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Your Perfect Reptile Room

Eriathiel

Short and Sweet
So I was thinking about it today and I know that someday when I have my own home I want to have a reptile room.

I was wondering - what would your perfect reptile room be like? How big, windows or no windows, how would you control temperature, how would you set up the racks, etc?

Or for those of you who have your perfect reptile room what is it like? Share pictures! :)

For myself, I think that I would like to have my room on the first floor of my home so that I wouldn't have to carry an heavy supplies up stairs! It would be a large room - maybe 20' x 20'. I don't know if I would do windows or not - natural light would be nice, but I would like the idea of having less heat leak out through windows in the cold winter months. I would have the heat sectioned off from the rest of the house so I could control just that room without changing the other rooms in the house. I think I would have the snakes on one side and other reptiles on the other side, in alphabetical order by species. Then maybe some sort of set up in the middle - probably a nice "pretty" set up of a species I don't have many of, since I have plastic racks around the outside. I think I would paint the walls green.

I don't know what else to add... have fun!
 
I would love for mine to be separate from the house, or at least in a garage. I'd also love it to have a little robot that does all the cleaning and feeding for me. :D
 
I would have to think about this for a while but anything would be better than my current "snake room" ;)

DSC_0072.jpg

Shirts and shoes added for dramatic effect!
 
I'm the opposite of Carol. I have a big unused room I could turn into a reptile room, if I could make my ex take home some of his crap, but I really like having them out living with me, in the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, so no matter where I am, snakes are there.
 
Hahaha! Wonderful!

I was thinking about it - and I think I'd have tile floors so it would be easy to clean up...

Carol I like the idea of having a robot do all the cleaning and feeding!
I don't think I'd like having it separate from the house though, I would want to have to go outside to see them.
 
It would be a large room with sky lights for natural light and centrally heated to 75. Probably some windows, but only on one wall. I'd also like to have each viv have it's own thermostat to control the "hot spot" and perhaps have a cooling system so that I can brumate snakes without having to move them. Sort of like each viv has it's own central air.

I'd like wooden vivs with glass/plexi fronts which have a shade placed between two peices so that I can also darken each individual viv for whatever reason. I'm sure I can make it more grand if given time...
 
I had my perfect reptile room before my son came along- kids screw everything up, lol. I had the room on its own thermostat so I could manipulate temps on my own, one big window, and 9x12 space- still was never big enough. In my dreams I would buy a bigger home with land and build my own facility, but right now my bedroom is the reptile room.
 
Mine are currently spreadout, but where I can see them. Most in the bathroom (I have a very big bathroom). But I would love to have them all together in like a study/computerroom/library. One or two walls entirely shelves for books, floor to ceiling. One wall for snakes, floor to ceiling. It would probably become my primary hang out. Of course it would have to have a TV in there. But for my hobbyists purposes, I would like them to be all together, but I want to be with them. To gaze around at as I daydream.
Did I mention that yesterday, at my house, was National Poopinbowl Day? Yay.
 
I'm the opposite of Carol. I have a big unused room I could turn into a reptile room, if I could make my ex take home some of his crap, but I really like having them out living with me, in the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, so no matter where I am, snakes are there.

Oh I'd still have some in the house (and in every room of the house) but just not all of them in the house!
 
Mine are currently spreadout, but where I can see them. Most in the bathroom (I have a very big bathroom).

So I guess you at least have an excuse for spending "too much" time in the bathroom.

"I was watching the snake! No really, just WATCHING the snake! I swear!!"

Edit: Forgot to answer actual question whilst hassling Eric.

Tara and I know this house won't hold our horde forever. We actually went and looked at what would have been a VERY good house for us a few weeks back. Basement was unfinished but had huge, thick foundations that would easily hold multiple HUGE aquariums. It had a heated Florida room with all glass/screen sides and skylights (for the birds) a huge yard for dogs and in the back... a garage, filled with tools, car equipment and other such USELESS stuff. Tara and I would remove all of that.

I told her, the coolest thing I could think to do with a "dream herp room" would be to have one wall of screen/acrylic vivs for big animals-- think green iguanas, water dragons, boas, pythons, monitors, etc. I'd use 12" x 12" swing out windows in the walls, put shelves on them for basking, and also fix outdoor quarters as well-- the windows would be the entrance and exit. I have seen bird aviaries designed this way, and I bet if you were thourough and careful in designing it, it would work for herps too.

The remaining walls would be stacks of Boaphile stype enclosures. Actually, if this was REALLY a dream and money meant nothing (like I was Bill Gates or something) I think I'd go with the Showcase cages like what Nanci is getting for her lizard. I can't reasonably justify a wall of those on a teachers salary, even if the money was there, when I can get functional Boaphile style cages for much cheaper... but man those things look nice!

In the middle of the room I think I'd put a small table for handing out, maybe a small furniture grouping. A TV might be nice too. It would have to have Hot/Cold running water and a seperate heating system too. Skylights throughout would also be nice for ambient lighting.
 
Well, my future reptile room, which currently has no reptiles in it...is a spare bedroom on our first floor right off of our living room. It's about 12'x14' (give or take) is currently quite empty and waiting for some racks and vivs. It has 2 windows, hardwood floors, and 4 walls :grin01:. Eventually we plan on remodeling the house in which case that room will become part of a living room/dining room combo...in which case I don't know where I'll put the snakes. Either leave them in the 'dining room' (we don't eat at a table anyway :p ) or put them in the spare bedroom upstairs. I also have 2 vivs in the living room also as 'showcase' cages, if you will.
 
Can you imagine me looking for just the right little cottage in the garden district, with a sweet little blue-haired white lady realtor, or sweet grey-haired black lady realtor for that matter, and me saying "Now THIS will make a great Snake Room"..... :roflmao:

And incidentally, Lauren, the snakes in my bathroom seem to be particularly happy and particularly active. Some come out altogether, some just peep out, at all the amazing things (to them, mind you) I do in there. :rofl:
 
I don't know about "perfect" but I'm pretty happy with my reptile room now. I need to get some pics of it but it's a two car garage that has been completely finished. I've got my 8'x4'x6' display cage, my Boaphile juvenile racks, my homebuilt adult racks, shelves for my books, shelves for all my betta breeders/ babies, a dresser for keeping all my supplies in, a computer desk/chair, a recliner, loveseat and magazine rack (where better to read my photography rags and Reptiles magazine?) and my photography covering the walls. I still could fit tons more stuff in there too.. I'd say it's about a 20'x25' area. Room is maintained at 75-80 degrees and 50-60% humidity year-round. Can't wait until I have it completely finished if there's such a thing..
 
Can you imagine me looking for just the right little cottage in the garden district, with a sweet little blue-haired white lady realtor, or sweet grey-haired black lady realtor for that matter, and me saying "Now THIS will make a great Snake Room"..... :roflmao:

And that cottage would have a guest house for my family!;)

I don't know what my dream reptile room would look like. At the rate we're going we know we're running out of room for all these tanks. Matt's working on building a floor to ceiling rack of glass enclosures since the one wall in our living room is completely blank and out of the way. Those will hold 4-6 snakes depending on how he plans on doing it. The rest we'll probably just switch to tubs and I don't know what room they'll go in.
 
And incidentally, Lauren, the snakes in my bathroom seem to be particularly happy and particularly active. Some come out altogether, some just peep out, at all the amazing things (to them, mind you) I do in there. :rofl:

With all the fuss made over their bodily functions, they are just happy to be the snakes giving back to human-kind. ;)
 
Great question!!! Don't have all the details down, BUT...

My ideal herp room would be like a "Mother-in-law" house in the back of the regular residence... except, no mother-in-law and all my snakes!! LOL. Then I'd have "wash" areas to clean and multiple rooms for quarantine, etc. The living room would be where all the LARGE herps would go... and the other rooms (hopefully at least 2) would be for some of the others. Modified closets could be great incubators.

Of course, I'd also have a spare bed somewhere in there... just in case I were ever in the "dog house" with my wife, I could actually be in the "snake house". LOL.

Ohhh... and add a television and - more importantly - an internet connection so that I could also be with my friends at CS.com!!! LOL!
 
I definitely have to post my dream snake room/house. LOL - if only I could win the lottery. ;)

In my snake room, I would like to have all the cages built into the walls. I'd like them to have wood doors with glass in it (but the actual cage wouldn't have to be wood. I don't know how it'd work. It's a dream! LOL) and they'd probably open from the bottom up. Either that or a sliding door.
The room itself would probably be fairly large - i'm thinking 20' x 20' or so. I'd like wood or tile flooring, and i'd definitely want a big basin type sink and a freezer in there. (easy storage, thawing, and cleaning.)
The most important thing about the room would be that there would be a deadbolt to lock it from both sides (so kids/cats can't get in there).
I'd also like to get little tiny roombas so I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning. LOL - Although that may be pretty bothersome to the snakes. I haven't figured that part out yet.
I'd like to have a thermostat to control that one room - i'd probably set it at 75 degrees. I do like Jenneses' idea of the central air systems in each cage. That would make it much easier.
I have the picture in my head of how it would look, but it's hard to portray it through words. Maybe i'll have to draw it in Photoshop. LOL
 
I love my reptile room! It's kind of cluttered ATM, so I won't post pics. But Sunday is my snake day, so I'll put some up then. If I could change one thing about it I'd have a sink in there, and maybe a door to the outside so that garbage wouldn't have to come through the living room; but really I'm just thrilled to have a seperate room for them as it's still new for me.
I also have the birds in there, and soon will have a fish tank as well.. Just starting to cycle my new 55 gallon.
 
I'd also like to get little tiny roombas so I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning. LOL - Although that may be pretty bothersome to the snakes. I haven't figured that part out yet.

My snakes, especially Choco, come out when the real Roomba is running. I guess because it bumps into their vivs. I think if you had snake-sized Roombas, it would be trouble, because they couldn't keep their vivs piced up enough. The Roombas would stall out if they sucked up a shed, or, God forbid, a tail! You couldn't use aspen. No vines could touch the ground. You'd have to pick the hides carefully so the Roomba wouldn't get stuck going through the door. And if the poo was wet and runny, it would kill the Roomba. Maybe a miniature Scooba would be better!
 
A trailer. Like the one I'm living in now (14x56), except just for the snakes. Hurricane a comin? Call the people and move it with me to a safe location. :D
 
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