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Great opportunity need help please

TexasVipRoom

TexasVipRoom

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So I just got word that I may have an opportunity to build my own facility and be able to design it all from scratch. Typically the hardest part about this is space and a building. Well I may be able to carve out 1,000- 2,500 sq/ft of a building a close friend of mine is building. I am not going to get too much space but I know ill need right at about 1,000- 1,500 Sq/ft.

I know a bunch of heads are better then one so this is why I want to ask the community for some input.

I have researched a ton of applications but would like feedback. Here are some of my questions.

Would you build a melamine wall of racks or use ars or freedom breeder style?

If I have the chance to divide up rooms how would y'all suggest?

How would you handle air handling and ventilation?

Should I build a walk in incubator?

How would you keep humidity in the facility?

I will have a rodent room as well how would you suggest setting this up?

I have researched online looking up ideas and trying to put a gameplan together. I want this to be and look professional so I am willing to invest in this. I would just like some feedback and opinions on how the setup should come together?


Feel free to add anything I left off as well. Thanks in advanced.
 
I would try to find some breeders and check out their facilities & how they do things. I like the RDR YouTube vids in his facility. Snakebytes TV also has some good stuff on YouTube.
 
Amen to that! Forgot to add that in my post. I will be putting a large industrial sink and all floors you will be able to pressure wash.
 
As far as caging you will need a lot of racks, ARS and Freedom breeder racks are expensive, and in bulk its unreal how pricey it is, then you have to remember that you need to stock them after you buy them, even more money. A melamine rack is much cheaper, for $80 you can easily build a 10-12 tub adult rack or a 24 tub baby rack. That's substantially cheaper than any production rack. and after buying tubs and heat tape you're only in 1 rack about $100-$120 same goes for rat racks, their easy to make and inexpensive, plus everything you need is at home depot. As far as a walk in incubator, in a 1,000 square foot building you could have potentially 7-10 snakes per square foot covering probably 500-600 sq ft of it, which adds up to a lot of snakes and a lot of eggs, so a closet size incubator is probably a good idea. As far as room division and air ventilation you should probably have a baby room maybe combined with a grow out room, a breeding room, a rat room, I'm sure you'll want a small office and a storage room, if you planned on keeping more then just bp's or pythons then perhaps separate rooms for colubrids or boas. And for ventilation I would put an intake and exhaust fan in a couple rooms leading directly outside with maybe like an AC filter to purify the air a bit, and you could probably use some small humidifiers in each room to set the humidity how you want it.

Good luck!! :thumbsup:
 
Great input, anyone know where I can get better humidifiers and larger tanks other then Walmart or anything along that line? I am looking for industrial
 
TexasVipRoom said:
Great input, anyone know where I can get better humidifiers and larger tanks other then Walmart or anything along that line? I am looking for industrial
Click to expand...

Tanks or bins? I know Walmart and Target carry the 41 qt bins which is more than enough for a full grown female BP. Plus they're only about 8 or 9 bucks there
 
I worked in an university animal facility. The floor drainage is an essential, and I'd also advise looking for floor sealant or liner that will give you ROUNDED corners and floor/wall joints - makes it much easier to keep really clean than sharp corners.
 
Get ahold of me and we can talk about how I built my building and things I would do different and didn't plan for
 
Good Ideas! I agree with the floor drain as well as the the rounded corners. Keep the ideas coming. My two things that I do not want to do while I am setting all this up is this

Forget something number one that is always a pain

#2. I dont want to short cut anything or do it the just "ok" way.

When I first started into breeding I went through a lot of trial and error just like we all do and I have learned a lot. I learned things like (this is my opinion so please no one take offense) iris tubs are better the sterilite. Even better the ars and freedom breeder tubs are better then even the other two. Yes they are more money but to get a built in water holder, more rounded edges in the corner and a thicker tub is worth the money to me.


This is why I am compliling a list so I can skip over the things that could go wrong.
 
I have started to lay out the design. This is in the very early stages. If you have any other ideas pleas pass on. thanks

I have sinks and hose reels going in breeding rooms and rat rooms.

incubator room will have shelves on each side

All light switches will be digital day light savings switches (auto)

I have floor drains going in each room with rolled edges and not corners as well as 4 feet up the wall being water proof too.

each room will get atleast one ceiling fan.

exhaust fans will be in all rooms besides incubator.
 

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Looks good! Only thing I noticed was the lack of a sink in the quarantine room, I would highly suggest a sink in there so you can keep everything nice and clean without needing to bring anything out of the room. The pet shop I work for has an Iso room and the sink in there gets put to good use daily. Running water in all the rooms but the incubator is a good idea so that you aren't walking around for hours just to change the grow out room and rat rooms water.
 
Ok so I am coming within 2 months to start building my reptile room from the ground up. Here are some ideas so far. I am trying to do this as efficient as possible and the best well being for my animals.

I will have rodents and reptiles in the same room.

Exhaust fan - times exhaust for air turn over. Any ideas?

Wifi thermostat hooked to hvac

Built in line humidistat in hvac

Large stainless tub to wash bins

Water on reels hooked to tankless water heater turned on 80

Trying to get my lights wired to the sun light any ideas?

Drain in floor and washable room

Open to any more ideas as well.
 
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