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Q: Building a Reptile Shed
Posted By:

krackerdactyl

we're moving out of an apartment. where we had our snakes in a rack system (bins) and our beardies in cages. and a few other snakes in cages. we also had space to lie these around everywhere. we are now moving into a bedroom. in a house. we're told we can use a certain room, but it gets very drafty. really cold, especially at the moment. and the electrical in the house is a bit off. if you have too many things running, it'll short out. so im worried of having to check every few minutes. anywhooo....we're just a little skeptical on using that room. cuz its so far from us. but we dont think all the animals will fit in our room. granted, ive done it before. with the rack in a closet...and cages everywhere....EVERYWHERE. stacked upon each other here n there. lol >_< it was bad. so to my POINT. we're thinking of building some shelves ourselves in order to accommodate at least most of our animals if not all. ive suggested to maybe build a lil shed for either the other room, to try to maintain an overall temperature, or for outside. has anyone made a shed here? or have any suggestions on what we can do? my uncle had a shed for his boas and a few chameleons. and corns. i believe he has corns...but his shed also shorted out or something, where majority of his animals got fried :( we do have a GTP. and like i said, our beardies. plus a couple cresteds. a carpet. ball pythons. and a couple blood pythons. anyone have suggestions on what we can do? or what would work better? thank you.


Points: 100
Topics: Knowledge Base
Tags: Building, DIY, Electrical, Heating, Setup, Shed
Administrative: Show/Hide

Member Comment 3/3/2010 7:45:16 PM

Darkdazeys
Two words- Space heater. We use one for our reptile room. Our whole house is always super cold, and keep just the one room warm isn't too dificult. It keeps an ambient temperature and everyone's happy. Of course, they do have their own heat lamps as well. You can also try having their lights, if you use 'em, on a timer. Let certain ones have light and direct for a certain amount of time and rotate it around for everyone.
 
Member Comment 3/3/2010 7:46:25 PM

Darkdazeys
direct, individual heat****
 
Member Comment 3/3/2010 9:39:37 PM

shellboa
One of those oil filled radiator looking things would be great. We use that in the garage to keep the chill off the rodents in the worst of winter.
 
Member Comment 3/3/2010 9:41:46 PM

shellboa
Also it might help to go through the room before you put anything in it and insulated the best you can. Caulk gaps in trim and cracks by windows, put foam behind light switches, cover windows with plastic, lay down cheap low wear carpet. Every little bit helps.
 
Author Comment 3/3/2010 10:20:02 PM

krackerdactyl
Yeah...I told him about some heater. And yeah it gets very drafty. Everything is weak. And not so attached. Its a very old house. With an old fuse box for electricity...so things have to be low wattage n what not. And can't have so many things plugged in. It'll need a LOT of patching up... Uhhh...what the best individual heatin system? We have heat tape. Couple heat pads. And heat lamps.
 
Author Comment 3/3/2010 10:23:04 PM

krackerdactyl
Btw. The room...is cluttered. CLUTTERED. With just....junk O_o. More cleaning. Took us 3 days to clean out our new room. Paint n clean. Its much different now. From a hot pink n black. To a light mint green. :) new light fixture. N new curtains.
 
Member Comment 3/4/2010 11:34:13 AM

wintersreptiles
 Find a good friend who knows electrical and run a new circket or a temp one to not worry about losing power. If i lived there i would be right over, over 15 year doing that work, now cant find work now.
 
Author Comment 3/4/2010 12:29:23 PM

krackerdactyl
im sorry to hear. that sucks...yeah the owner is thinking of upgrading (he really needs to). says a little upgrade would be around $800. but i'll definately try lookin into what you're talkin about
 
Accepted Answer 3/4/2010 2:51:28 PM

dalvers63
The oil filled heater is the best - I use one in my reptile room to keep ambient temps up. After that, use heat tape/heat pads on a good thermostat to provide basking spots. If you have aquariums, insulate them so they maintain heat - that will keep the bills down.  The rack should maintain heat pretty well on it's own.

Good luck! I agree with others, though  - if you can run a new line to your own fuse for that room it would be much safer!
 
Assisted Answer 3/7/2010 10:48:02 AM

Michael Roth
a few sheets of 2" styrofoam on the walls will go a long way for retaining heat. I have to agree, the oil-filled heaters are absolutely fantastic. I would definitely recommend having an electrician run a new line out to the shed, with a dedicated breaker, it would be cheap insurance for someone who has the bulk of their collection out there.
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