View Full Version : Snake room in the basement?
NetBSD
12-20-2008, 10:34 PM
So ive been livign int he new house for a few months now and have been thinkin of turning the basement into my snake room, i have 4 rooms in the basement and each one is ruffly 12'x12' but there isnt much headroom so im goign to have to dig down (dirt floor) a good 2-3' to make it a little easier for me to walk around (im 6'2").
but i have been thinking of a few down sides...
1. My furnace is down there (oil burner), its all the way in the front of the house but my snake room would be next to the room its in, id have to make sure no fumes or anything makes it way over incase something fails
2. Its a little damp down there, i dunno if this is bad or good, for one i know humidity wouldnt be a problem
3. I do have radiators in each room down there but it still stays a little chilly.
4. since ive been here i had one mouse in the basement and a few stray cats, i guess the PO didnt have the basement seald off to well. i dunno what the mouse/rat problems will be but neightbors report they dont have an issue
im sure i can cover every downside once i complete the snake room... walls. new floor (after digging down a little) and so on.
what do you guys think? it would prolly have to wait till after spring hits because im restoring my motorcycle in the basement right now.
Snake lover 3-25
12-20-2008, 10:38 PM
neat idea:D def check the fuems before you start and maybe the temps too.... but then again you could always insulate the room....... :D
infernalis
12-20-2008, 10:54 PM
I had several of my snakes in the basement, moved them upstairs.
Sounds like a challenging project. Use an area away from the utilities, seal it up so the animals are not breathing the bad air from the furnace, and you'd be set.
Are the foundation walls poured or stacked stone? is there ways in or out? (for escaped snakes)
Take pictures of the process start to finish:D
One day I'd like to go back down there, since our basement is 25 x 50 with an 8 foot ceiling, But I would like radiant heat, and to build a 12 x 12 enclosure / room for a burm.
Setting up a couple big livestock tanks, one for "wogs" and one for minnows. Basement is the best option, strongest floors.
Snake lover 3-25
12-20-2008, 10:56 PM
wow now think of this..... how cool would it be to have a garter room with a frog/fish pond and grass........!!!!!!!!:rolleyes::eek::D
infernalis
12-20-2008, 10:57 PM
Thought of that and very doable.
Snake lover 3-25
12-20-2008, 11:04 PM
wow.......omg DO IT!!!!!! lol i wanna see it!!!!!!:D
NetBSD
12-20-2008, 11:42 PM
I had several of my snakes in the basement, moved them upstairs.
Sounds like a challenging project. Use an area away from the utilities, seal it up so the animals are not breathing the bad air from the furnace, and you'd be set.
Are the foundation walls poured or stacked stone? is there ways in or out? (for escaped snakes)
Take pictures of the process start to finish:D
One day I'd like to go back down there, since our basement is 25 x 50 with an 8 foot ceiling, But I would like radiant heat, and to build a 12 x 12 enclosure / room for a burm.
Setting up a couple big livestock tanks, one for "wogs" and one for minnows. Basement is the best option, strongest floors.
this house was build int he 1900's so its stacked stone but i would ofcource seal this off with the new walls and flooring id be putting in. the way im planning it in my head is to knock the one wall out and have a 24x12' room for the snake room. the biggest part is gunna be digging down to make the room taller. i have no idea whats under the dirt floor yet, could be drainage pips only a few inches down for all i know.
only other idea i have for a snake room is to add on to my house but that would cost ALOT more, unless i wait 18 years and kick my daughter out and use her room, lol
Lori P
12-21-2008, 07:22 AM
only other idea i have for a snake room is to add on to my house but that would cost ALOT more, unless i wait 18 years and kick my daughter out and use her room, lol
That could work. Ok, we'll wait. (humming to self patiently) :D
count dewclaw
12-21-2008, 07:22 AM
What's the water table like in your area? If you dig down are you likely to hit water and then have a flooded basement? Also, before you knock out a wall make sure it is not a bearing wall. The previous owners of our house knocked out a bunch of supports they shouldn't have and we had to go back and fix them so the house wouldn't cave in....
Sorry, not meaning to put a wet blanket on your idea, it sounds like a fine idea. Just have to work through possible issues...which you have already thought of some, so it sounds like you're on the right track. Keep us posted on what you decide and the progress.
Your idea for the reptile room soung great, go for it. I do agree that you need to insure the wall you plan to remove is not load bearing. I fit is you will have to add additional supports in place of it.
infernalis
12-21-2008, 07:40 AM
I never gave it a thought until now, but check the water table issue also.
Our water table is extremely close to the floor here.
when we have really wet spring seasons, these pumps run 24/7 for about a month.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/sump.jpg
guidofatherof5
12-21-2008, 07:42 AM
I bet it turns out to be a very nice rep. room. Know matter what you decide to do.
Lori P
12-21-2008, 07:51 AM
I'm not sure why, but they don't seem to do basements much in the south. I remember my parents talking about it when we moved dowm from NY. What's up with that?
drache
12-21-2008, 08:09 AM
many places I've been to in the US the houses have crawl spaces underneath rather than basements
I think it may have come about with the lumber based construction (rather than masonry)
and it's way way less expensive to just set something on some poured concrete slab than to dig out a bunch of earth and heave rocks
not to mention that those buildings can be moved in their entirety
Lori P
12-21-2008, 08:38 AM
Yeah, we have a nasty scarey bug infested often muddy crawl space under our house. You couldn't get me under there for anything. LOL I'm rediculously claustrophobic, tho, so that's the main issue.
snakeman
12-21-2008, 08:56 AM
The only problem I have with my basement room is the temps vary.There is a 10 degree difference from the basement floor to the cieling.
deborahbroadus
12-21-2008, 09:46 AM
I think it's a great idea! Too bad that you may have a lot of work to do to get it where you want. I am not sure about digging down though (based on other observations here) is it possible to raise the ceiling (perhaps there is a fake ceiling)?
My set up is in the basement, it was damp and prone to floods but thankfully that was the only thing of issue. It was a simple matter to have the basment waterproofed. I didn't "finish" it. It's not necessary at this point to finish it for the snakes, as I may move them out into a facility in the back (yet to be built) if my collection gets too big for the basement.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/deb31/Basementdec1908007.jpg The temps in the summer are perfect and in the winter since it's breeding season for BPs (here) then having the room colder and the hot spot the same works perfect for me.
I also had a small sink installed to make cleaning and fresh water day easier and I had a second freezer for holding their food (no one that I know here would appreciate seeing f/t rats, mice, whatever mixed, laying around in the "people" freezer with the food:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/deb31/Basementdec1908003.jpg
I have my bullsnake and corn on top of the male racks.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/deb31/Basementdec1908006.jpg
Female section:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/deb31/Basementdec1908001.jpg
Rat room (automatic watering system):
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/deb31/Basementdec1908002.jpg
I even have room for the Ultrasound (it's an older model).
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/deb31/Basementdec1908005.jpg
The wooden cage in the bottom front of the pic is where my tort, Samwise, lives in the winter. In the summer he has a heated, enclosed dog house out in the back.
It's a bit messy because I am always moving, adjusting, cleaning (misnomer) and just got done setting up the computer (I was using a laptop down there) system so that I can communicate while I am there.
For those that may be worried about a fire hazard, I had the place rewired and included a bigger fuse box and outlets all over so that no one outlet is over powered. All of the racks are on Johnson controls
deborahbroadus
12-21-2008, 09:49 AM
Oh, and while the basement floor is cooler, I have the racks on top of insultation (pink) and will replace these with platforms (when I get the energy). The tort cage is on top of a Kane heater to keep his bottom area warm.
What you want to do is doable..just not feeling having to dig down. If you can avoid it, it may be better because it may weaken the structure of the house..depending on how close to the walls you are planning to dig.
NetBSD
12-21-2008, 04:35 PM
wow, i didnt think so many people would respond to this. as for knocking the wall down ive been in to "remodeling" for while and understand about the supports, i would have to keep a nice 6x6 beam or 2 where the wall used to be if i go this route, i have no idea about the water but the plans would be to dig a 4' hole and let it sit like that till spring to see if it collects water or not. as far as i know it shouldnt be an issue and im not in a flood zone or anything so basement flooding wouldnt really be an issues during storms.
anyone else have any ideas the troubles i might run into please share but as for now this is only an idea and i could use the help to rule out all possibilities of failure
infernalis
12-21-2008, 05:18 PM
Are you (the house) situated down in a valley or up on a hill.
This region (may not include you) is all glacial deposits, and holds water well.
A giant sponge.
NetBSD
12-21-2008, 05:28 PM
its kinda hard to tell. if i had to guess id say a valley but im high up in the valley. ive dug up a few yards around here a good 8' deep and didnt notice the ground to be too wet. dunno what it will be like under the house yet.
i just noticed someone saying about i might have a drop/fake ceiling, this isnt the case. but i wish it were. back when i was first getting the loan for the house i had to remove all the old knob and tube wiring and rewire the whole house. lets just say the basement ceiling might have some hard feeling against me :rolleyes:
infernalis
12-21-2008, 05:39 PM
Your in for a job man. Good luck and can't wait to watch progress.. Take lots of pictures.
Out here, I can dig 8-10 feet down and it will fill up with water.
Our basement is 8 feet, the water table itself is only a few feet below that, every few years the water table makes a steep rise and the pumps run 24/7 to keep it off my floor.
I'm still very tempted to build a jungle room for the reps to play in.
NetBSD
12-21-2008, 05:50 PM
Your in for a job man. Good luck and can't wait to watch progress.. Take lots of pictures.
Out here, I can dig 8-10 feet down and it will fill up with water.
Our basement is 8 feet, the water table itself is only a few feet below that, every few years the water table makes a steep rise and the pumps run 24/7 to keep it off my floor.
I'm still very tempted to build a jungle room for the reps to play in.
yeah i think im gunna have to just dig down and watch it for a few motnhs, when spring hits the ground will be thawing out and i should get an idea of where the water table is. i hope it isnt real shallow.
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