Industrial Shelving Unit

[Crowfingers]

Hey all, I am finally moving out of a tiny apartment and into a real house! However, its a small house, built in 1921 and there isn't a lot of open wall space. So I was looking at getting one of the stainless steel industrial shelves (60" L, 24" D, 72" H) with wire shelves to stack my critters. The ball python is in a AP T11 and both geckos are in AP T8's.

Anyone know if having three cages each with CHE's and Heat mats + thermostats on one outlet will over draw the power? I have a lot of fire anxiety. The wiring in that part of the house was redone and updated in the late 70's.
Snake total wattage: 24 watt UTH, 1 100 Watt CHE, and 1 150 watt CHE, LED lights: ~275 watts
Geckos total wattage each: 16 watt UTH, 1 60 watt CHE, UVBs 17watt and UVB 15watt: ~185 watts


so about 460ish watts total when running all the things at full power (the gecko's CHEs are only on in the winter, and the snakes are on dimmers depending on season). Online it says that most wall outlets can handle 1800-2400 watts, so I think I'll be fine - so one question answered lol

I also want to get a surge protector and don't know if its best to have just the thermostats on it or the thermostats and CHE's (the che's are on dimmer's right now, but i will be adding another herpstat for them at some point).

Finally, is there any issue with have multiple species one over the other? I've had everyone for years, and all three just had their annual exams at the vet and passed with flying colors. The ball python was going to be on the lower shelf because the cats don't care about him but love to try and swat the geckos is they can get near the cages :/

[Caitlin]

You should be just fine, but honestly with a house built in 1921 I'd have an electrician come in for a quick consult about your plans.

There are absolutely no issues I am aware of around having geckos/snakes stacked on the same shelving unit, and I am sure the gecks will appreciate being less accessible to the cats!

Editing to add: I live in wildfire country and have actually been evacuated three times in my life due to wildfires, so I am SUPER paranoid. I'd recommend getting a Fire Extinguisher Ball on Amazon and keeping it near the snake shelves. The ball can be thrown at or rolled into a fire if needed. It is filled with a fire retardant material and if it comes in contact with extremely high heat, it will automatically release fire supressing material that is harmless to humans (unsure about animals, but I've heard it's safe. I haven't verified that, though). I have first responder friends that swear by them and I've kept them in my kitchen and in my snake room since I learned of them.

[Crowfingers]

Yep, I have a regular fire extinguisher under the tank now - I'm moving in November and my dad is an electrician - I'll ask him to take a look thanks for the reply

[Bogertophis]

Congratulations on the move, Crowfingers. Lucky you to have a dad that's an electrician too, I agree with Caitlin...invite him over for lunch & a electrical check-up, lol. I can't think of anything wrong with the proximity of the species you mentioned & that's a good consideration for the geckos to be out of "swatting range".

And thanks Caitlin, for mentioning fire extinguisher balls...I've never heard of them but I'll check them out. I do have regular extinguishers, but I'm big on safety too.