Opinions for future plans...

[Amon Ra Reptiles]

I'm not sure if this goes here or DIY or somewhere else but this seems the most likely.

As our collection grows and our need for feeders continues to grow we are continually adding more and more breeding racks to meet the feeder demand. This is starting to take up a pretty good chunk of space in our basement and the smell is a constant battle. We currently run 30+ tubs of rats, mice, and ASFs and by next summer to fall we are planning to up that to around 70 tubs give or take.

In order to free up space in the basement and to alleviate smell issues we are planning to build an out building and insulate it so it can be climate controlled. Here's my plans so far...

The building will be either 8' x 16' or 10' x 16' with a standard roof not a barn style or storage shed style roof. The reason for that style of roof is it will allow for more vertical wall height without a lot of wasted ceiling area inside that would waste heat. I plan to use a window air conditioner with a thermostat to keep the air temp at 75 in the hotter months. I'm unsure as to what type of heater to use. I had a couple thoughts, first I thought just an electric oil filled heater as it will only be a small area and second was a propane garage heater and get a propane tank similar to what a mobile home uses to fuel it.

Im planning to use the styrofoam insulation panels between the wall studs and Fiberglas rolled insulation over top of that then 1/2" plywood for the interior walls.

The questions I have are 1. Does anyone have experience with the garage style heaters and which would be a more cost effective way to heat? 2. Any ideas to insulate that would work better than what I have planned? 3. Any general flaws that anyone can see with my plans? 4. Does 8' wide seem wide enough or should I go 10'? The racks will be approximately 28" deep and there will be one row on each side of the building so with those measurements I would have about a 3' 4" walkway between the racks. That seems a little snug but if I could make it work it would mean heating and cooling that much less square footage. Lastly, what temps do you think would be acceptable? I'm thinking heat to 60 and cool to 75.

Any opinions you guys have would be great. Thanks guys.

[L.West]

No suggestions because I am no builder but just wanted to say - I wish I had a room like that - it sounds awesome.

Good luck with it.

[jasbus]

I have one shed, and an old barn/shed that I use. My newest shed is 10x20, and I wish I would have gone bigger to just consolidate both into one...
in the 10x20, I have 3 double wide rat racks and a mouse rack on one wall. a mouse rack and grow out rat rack on the other, and a hamster rack on the back wall... Never enough space!

As for insulation, I just used fiberglass rolled with damaged paneling that I bought at one of those discount home improvement places. The paneling is water damaged, so some is discolored, but it was only $3 a sheet....and it's a rat shed

For a/c, go big! my 10x20 has a 12k unit, and on 105 degree days, it struggles.. Don't save money here, it will hurt you in the end. and, buy an old style unit with knobs, not digital, in case the power goes out, the older style will come back on unlike the newer digital style. Ask me how I know this. Lost 70 colonies of mice and 70% of the rats over this summer....

Heat, oil filled radiator is the way to go, they take a while to warm up, but, if the power does go out, they keep the heat up for a couple of hours til you can get something else going if the power goes out.

I learned the hard way this past summer, my worse accident in over 20 years of breeding. Invest in a power fail/freeze alarm if the shed is away from home too... $200 is alot cheaper than what I had to do!

[Amon Ra Reptiles]

Thanks jasbus. That's exactly the type of info. I'm looking for. I was kinda hoping that the oil filled heater would work as it's a lot less involved to set up. What temp range do heat/cool too? Also, I'm not familiar with a freeze/fail alarm so any info. you have on that would be great thanks again.

[JohnNJ]

You might want to look in to buying a used 20 or 40 foot shipping container. I saw someone plop it in their yard on some cinder blocks and they were ready to go. They put some wood on the outside to make it pretty and insulation inside over time but they were ready to rock immediately. If you saw it now you'd think it was just another garden shed. Go to any port terminal or rail yard and you'll see hundreds laying around.

[Amon Ra Reptiles]

Well I'm limited on size because I'm pretty sure we aren't in our permanent residence and it has to be moveable in the event that we move down the road somewhere. So larger than 10x16 is probably not a possibility.

[jasbus]

I keep my sheds at 72-80ish. Try to stay mid 70's as much as possible. Alot of people say the stop breeding above this or below that, they slow down a bit, but they breed as long as it's not absolutely freezing, or it's too hit and they just laze around.
I've been breeding since mid/late 80s and most of that in Florida with no a/c! Just high velocity fans.
I'm in Arkansas now, so heat and a/c are a must. Last few days, I've used both everyday. 50s at night, 80s day. We are hotter in the summer here to, one month of 100-110 this summer.

The freeze alarm is a telephone alarm that you set up to call you if the power goes out, or temps get too hot or cold. $70 up to $1000 depending on how many bells and whistles.