Converting a wooden shed into a reptile enclosure

Seanf999

Okay, this might be as stupid as it sounds..

I'm looking at buying a lizard, I love monitor lizards so that's what I'm aiming towards (Ackie, Peach Throat), but I want to own a number of reptiles as time goes by.

Monitors grow big and my bedroom is small, my parents won't let me have one in the house outside of my room.

We have a decent sized wooden shed, it's 11ft x 7ft x 7ft roughly.

My plan would be to power out to the shed and cover it with piping.
I'd also want to cover the place in insulation.. I'd basically make the actual enclosure smaller and have a good helping of insulation around the plywood walls.
I'd have a couple of different heat lamps, so one side would be very hot (as needed) for basking and the other would be to just ensure the enclosure is the right temp in the rest of the viv.

They need a very warm environment, basking spots with even higher temperatures, some need high humidity, some don't..

It'll probably cost me alright but I think it could work.

I'm working myself but I'll have the time to put into it and the time for the reptiles when they arrive.

Does this sound somewhat reasonable?
Is there anything glaringly obvious that my dense self is missing out on?

I posted it to the reptile section but I thought since it's DIY (DIWHY) I may as well post here too and get an opinion from the building standpoint.

GG66

Seanf999 wrote: »

Does this sound somewhat reasonable?
Is there anything glaringly obvious that my dense self is missing out on?

Yes! If you "love" lizards you will realise that living in a shed in Ireland is not a quality life and you wouldn't subject them to it. You can't "own" animals but you can buy them and imprison them. It's not an act of love.

Those things aside it will be very hard to bring a standard garden shed up to the comfort level you're talking about and your electricity bills are going to be high.

Seanf999

GG66 wrote: »

Yes! If you "love" lizards you will realise that living in a shed in Ireland is not a quality life and you wouldn't subject them to it. You can't "own" animals but you can buy them and imprison them. It's not an act of love.

Those things aside it will be very hard to bring a standard garden shed up to the comfort level you're talking about and your electricity bills are going to be high.

I'm not asking for a lecture on the social responsibility on a well established hobby.
People keep chameleons in 20 litre vivariums, or kids keep lizards on loose substrate that leads to impaction..
A guy posted in a facebook group about his lizard that had lost a toe and a nail on one foot covered in sores and he had the cheek to ask if he should bring it to a vet - they're the issue with keeping any sort of pet, be it a Savannah Monitor or a Golden Retriever.

Any lizard I would have any interest in keeping would 100% be captive bred, someones going to buy him it may as well be the lad looking to spend a bomb on an enclosure for him.

I'm not worried about the electricity bills it's my parents place! /s
(I'll be covering the excess)

Lumen

What's your budget?

dathi

GG66 wrote: »

Yes! If you "love" lizards you will realise that living in a shed in Ireland is not a quality life and you wouldn't subject them to it. You can't "own" animals but you can buy them and imprison them. It's not an act of love.

Those things aside it will be very hard to bring a standard garden shed up to the comfort level you're talking about and your electricity bills are going to be high.

actually under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 you can "own" an animal in ireland

dathi

probably the best insulation to use would be Pir (kingspan or xtherm) this would give the best insulation for thickness lost probably need 100mm make sure you tape joints with aluminium tape. you would need to insulate the floor as well some thing like these that you can walk on https://www.diy.com/departments/b-q-insulation-board-1220mm-320mm-123mm/183180_BQ.prd

jeepers101

I think air tightness will be a big factor to keeping the costs down. It doesn’t really matter how well you insulate a wooden shed if it’s leaking like a sieve.

Calahonda52

Seanf999 wrote: »

I'm not asking for a lecture on the social responsibility on a well established hobby.
People keep chameleons in 20 litre vivariums, or kids keep lizards on loose substrate that leads to impaction..
A guy posted in a facebook group about his lizard that had lost a toe and a nail on one foot covered in sores and he had the cheek to ask if he should bring it to a vet - they're the issue with keeping any sort of pet, be it a Savannah Monitor or a Golden Retriever.

Any lizard I would have any interest in keeping would 100% be captive bred, someones going to buy him it may as well be the lad looking to spend a bomb on an enclosure for him.

I'm not worried about the electricity bills it's my parents place! /s
(I'll be covering the excess)

So a submeter in the shed: if its all below 13amps you can get a plug in power meter for about 15 euro.
I agree with you about the lecture response.
Let's sort out child abuse/poverty first before we concern ourselves about keeping a few Komodo dragons nice and comfy:)

Seanf999

Lumen wrote: »

What's your budget?

Always growing.

I'd like to keep costs somewhat low.
But I'd spend a little less than 1k if possible

Seanf999

jeepers101 wrote: »

I think air tightness will be a big factor to keeping the costs down. It doesn’t really matter how well you insulate a wooden shed if it’s leaking like a sieve.

I had a good look at it today.
There's some mould on a wooden shelf that's been in there for 10 years or so.
It's right in the view of the window (which wasn't covered), it's a single pane of glass.
There's no other dampness so I say if I cover the window it should be good.

Seanf999

dathi wrote: »

probably the best insulation to use would be Pir (kingspan or xtherm) this would give the best insulation for thickness lost probably need 100mm make sure you tape joints with aluminium tape. you would need to insulate the floor as well some thing like these that you can walk on https://www.diy.com/departments/b-q-insulation-board-1220mm-320mm-123mm/183180_BQ.prd

That's great thanks I was wondering how I would insulate the floor.
I wonder would I be better off putting some wood over the boards.

recedite

As they say "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
I think by the end of it you would have sunk so much time and money into it, and it still would not be right. You'd be sorry you started with an old wooden shed.
Maybe there is a wardrobe in the house you could get rid of, then make a floor to ceiling unit out of glass, in its place? Not quite as big as the shed idea, but much easier and cheaper to manage the heat and humidity.

GreeBo

Peach throat should be maintained between 85-90 degrees with a basking spot of 95 degrees. At night the temperature can drop to 75 degrees. Hours of daylight should be 12L/12D during a 24 hour period. Humidity should also be maintained at 70%-90%

Not exactly ideal for a wooden shed in Ireland

keithdub

Wooden sheds do have a shelf life 10 to 15 years if you treat the yearly. Do you have attic space?

Seanf999

recedite wrote: »

As they say "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
I think by the end of it you would have sunk so much time and money into it, and it still would not be right. You'd be sorry you started with an old wooden shed.
Maybe there is a wardrobe in the house you could get rid of, then make a floor to ceiling unit out of glass, in its place? Not quite as big as the shed idea, but much easier and cheaper to manage the heat and humidity.

I still think it's my best option.
Maybe I was a bit optimistic in having the entire shed as an enclosure but it could be a great place for enclosures.. so I would build the unit into the shed but have each as self containing for smaller animals.
Or buy some industrial grade shelving and set up vivariums on the rack rather than trying to control the temp and humidity in the whole shed.

Seanf999

GreeBo wrote: »

Not exactly ideal for a wooden shed in Ireland

Peach throats would probably be pushing it alright.

After having a proper look at it I could insulate it then add vivariums so instead of one big enclosure it'd be a nice dry and manageable place for a few vivs on shelving units.

Seanf999

keithdub wrote: »

Wooden sheds do have a shelf life 10 to 15 years if you treat the yearly. Do you have attic space?

It's been well kept, I had zero interest but my mother wouldn't look at it year in year out without some paint job.

Attic would probably be a worse idea, it's quite big (houses 2nd storey is in the middle with 2 arching attics either side), they're hot and cold exposed insulation, thin chipboard flooring, my parents won't keep anything too heavy or too nice in there.

Lumen

Seanf999 wrote: »

I still think it's my best option.
Maybe I was a bit optimistic in having the entire shed as an enclosure but it could be a great place for enclosures.. so I would build the unit into the shed but have each as self containing for smaller animals.
Or buy some industrial grade shelving and set up vivariums on the rack rather than trying to control the temp and humidity in the whole shed.

This is a much better idea.

Although if the shed itself is unheated no amount of shed wall insulation is going to stop condensation on the walls of the vivs.

Think about the kind of environmental difference you're trying to sustain in deep winter. It could be 0C in the shed and 30C and humid in the vivs. That is not easy.

Seanf999

Lumen wrote: »

This is a much better idea.

Although if the shed itself is unheated no amount of shed wall insulation is going to stop condensation on the walls of the vivs.

Think about the kind of environmental difference you're trying to sustain in deep winter. It could be 0C in the shed and 30C and humid in the vivs. That is not easy.

What's the best way to keep the temp up?
I've seen convection heaters suggested with thermostats and timers, would that be my best bet?

GreeBo

Grow lamps

keithdub

Unless you build a drick shed I think its lost money big enclosures sound like the better idea you can keep food and other stock all in the one area. If you ever do move out of that shed then moving will be a lot easier