Building new snake room and I need suggestions . . . .

We are moving from our current house to about 3 acres of land close to Tampa, Florida. As a result we have the opportunity to build a stand alone snake room from scratch. :taz:

What would you put in your new snake room if you were building one today? What would you do differently than you did when you set up your snakes?

Also, any suggestions on the best way to move over 400 snakes and not mess up the upcoming breeding season?

Thanks

well one thing i would consider is a huge sink and if you have space and money a dishwasher exclusively for snake dishes.. big closet with lots of shelves for extra supplies like bedding extra bowls hides etc... thats right off the top of my head i am sure people will chime in with better ideas!

Incubation room, backup generator, security system.
If it was me, couch, kitchen, tv, bathroom... That way I would never have to leave lol

Make sure you have plenty of electrical outlets, including putting some in the ceiling. One or two large laundry room sinks. And as mentioned before a backup generator is a really good idea.

I like the idea of putting a counter in the middle for work space and them making underneath it all snake racks so you don't waste space

In floor heating, tile floors and up the walls, snake proof rooms in case of escapes, fully arc/surge protected outlets, wash room with sink at a easy working height (I am very tall regulation sinks are too low.... :P)

I would definitely make sure I had a double commercial sized sink, incubator room, security system, fire alarm with sprinklers, and a built in generator that automatically kicks on during a power outage.

As far as the move is concerned seems like a short trip, maybe 1 hr away from your current location so I would keep the snakes in their current racks and just load them into a u-haul and go from there. I think since the temps and humidity will be pretty consistent you will not have a problem with your breeding season for 2013.

Good Luck

Thanks for the good ideas. Please keep them coming!

IF/When we get to the point where we have the property we want with the space to do it, we would be building something similar to what the Baileys are doing in this thread.
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...(New-building)
It wouldn't just be a snake room, but a completely separate building for the entire business.
It would have an office area, incubator room, cleaning area with commercial sinks and dishwashers. And also a seperate side room for the rodents.
The backup generator is a great idea.
Also since we are in AZ we have thought about installing solar panels to cut down the cost of electrical usage.

Well, with 400+ snakes I would say a walk in incubator would be the best investment. I like the counter top with racks underneath, that's pretty neat.

The backup genny would be an excellent idea too.


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btw all yall are lucky having 100 snakes in a 10x12 room isnt easy:P i dont know what the humidity is like where your at but for my a humidifyer in the room is a MUST

That is such a great thread! Thanks

If I were to build another room, and I'm sure I will one day, I would install a forced heat system with an attached humidifier and air filtration system.

Radiant heated floors are great, fans an lots of electrical outlets (each with their own dedicated fuse/breaker) are a must, storage for extra tubs, water bowls and general 'snake stuff'. I don't like the idea of a sink IN my room, as I prefer to keep dirt out of the room, but a sink near by is a definite asset... or even better would be a shower type stall with a hose where I can spray tubs down.

Simple things I like in my room are a radio, and a cork board to keep my breeding organized!

As far as a humidifier, I used to use one, but now that I have 100+ water bowls in the room, I find that just the sheer amount of water in the room keeps the humidity up pretty well.

Enjoy the project

ps. as far as moving your snakes, I'd advise you move all the non breeding snakes first. Then move all the adult makes. then leave the room as is for a few days - let it start to smell like a snake room. Then move the adult females carefully and hope for the best! I have to move my collection to a new room eventually, I'm hoping it times out perfectly, so I can move them 1 by 1 as they lay.....

I like the idea of a retractile hose system that's temperature regulated for filling water dishes, misting animals or enclosures. I can think of many other uses too. I saw Brian talk about how much of a time saver it is at BHB and would include it in a snake room if I could.

Well if its a room and not a building, i would want a big industrial sink for washing tubs, and water bowls. I would also want a hose, it would make filling water bowls 100x easier, i know brian at BHB has one that is temp regulated, i would not go that far since i like giving fresh cold water to my snakes, and misting with warm water. What type of racks do you have? if their open sided i would go with a heated room. i plan to have a secure room for my snakes when me and the gf get a house, like snake proof for them to get out of the room, cameras to monitor who goes in and out. I would want a light system on timers, so that i dont have to worry about going in and shutting lights off. If you feed F/T, i would want a large counter top to put all the rodents on to defrost then have some lights to warm them up to make feeding easier. if you use paper substrate i would have a area that has all the different sizes in one place. LOTS and LOTS of outlets. If you have the room i would go walk in incubator, idn if i would ever because even with back up themostats i would never want to lose all the clutches compared to just 10 clutches that a mini fridge holds.
thanks all i got now.

Either way, room or building plain cement floors or some form of fake tile/wood would also be a good idea. Nothing like investing in carpet to mold it out with spilled water or have to clean miss fired snake poo missiles that hit the floor. :)


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I have been thinking about this I would add a true quarantine room as well if I had the cash fully separate air and location, and a sink of its own.

The main room a rolling tool cart with a HDPE top for doing cleaning and such to save walking for implements. If you didn't want hoses all over a water tank could be attached and used to full bowls from that. In floor drain to make cleaning easier. I might even have a roll in wash stall to help clean racks. I can't fathom how large breeders clean the rack body it is time consuming and painful task for me with one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I have been thinking about this I would add a true quarantine room as well if I had the cash fully separate air and location, and a sink of its own.

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x2!

All great ideas. Thank so much!

My best investment was a portable dish washer found at a yard sell! I use it to was gecko and hatchling tubs and water dishes. If my building didn't already have concrete floors heated floors would be at the top of the list in a build.