Rodent room build

First a rant. The city I used to live in at some point during me living there decided to change their no 6+ foot constrictor snake rule, to just no constrictor snakes at all. No grandfather clause or anything, just overnight I had a whole room of contraband. So obviously I needed to move to continue this hobby. Thankfully I was able to lay low and never have an issues with the city, but still took me a while before my once legal snakes were legal again.

So now the new house is a total fixer upper (exactly what I was looking for) and it happens to have a 2 car detached garage with an addition on the back of it. I decided I didn't want to raise rodents in the house this time, so I sectioned off part of the addition to be the new rodent room. Room will be 14.5ft x 15ft. I started by studding out the ceiling and built the wall to section it off. This also allowed me to jack up the sagging roof and give the "supports" a wall to sit on. While I was added made a loft above the room. Put up lights to see. Drywalled what wasn't finished, took out the window and studded that out. Started putting up shelves that will hold the water tubs.

My plans are to have valves in front of each water tub for easy fill up. Racks will roll under them and hook up. I want to do fiberglass panels on the wall for easy cleaning and I wont have to tape the walls lol. I'm not even sure on the flooring but I am thinking vinyl sheets just so it is smooth for rolling racks. I still need to bring gas and water over to it. Getting quotes for furnace and a/c. I am getting a big utility sink that will actually fit tubs in it. If i can't find a utility tub big enough, I swear to god there will be a bathtub in there. I also got a big pot growers exhaust fan. supposedly the carbon also cleans up the ammonia, so I am giving it a shot so my neighbors don't smell anything if the wind blows the wrong way.

I want to go all out on this and make these rodents convenient as possible to take care of. Any suggestions you can throw at me will be appreciated. Here what i have done so far:

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5rj7w2ll.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psxk7iuxdg.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psufkoxcmn.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psgqrqps3x.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0ox0npef.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psgatcz6vx.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4gqcqynr.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psr2rvqgu9.jpg

Firstly, great job, cool to see someone else who actually likes doing this kind of work.

One suggestion, when you do the wall pannels, offset the seams from the drywall seams. It looks like you're using standard drywall, so while the moisture will still make it into and through the drywall, it will penetrate the center much more slowly than at an unfinished seam, should you have any issues. An never run more than one row of the panels horizontally. If you have a window or something to get a panel under, it's fine, but if you would have to stack panels and have a horizontal seam, if any water gets into that seam, it's going to track across the seam first, and make the problem much bigger, much faster.

thanks for the tips

You will need to circulate air!!. Make the floor washable and the walls too. The smell of rat pee and poo is going to ruin the drywall. AC and heating that many rats produce a lot of body heat especially in the summer. We use an 80,000 btu AC unit during the summer. We also use 2 - 36" fans that vent to the outside and 2 - 24" squirrel cage fans that run 24/7 to pump fresh air into the room. Our room is 40'x24'

finished the water shelves, now I just need to plumb them. Added electrical for fans, water heater, and heat trace. started to insulate.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psbzgaujxs.jpg

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pselodnkal.jpg

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4lgrghql.jpg

Looking good. :gj::gj:

finished insulation, forgot about the dehumidifier, added shelf and electrical for dehumidifier, added place to mount fan

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pstm2iujct.jpg

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps65hvo1i2.jpg

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psfewzzngq.jpg

Trench to the garage, put in gas water electrical and ethernet pipes. http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pspyjxq1r2.jpg

Dogs helped out in the crawlspace http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pse5ssddsv.jpg

Got drywall up on the ceiling, I highly suggest getting help for this, it sucked doing it by myself lolhttp://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psxo7etxkz.jpg

Well I havn't done much, been on a string of overtime and also had a little mishap at work that had my hands pretty tender, so I had a few days of not working on house. However I did get a nice craigslist steal today, 7 foot piece of corian for 25 bucks. Just needed a little modification.

Before:
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psmrgpezrd.jpg

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psr0l47iwe.jpg

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps80abrz9t.jpg

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psghtemdij.jpg

almost fits the big tubs, at least we shouldn't be getting water all over the place now :)
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pstismy9sq.jpg

Also started to tape the ceiling
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psu75ln0y9.jpg

Keep up the great work and keep posting updates!!

Looks like I got another week of overtime this week. Still managed to get this mocked up today. Worked in a space for some drawers to store extra water nipples, tubing and such. I also wanted to keep as much off the floor as possible, making it easier to clean or catch escapees.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psolcgj6j8.jpg

Nice setup! That sink is going to be a dream! I only have a regular bathroom / sink off my reptile and rodent room.. I have visions of a utility sink, but that'll probably never happen lol.

What are you planning on using for the walls? Will you just paint, or use something to cover them that is more durable?

This will look awesome!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by artgecko

What are you planning on using for the walls? Will you just paint, or use something to cover them that is more durable?

---

I plan on fiberglass panels or something similar.

Holiday break is over tomorrow. I thought I would get more done over break but with all the get togethers, birthdays, and normal holiday stuff, turns out it wasn't much of a break at all lol.

I did however get a furnace installed and new electrical pulled out to the garage, the electrical part involved a service change on my house also. a/c gets installed in the spring. this is just outside the rat room:

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psnmkdfrzh.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pswwptnfsu.jpg

Also go water line pulled from the house to the rat room with heat trace, still need to tie it in, also changed my mind on the water heater location, so built another shelf and moved the outlet up.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps365hkufi.jpg

yup thats it so far

So much work and so much love. I wish I had your knowledge in my head and vision. Great job!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

most of my knowledge of this kind of stuff comes from just doing it. Occasionally you need a youtube video to get you started or someone to help you along, but honestly most people are capable of way more than they think. Don't cut yourself short. :)

Yay paint! ceiling and shelves, makes it look better and also hopefully prevents any water or that ammonia smell from soaking in anywhere.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pscwm6ycth.jpg

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psvzzujgyh.jpg

Got the easy wall up, just straight cuts and no receptacles, now on to the more complicated pieces tomorrow. I can't believe how much adhesive this is going to take me, I nearly used an entire 3.5 gallon bucket on one wall, looks like I need to go buy 3 more buckets.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psylw3exmi.jpg

1 and 3/4 more walls done, insulation is a temporary door :)
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psa2nc0nnc.jpghttp://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps24dm9xbx.jpg

Finally got the walls done, now to finish the sink and caulk

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psz4kbabpi.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psdp9eiyos.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psnulonulh.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psjnextopi.jpg

Looks great man. As I was looking through your thread I thought of a few things...

1. I wish I had a space like that.
2. That's a killer sink!
3. If you have a room like this for your rodents... I can't wait to see the room for your reptiles! :popcorn:

haha, well this is my first project since we moved, reptile room is just a small bedroom filled with racks currently. However I have plans of blowing out the wall to the bedroom next to it, adding a sink and rebuilding every rack I own to fit the room :)

finish fiberglass panels on the sink, officially done with the fiberglass panels yay! still need to caulk.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps65qvi8kj.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps59syy4mu.jpg

Looks great man!!

This thread is awesome. You're making great progress. It's so rewarding when a project like this starts to take shape and you can see things falling into place the further you get into them. Looking forward to seeing more from you!

Finished caulking, looks much better and hopefully seals everything up. Also mounted the counter top.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psj6gatve9.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psdplzm87k.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3vsseiuv.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5xzbj8hw.jpg


I also decided I was going to epoxy the floor as most other flooring needs maintenance I don't feel like doing. I acid etched the concrete, makes the epoxy stick. As long as everything goes to plan i should have time to do the epoxy and top coat saturday.
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pszqjr8wsr.jpg

Sweet!!:gj:

well laid down the epoxy yesterday, I still can hardly walk into the garage, the smell is incredibly strong. been opening the door to clear it out, but then i have to keep the heat in to let it continue to cure. oh what fun projects are during the winter. So being basically evicted from the garage for a day or two, I did get the water tied in on the house side, now I just need to finish plumbing the room and should have water ready to go.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psu22tnw3j.jpg

It looks awesome!

little each day, got a door today. apparently my rough opening was almost too small for this door, I swear I had the recommended measurements, but i guess not. So to make it work it had to go in a little tilted lol. didn't help that my concrete isn't remotely close to level, but I thought I took that into account when I built the rough opening. Wish I would of made the rough opening a half inch bigger both ways, but oh well. it opens and shuts, just what I needed. Also with the concrete being so unlevel it made my threshold float in the air, Only thing I could think of was to spray some foam under it to give it a little support when someone steps on it. We shall see how this works out.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6fehg1nf.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7a1dcjnx.jpg

Looks good. Those rodents will probably never notice your measurements didn't come out perfect. :)

Heat traced wired up, faucet added, started the plumbing. The valve going out the ceiling is for a water spigot outside and a possible future sprinkler system (might as well be ready for it right?). The shelf valve will go through the shelf, up the back wall, and have a piece sticking out where a tub with a hole in it will slide right over. I have room for over 30 of these setups. I am going to start with 4 just to get the room up and running and add more when needed.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psmsgwpllc.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psr7cmjua2.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psi6ebhdka.jpg

Looks good man. What kind of water line is that? Is that the PEX stuff? I guess I'm old school... I still use old, white, sched 40 pvc. LOL

yea its pex. flexible, it can supposedly even give a little if it freezes, no guarantee it wont split but much better chance than hard pipe. cuts a lot easier. I'll see how successful my connection are when I turn the water on lol. I tapped in the house supply and did 4 crimps there and those held, now to see if my other 100 or so hold when I turn that valve lol. crimper is sure giving me a work out though, not exactly the easiest thing to repeatedly use. my elbows are throbbing as i type this. I know its nothing but I do enjoy its color coding also lol. You can get it in white if you want though. oh also it turned out to be much cheaper and time saver compared to soldering copper, which is what I used to do.

Yea, I like it for the lack of joints you have to use. I know a lot of new construction around here is going to all PEX where they just homerun all the connections. Pretty cool, and like you, I also like the color coding. Soldering copper is an art form... one that I've tried and just can't master.

Yea I'm not sold on the home run everything method, seems like a lot of wasted pipe to me, I mean the shower sink and toilet are next to each other, why use 3 separate lines? As for soldering, no doubt an art form. I'll never claim to be good at it, just good at fixing my screw ups lol

Yeah I would be the guy with copper and a lot of "sweating" going on. ;)

Well so far pex has my approval, not one single leak from it. The only leak I have is the braided line that came with the faucet. it was a cheapo faucet that came with the sink, so not really much of a loss, just was hoping to be done with that. but looks like my water system is ready to go once I get some more tubs. I decided to only do 3 for now as I only have 3 rodent racks and will just add more as I make more racks. filled up the water heater, giving that a test run right now. Also got myself a fancy lock, it is in a detached garage so extra features like alarms and being able to notify me of someone attempting to get in might be nice.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psplq52wv2.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...pslpnvzru7.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psxh61ukko.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3g5kwnm8.jpg
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...psunhe1fb2.jpg

Thank you for getting the Schlage keypad and not the Kwik Set...... The new "Smart Key" lock is plain junk. :gj::gj:

This is awesome

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

Asking because I have no clue... why have a tub that fills up with water?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LittleTreeGuy

Asking because I have no clue... why have a tub that fills up with water?

---

Watering system for rat racks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Watering system for rat racks.

---

So, fill up the tub, then just a gravity fed, drip-type system from there?

Lol I guess it does look weird as is. I havn't got my tank connectors yet, perhaps it will make more sense when it looks like this
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...r/DSCN0762.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LittleTreeGuy

So, fill up the tub, then just a gravity fed, drip-type system from there?

---

http://www.reptilebasics.com/rodent-watering/
All the parts for you to visualize

Man, I wish I would've paid attention when I went to vocational school back in the day. Maybe I would be able to do some of this work. Kudos Owal. I am awestruck that you can do all this work essentially alone. Guess it helps to be a jack of all trades.

Not taking anything away from this awesome build (wish I had that much space to work with!!), but I think a lot more people are capable of something like this than they realize. If you can put a rodent of snake rack together in the first place, you should be able to handle this. Plenty of info to help you out available online.
Owal, are you planning anything for filtering the water feeding into the tubs? Just curious as sediment and mineral buildup are usually the main causes for valve failures in these systems.

Not taking anything away at all, I said the same thing in this thread on post 17.

I have no plans for filtering currently, I used to have problems with the variflow valves, but I switched to the reptile basic ones which use a spring and havn't had a failure yet. The tank connectors have a built in screen which gets dust and what not. I might make it a habit to clean everything once in a while incase of any build up like that.

Worst case scenario, I have issues and I add a filter of some sort lol.

I wasn't thinking anything too fancy, maybe just a micron particle filter inline with the feed for the tubs. And in my case, even using RO water I have to clean the filter screens every 2-3 months due to the buildup of bacterial film. I need to clean my lines too, come to think of it, lol.