Rat room is now finished

Well I got tired of my basement (and sometimes the whole house) smelling like rats all the time, so here was my fix. I walled off the back of my basment making a 13 x 7 foot room. eigher used expanding foam or caulked the crap out of every seam and joint that could lead upstairs.

left over paint and some baseboard to make it look somewhat nice. some advise, do not buy self adhearing baseboard, it doesn't stick for crap, also do not buy the baseboard glue, again it doesn't stick that well eigher, liquid nails did the trick, even on my basment walls that were the exact opposite of flat, the baseboard is still up there.

and the rest gets pictures....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...Picture027.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...cture028-1.jpg

2 bathroom fans venting outside, I had 1 but had to put in another, just wasn't moving enough air in the right places. been working great now tho.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...cture024-2.jpg

timer for the fan and a timer for the lights, another thing I had to fix, I had electronic timers but every time the fans shut off, it reset the timers, and it stated these timers were made for use with lights, fans, and motors up to a certain horsepower, took them back thinking the might be defective, new ones did the same thing

so I switched to the big ass mechanical timers, no problems now. and their cheaper... just was a pain reworking my electrical.

also dehumidifier, a must for such a small room. and a 100 living things inside.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...cture029-1.jpg

Another great thing, water right over the watering bucket, no more filling up another bucket at the sink, carrying it over there, hoisting it up and dumping it in there... i just fill it up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...Picture034.jpg

freezer fits behind the door, also theres big boy, my only pet rat, and founding father of every single rat I own....retired breeder now, hes gotta be a great great great great grandfather by now

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...Picture032.jpg

the home built rack, Would be nice to build a new one, learned alot building this one tho and it works.

comments, questions, advise, what could I improve? thanks guys.

Just to clarify.. If you have 2 fans sucking air out of the room (and shooting it outside), where is your air supply to the room? No supply = not much air movement. Your door looks like you set it nice and tight, so not much air is coming through any gaps.

Awesome awesome awesome room though!! I've got a 8 by 7 room right now that houses my snakes AND ASFs and I'm already thinking of plans to do what you've done once I get a new place.

Great job! :salute:

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Originally Posted by Mitch21

Just to clarify.. If you have 2 fans sucking air out of the room (and shooting it outside), where is your air supply to the room? No supply = not much air movement. Your door looks like you set it nice and tight, so not much air is coming through any gaps.

Awesome awesome awesome room though!! I've got a 8 by 7 room right now that houses my snakes AND ASFs and I'm already thinking of plans to do what you've done once I get a new place.

Great job! :salute:

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the door isn't that tight, most of it has gotta come form there, I can feel tons of air blowing out the vent outside. airs coming from somewhere tho. could also be the wall with the shelf, its just wood thats been painted, im sure some air leaks through there also.

yea its amazing how nice it is to do stuff like this tho. reptile room with all the plugs you could ever ask for. timers are one of my favorite things. I just love my basement not smelling now, b4 the rats were just in a corner in the open air. good luck on that new place.

Very nice.

LOVE the water valve over the watering bucket! Awesome idea :)

wow thats freakin awesome..VERY IMPRESSED :gj:

How many snakes do you feed with all of those? Nice room though. I just use a back room that my dad uses as a tool room and it doesn't always hold the smell in.

thanks guys

It feeds...*has to go count*.... 16 snakes lol

The fans venting out are the biggest thing, but that requires putting a hole in your house, so yea. also I resently switched to mixing pine pellets in the rat bedding (the kind you buy for horses) and I think it helps with the smell also.

you could try that carbon filter thing in the stickys. and lemme know if it really works lol.

That rack looks really good AS IS. Just build your new on the same, but with whatever tub sizes you think you need. Those deep food hoppers look nice (1x4's?). Mine are only 2x2's high and think I could benefit from deeper ones. Even though I'd lose a tub or two in height due to the wider spacing, the longer time between fillings would be worth it.

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Originally Posted by chromeitout

That rack looks really good AS IS. Just build your new on the same, but with whatever tub sizes you think you need. Those deep food hoppers look nice (1x4's?). Mine are only 2x2's high and think I could benefit from deeper ones. Even though I'd lose a tub or two in height due to the wider spacing, the longer time between fillings would be worth it.

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honestly I really hate I went with the trend of rail systems everyone seems to make with their rodents, I think a shelve would be alot easier to work with and alot easier to build lol. then theres little things like i shoulda got a clear water bucket, and I think i would do away with the small tubs and just use all big ones.

the "hopper" is just me dumping food on top of the screen mesh and the 2x4's I made a frame out of holding the food in, so I guess its 3 1/2 inches high lol. the smaller cages I got 4 inch PVC cut to put food in, they still eat it through the mesh.