New Rat Shed and Rack

We're building a new little rat shed. It can hold up to 32 tubs. We're only doing 16 for now. Still need to finish the roof, wiring, and water system. Just built in the rack today. Woo Hoo! :banana:

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...0/dscn2199.jpg
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...0/dscn2200.jpg
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...0/dscn2202.jpg

Thanks for looking!

Thats cool.

Another cool thing on it is that it's movable. We can fork it to wherever is needed. Insulated floor to ceiling, with a vented roof (coverable in the winter).

Nice, keep the little stinkers outside!

I thought about doing something like that for quarantining. Great job! Costs?
*Fila*

Looks good, nice job!

Very nice! Thanks for sharing!

Looks good, keep us updated as you get more of it done!

Thanks, all. Costs....
Rack:
-16 tubs at $5.47 each
-28 1x2s & 2 1x4s, $22
-1/2" hardware cloth, $48
-Brad Nails, $8.00 (A note on the brad nails...we used them because the rack is built to the shed.)

Total for rack, ~$165.00

Shed:
-8 sheets of foam board ~$25 each
-Exterior door, $110
-23 2x4s, ~$2 each
-6 treated 2x4 ~$4 each
-3 sheets of 7/16 OSB, ~$8 each
-cement board exterior, ? (my friend had it left over)
-3 spray foam cans, ~$8 each
-metal roofing, ~$35
-Electrical (light, switch, receptacle--I'm an electrician) ~$15

Total for shed: ~$478
Total Rack and Shed, $643

We'll start with 30 adult rats... (6 males, 24 females)

Having live rats available....PRICELESS!

Oh, I think I'm short on the shed count by 6 studs....forgot the top and bottom plates

Forgot the watering system for the rack...16 nozzles at $3.50 each...I have the tubing and tees and other fittings...

Looks good, dont add in all the small stuff............you will forget a lot and keep it that way, it just adds to the cost LOL:gj:

Yeah, but for anyone wanting to know, it's helpful before they commit themselves... It's definitely all worth it for the convenience of finally having live rats available. I have a pied female that I can't get switched to f/t. A few others I have are picky and won't eat f/t unless they go 2 weeks between feedings... Darn picky balls! Oh well, hopefully we're only about 6-8 weeks from having a bunch of weaners.

You want to consider adding vents.

Yeah, we have a ridge vent in the roof, and we'll add vents down low. We'll be putting in a bath fan ~60 cfm. I'm going to try the Sweet PDZ stuff and see how that helps with the smell, too. I do expect this shed will be nasty stinky, but that's how I've seen that rats are, anywhere I've gotten them from.

Wow for like $700 that seems very reasonable and well worth it! It doesnt really matter what it smells like in there bc its outside. You'll have to go in there to clean and get feeders obviously but its not all smelly in your basement or spare bedroom or something...

Just a thought....there are no eaves on the roof, so once it starts raining, won't it leak, especially behind the molding for the door, causing it to slowly warp and rot? If you haven't already solved that problem, I might consider doing so.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

It doesnt really matter what it smells like in there bc its outside.

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Actually it does.....I dont like to feed my snakes sick rats:gj:

If you keep them reasonably clean, and keep the shed reasonably ventilated, you shouldn't have a horrible smell. Healthy well-kept rats are clean.

Rats in your spare bedroom? That would be kind of nasty if you had anybody spend the night...

You never wanted the inlaws there anyway, right?

Yeah, we're figuring out the eaves thing, too.

I care about the smell, cause it sticks to me every time I go into my friend's rat shed--even for 10 seconds! If I can keep the smell down, then that's awesome.

I'd use gable end vents for a cross breeze personally. Ridge vents won't work properly without soffits.

We'll be hanging the metal roof over the edges. Also, the insulation inside is up next to the roof deck--no attic. That's the idea of putting a vent down near the floor. Hoping we get a natural ventilation flowing up and out in the warmer times of the year. Also, I'm thinking we'll use a fan sucking air into that floor-level vent. Pressures will then cause it to vent out the ridge vent...

The hope is that we'll get a floor to roof ventilation going on.

ok, issue. You never insulate tight against wood roof decking. You trap heat and moisture underneath and rot it bottom up.

IF you planned to run a metal roof, you remove the plywood and nail the metal straight to the joist.

If the door is a 36x80 then I see you having headaches with this setup. The rack is too tall. With tubs on both sides(of the door) you will have huge diffculty sliding a tub out full of rats and dealing with them. Small mortar tubs are 28" long. That only gives a 8" buffer when cleaning or removing the tub.

If you don't vent high, you will not bring in fresh air from below. You must cause it to naturally circulate. The power vent idea is not efficient and only MIGHT work.

Drop the top tubs from the rack. pull the insulation from the peak and create an attic. Add gable vents and then floor vents and you should be good.

I avoid power use whenever humanly possible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

IF you planned to run a metal roof, you remove the plywood and nail the metal straight to the joist.

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Actually a 1X3 every 16" on top of the decking and then screwing the metal down to that is more than adequate and adds an air flow also.;)

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Actually a 1X3 every 16" on top of the decking and then screwing the metal down to that is more than adequate and adds an air flow also.;)

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you can do it that way but it doesn't increase any type of flow INSIDE the building. It still won't stop moisture from forming on the bottom of the plywood either(hence rotting from bottom). There will be tons of moisture in this type of situation.

The door swings out, so I don't see the space of the rack/tub a problem.

Our power rate is $0.037 per kWh...not overly concerned with running a fan.

I could see possibly removing the wood. We'll see. our RH here is typically 20-30%. We don't have mold issues like many places in the country. We don't have condensation happening like many areas, either. Not that we can't and won't have the problem, but we'll keep an eye on it and change if necessary. A roof this size won't be tough to re-do/re-figure.

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Originally Posted by ClarkT

The door swings out, so I don't see the space of the rack/tub a problem.

Our power rate is $0.037 per kWh...not overly concerned with running a fan.

I could see possibly removing the wood. We'll see. our RH here is typically 20-30%. We don't have mold issues like many places in the country. We don't have condensation happening like many areas, either. Not that we can't and won't have the problem, but we'll keep an eye on it and change if necessary. A roof this size won't be tough to re-do/re-figure.

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just telling you how and why structures are built how they are. The easiest and most reliable ways normally are just by designing correctly and taking advantage of how nature works.

Are you insulating to keep heat in or out? I'm assuming out. Plus you want a good ventilation setup to keep ammonia low. Ambient RH is nice but it will be a different enviroment in rodent building especially in a hot low humidity environment.

Rodents will generate humidity too.

Be sure to get a Roof Exhaust Vent in Summer as well as a Shed central heating/cool unit. And youll never worry about over heating or too cold.

This is one I would use when I move my rodents outdoors.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CDAQ8wIwAQ

We're insulating mostly from the winter cold. We typically get -20 in the winter... Summers sometimes reach 98 where this shed is located, but it'll be shaded. I'm both an electrician and an HVAC designer/installer. If we have to add air conditioning, we will, but I'm hoping ventilation will be the most I need. If not, we'll get a little portable a/c unit. For heat, we'll have to use electric heat, as heat pumps aren't feasible down to our low temps.

I can't really add anything as far as building the shed but would recommend a roof fan that will suck all of the air out of the shed through floor level vents as quickly as possible.

I know what you mean by the smell sticking to you. If you have a switch for that fan outside the shed you could just flip it on for a few minutes before you walk in. It makes a big difference, especially close to cleaning day.

That's a great idea!