroom there is some kind of sheet rock (? I dont remember excactly what it's called) that you put behind the walls to keep the moisture from penetrating into the wood maybe you can use that?
-----
Tosha

"One of these days i am going to wake up..look around...and realize my place looks more like "Ace Venturas"s than my own." Coldthumb

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul "JP"
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 lizard rescued from vicious feline