# Reptile shed pic heavy



## caen (May 11, 2013)

Hi all
I started a new project a couple of weeks ago. My Beardy decided to lay 88 eggs in four clutches, I had a bit of a dilemma, I needed to start breeding feeders ASAP. I set up a cricket colony, mealworm, cricket and a Dubia colony. Great I thought until the missus started giving me ear ache,,,,,,,,,,,
I was thinking of starting to breed Gecko next year as it was going well with the dragons. So I explained to the better half that I could move all the bugs out of the house if I was allowed to make a reptile room in half the shed. My shed is quite big, an l shape measuring 22ft by 21ft along the outside edges. I built the shed about 4 years ago, plastered it and put down lights in.
I wanted to use the smaller part of the shed which is 3m by 2m approx... As it was the shed was built from outside in:
Ply, frame. Water tank insulation (free from where I worked), plasterboard. I knew this would not hold the temps so I came up with a plan. I would build a 50mm by 50mm frame on the inside of the wall with a 100mm by 50mm wall with door. I would then use 50mm by 50mm and 100mm polystyrene sheets to insulate the floor, roof and walls. I would then lay the floor and plasterboard the walls. I used the down lights I already had but I built a frame to sit them in.
I am now at the stage where the walls are painted and the lights are in. tomorrow I will build the shelves and away we go.
For heating I have an oil filled radiator and for cooling I have a fan to circulate the air with an extractor fan that will connect to a habistat cool control (yet to be installed).
Your thoughts both positive and negative welcome.
nothing wrong with child labour



the shed as it was and the lighting frame being built



the other end



floor insulation



wiring ready



start of the wall



floor in and the little one making sure I have done things right





walls and insulation in (my missus hates polystyrene balls, said she is sick of hovering them)









plasterboard in





plastered





ceiling electrics (very handy)



a touch of paint





as I said positive, negative and hints tips welcome


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## rnbj (Apr 6, 2013)

looks ace!


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## mitsi (Feb 1, 2012)

Looks very good, watch that window though, it will loose alot of heat through there in the winter and add alot through summer.


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## caen (May 11, 2013)

cheers for comments.
I had to get a new glazing unit as the glass was shot in both windows. I have now put up a bamboo blind over the window to cut down heat gain and loss. the room is now sitting between 70 and 77. I still need to install the extractor unit.


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## saisaac (Nov 22, 2013)

Very cool. I wish we could do this in the US, but it gets well below 0 F here in the winter and over 100 F in our summers. The heating and cooling would be an expensive endeavor. I'm slowly converting my basement over to a reptile room.


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## caen (May 11, 2013)

everything is now in (apart from reptiles) so I thought I had better update with some pics.

the light system



from the outside, a rainy day in Rochdale



from the door


and back



the rack system (not my work) 10 33L rubs at bottom 2 to add. dubia roache in red containers and crickets in the middle. above these will go hatchling rubs.







the incubator, hatched out 50 Beardies this year



filtered mealworm farm



hoppers, hard to see but they are about. I may move these and have this as a feeder incubator.



feeder station



any suggestions welcome.


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## AdamMcC (Jan 18, 2014)

This is awesome. I plan to buy a basic shed and get it insulated etc and wiring and hopefully keep my snake racks in it  Just hoping it will hold heat well if its well insulated.


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## caen (May 11, 2013)

don't skimp on insulation and you will need the floor doing. this cost about £550 but I recycled a lot of stuff. check out the sheds as well, a lot of the cheaper ones are crap thin wood that won't hold heat/ look about and ask lots of questions.
work out a basic price first then as a rule add 50%. good luck.


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## benjo (Oct 31, 2007)

Wow, come and do one for me, thats a cool looking, my wording here, studio!

Wish I had the time and skills to do something like this in my garage but i would dread the electricity bill with it been concrete. Ideally it would need to be insulated but its used for bikes ect. But I would love the back wall to be a large enclosure.

A little tip, use the large bubble wrap you can get where the bubbles are around a 50p size to insulate the window they keep the heat in and cold out. Not sure if its a good thing long term or not but I used it for the green house and it kept the heat in very well. Just wet one side and apply to the glass. Come right back off and its reusable.

Stunning.


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## caen (May 11, 2013)

banjo this was built inside a framed shed (if that makes sense). I had the shed which was badly insulated so I built an internal frame and insulated over what was the plasterboard.
maybe you could build a false wall and insulate half the garage, all walls ceiling and floor. all I use is an oil based radiator (which is hardly on) and the room sits at about 74. 
cheers for the tip regarding the window, I was going to build a shutter on the outside or something similar for the winter. I will try the bubble wrap as it is much simpler.


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## benjo (Oct 31, 2007)

It sounds wonderful talking about it, but my DIY skills are less than adequate to build false walls and insulate everything lol. Maybe in the near future 

Let me know if it works for you


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## GECKO MICK (Jun 6, 2012)

Nice room build buddy looks awesome.: victory:


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