Keeping my snakes/racks in a townhouse garage

[Billy305]

I have seen other threads where people have instantly say no to a garage but please read it all before you respond with your thought/comments.

I live in South Florida, Miami specifically, and the worst cold we get is usually once a year. It's usually a cold front that MIGHT drop is in to the 40s at night. Obviously at the other end of the spectrum it can get hot at times, nearing 95 degrees (garage is obviously in shade so I dont know if its that bad), but most of times its nice. Its 78 degrees outside as I write this at 12:30 PM.

I am going to be moving in to a townhouse with a room mate or two and I wont really have a spare room dedicated to just snakes and racks but it comes with a garage. When I say garage its fully finished with drywall ect and on one wall is my neighbors living room. So its basically like a regular room with a garage door. (I have attached a stock picture of the type of house im talking about. Its probably 16x10 feet and will not be used for any cars. Just bicycles and extra boxes of stuff in storage. It is not air conditioned so Im wondering how easy or hard you all think it will be to keep appropriate temps for my ball pythons.

Since Its finished I could probably buy a space heater for the few weeks out of the year it will be below the 70s. My main concern is keeping it cool during the summer. There are no windows so I could buy one of the freestanding AC units but I know they needed to be vented somewhere. Im not sure if there is anywhere I could vent it unless the drying machine is there and I use that exhaust exit. Do those units also drain water?

What kind of solutions or things can you guys see me using to make a room like this work?



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[Don]

You will need what is called a spot cooler. The vents are larger than a dryer vent. It would probably be cheaper and better for the snakes to keep the snakes in the house and move your dresser to the garage.

[Redneck_Crow]

I don't think that it will get all that hot in the garage. It's not like it's all out in the open and getting blasted with the hot sun from four sides and the roof. You might be OK with no A.C. or with a very small one. I'm can't tell you about how well those unvented ACs work until later this year. I'm planning on trying one in my bedroom.

That shouldn't be hard to heat. A buddy of mine lives in Florida in a small mobile and he heats it with a space heater roughly the size of a box fan. It looks like you only have two sides exposed to the elements so it should work out OK.

About the garage thing...I've seen garages that were done up nicer than some houses. To me it's the same as keeping snakes in a basement, if you have things fixed so all of the snake's needs are met then who cares where your snake room is and if not, shame on you.

[Don]

South Florida can have low temperatures in the Summer near 80 degrees for days on end and high temperatures almost as hot as Hades itself. Even in that garage that is finished, it will get hot, especially if the sun hits the front door for any part of the day (as it looks like it does from the picture). I would not attempt without a spot cooler - at a minimum.

[Annarose15]

South Florida can have low temperatures in the Summer near 80 degrees for days on end and high temperatures almost as hot as Hades itself. Even in that garage that is finished, it will get hot, especially if the sun hits the front door for any part of the day (as it looks like it does from the picture). I would not attempt without a spot cooler - at a minimum.

x2 I've been to Miami in July. Garages act like ovens in that heat - make absolutely sure you can moderate the highs with your setup.

[KatStoverReptiles]

I think it will get too hot. As those before me have said, garages act like ovens in the summer!

[Billy305]

Oh I completely agree about the heat. I think most of the year it will be fine. During the hot times I want to use a cooler to keep it around 80. I would think there are small coolers that could maintane a small space like that easily. It has two openings on the side of the wall about the size holes in a cinderblock. Isn't that big enough for the vent hose that comes out of those one room ac units?

[Egapal]

I have seen other threads where people have instantly say no to a garage but please read it all before you respond with your thought/comments.

I live in South Florida, Miami specifically, and the worst cold we get is usually once a year. It's usually a cold front that MIGHT drop is in to the 40s at night. Obviously at the other end of the spectrum it can get hot at times, nearing 95 degrees (garage is obviously in shade so I dont know if its that bad), but most of times its nice. Its 78 degrees outside as I write this at 12:30 PM.

I am going to be moving in to a townhouse with a room mate or two and I wont really have a spare room dedicated to just snakes and racks but it comes with a garage. When I say garage its fully finished with drywall ect and on one wall is my neighbors living room. So its basically like a regular room with a garage door. (I have attached a stock picture of the type of house im talking about. Its probably 16x10 feet and will not be used for any cars. Just bicycles and extra boxes of stuff in storage. It is not air conditioned so Im wondering how easy or hard you all think it will be to keep appropriate temps for my ball pythons.

Since Its finished I could probably buy a space heater for the few weeks out of the year it will be below the 70s. My main concern is keeping it cool during the summer. There are no windows so I could buy one of the freestanding AC units but I know they needed to be vented somewhere. Im not sure if there is anywhere I could vent it unless the drying machine is there and I use that exhaust exit. Do those units also drain water?

What kind of solutions or things can you guys see me using to make a room like this work?



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I personally wouldn't keep an animal in any room unless I had a plan to heat and to cool it. As for portable air conditioners, yes they need to have a way of draining the moisture they remove from the air and they need a way to vent the heat. If you come up with a plan to heat and cool I don't see a problem. If you don't have a plan don't do it.

[The Serpent Merchant]

I live in Florida, and I can say 100% for sure that it will get too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. If you want to keep your snakes in the garage you will need to get a small window unit air conditioner to keep the temperatures in check. I know from first hand experience that my garage gets far too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter so please do not tell me otherwise.

I think that it would be much easier to put other things in the garage, and keep your snakes inside.

[SinCityBPs]

Not an advocate of keeping the snakes in the garage; however, as others have said, if done right with proper planning, testing, and access to heating and cooling, it can be done.

I do not keep my snakes in the garage; however, I do have my breeder rats in there. I live in Las Vegas, and any that has been here in the summer knows that 105+ degrees is normal for about 2 months straight or more. We also have pretty cold winters.

I heat the garage for the winter with a small space heater, and it works well.
I also installed insulation on my 2 car garage, and it dropped my summer time temps in the garage by at least 30 degrees. You could easily insulate that single car garage for no more than $100 with the insulation kits at HomeDepot. The ones I used were a fiberglass (pink panther type) insulation with a white vinyl backing (like $44 dollars per kit I believe, I needed 4 kits for a 2 car garage). It improved the look, temp stability, sound proofing, and as an added bonus... my garage opens and shuts whisper quiet now. I do leave my door open into my house on really hot days just to ensure the garage temps stay below 85 degrees.

Again try to find another solution; however, I thought this might help if you have no other choice.

Quick tip with this insulation... use a dab of gorilla glue on the clips where they lock together... This will save you a lot of time running back to home depot for the glue after the clips pop out a few times.

~ Best of Luck