saximus
Almost Legendary
Ok well it's finally "finished". Thanks to a huge amount of help from Rob (aka Bart70), I've made a fair few changes to the original concept and made it as idiot-proof as possible. This will just go over the major points of interest from the CoP that are relevant to the calculator and some instructions for using it. Apologies in advance for this being a bit of a long read but my intention is to answer the most relevant questions in advance.
I am open to suggestions on formatting and/or changes but as this is the "final" version, minor change suggestions will likely not be implemented. Suggestions can be posted in the older thread here:
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/cop-enclosure-spreadsheet-205525/
Relevant CoP points:
In the current Code, there are two requirements that every enclosure must adhere to. Most people know about the first one but few people realise the second one also need to be met. These are:
1. (4.2.1.4, 4.3.1.4, 4.4.1.6) - Every species of reptile is placed in a particular category. Each of these categories has a minimum floor area that the enclosure must meet. For reptiles classed as "climbers", this area may be either the floor or wall area.
2. (4.2.1.1, 4.3.1.1 and 4.4.1.3) - Each group - lizard, snake, turtle - has a minimum allowable shortest dimension. This means that neither the length or the width of any enclosure can be less than this minimum. For snakes this value is the overall length, for lizards it is the snout-vent length and for turtles it is the straight carapace length.
Instructions (these are also included in the spreadsheet):
- Cells shaded yellow are for user input. Cells shaded blue and green are calculated for you and have been protected so they can't be modified. If you are familiar with Excel and do wish to tinker with things, there is no password so you just need to unprotect it. Just keep in mind that, if you change anything, results may no longer be correct.
- Drop-down menus have been created using all of the species listed in the CoP. The relevant category information will be displayed for your selected species. There are various "behaviours" such as climbing, burrowing, aquatic etc. which each have particular needs. These needs will be displayed if you have selected a species with one of these behaviours.
- Animal length should be the largest expected size of the animal to be housed. It is used to calculate the minimum allowable dimension in order to meet point 2 above. If this value is set to 0, the calculations will show you the largest allowable animal for your selected dimensions. This may be useful for anyone wishing to get a gauge of how usable a pre-built cabinet may be.
- Number is for if you wish to house more than one animal in a single enclosure, calculations will be made according to the overall area required.
Calculators:
There are technically three calculators in the spreadsheet. They are all independent of one another and each allows for a slightly different level of flexibility to allow for the most common potential needs people will have.
- Suggested measurements - This is calculated using the minimum width dimension and may be used as a rough starting point. This will not be calculated if animal length is 0.
- Calculated length (CL) - This allows you to enter a width and will work out your minimum required length. This value will be based on the smaller between either the specified animal length requirement or area requirement for your selected species. Because of the way this works, there will be a point above which you may notice that increasing the width appears to have no effect on the length. However, that is simply because you have hit the minimum for your chosen length and isn't an indication of a problem. If animal length is 0, it will simply use the area. So note that you may end up with silly looking results if you enter very large width values and have no animal length set.
- Custom measurements (CM) - this allows you to enter both width and length and will display your overall area. For climbers, height will also become available and area will be calculated from the larger of the floor or wall area. If your area is larger than the requirement, the cell will change to green and a message will be displayed to tell you that you have met requirement 1 above.
- In both the CL and CM calculators, if an animal length is entered, the dimensions are checked to ensure they meet point 2 above and, once again, the message will be green if it does.
So, basically, if all is good, all messages should be green. Any red in the particular calculator you are working with indicates a problem.
Note - the values calculated here are all based on minimums. There is nothing stopping you making enclosures which are larger than these minimum values. In fact, I personally encourage that all enclosures are made as large as the keeper has room for.
Extra note - even if you aren't in NSW or if the CoP doesn't get implemented as law, there are a number of threads which pop up on here with people asking what size enclosure they should make/get for their new pet. This could come in handy for people who are unsure of recommended sizes for various animals. Every animal listed in the CoP has been included so it is accessible to basically anyone.
Disclaimer: I have made this spreadsheet in good faith to provide a potentially useful resource for the community. I have made every effort to test it thoroughly but there may still be errors in the calculations and/or the CoP may change.
I hope everyone finds this useful and easy to use.
Regards
Dan
I am open to suggestions on formatting and/or changes but as this is the "final" version, minor change suggestions will likely not be implemented. Suggestions can be posted in the older thread here:
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/cop-enclosure-spreadsheet-205525/
Relevant CoP points:
In the current Code, there are two requirements that every enclosure must adhere to. Most people know about the first one but few people realise the second one also need to be met. These are:
1. (4.2.1.4, 4.3.1.4, 4.4.1.6) - Every species of reptile is placed in a particular category. Each of these categories has a minimum floor area that the enclosure must meet. For reptiles classed as "climbers", this area may be either the floor or wall area.
2. (4.2.1.1, 4.3.1.1 and 4.4.1.3) - Each group - lizard, snake, turtle - has a minimum allowable shortest dimension. This means that neither the length or the width of any enclosure can be less than this minimum. For snakes this value is the overall length, for lizards it is the snout-vent length and for turtles it is the straight carapace length.
Instructions (these are also included in the spreadsheet):
- Cells shaded yellow are for user input. Cells shaded blue and green are calculated for you and have been protected so they can't be modified. If you are familiar with Excel and do wish to tinker with things, there is no password so you just need to unprotect it. Just keep in mind that, if you change anything, results may no longer be correct.
- Drop-down menus have been created using all of the species listed in the CoP. The relevant category information will be displayed for your selected species. There are various "behaviours" such as climbing, burrowing, aquatic etc. which each have particular needs. These needs will be displayed if you have selected a species with one of these behaviours.
- Animal length should be the largest expected size of the animal to be housed. It is used to calculate the minimum allowable dimension in order to meet point 2 above. If this value is set to 0, the calculations will show you the largest allowable animal for your selected dimensions. This may be useful for anyone wishing to get a gauge of how usable a pre-built cabinet may be.
- Number is for if you wish to house more than one animal in a single enclosure, calculations will be made according to the overall area required.
Calculators:
There are technically three calculators in the spreadsheet. They are all independent of one another and each allows for a slightly different level of flexibility to allow for the most common potential needs people will have.
- Suggested measurements - This is calculated using the minimum width dimension and may be used as a rough starting point. This will not be calculated if animal length is 0.
- Calculated length (CL) - This allows you to enter a width and will work out your minimum required length. This value will be based on the smaller between either the specified animal length requirement or area requirement for your selected species. Because of the way this works, there will be a point above which you may notice that increasing the width appears to have no effect on the length. However, that is simply because you have hit the minimum for your chosen length and isn't an indication of a problem. If animal length is 0, it will simply use the area. So note that you may end up with silly looking results if you enter very large width values and have no animal length set.
- Custom measurements (CM) - this allows you to enter both width and length and will display your overall area. For climbers, height will also become available and area will be calculated from the larger of the floor or wall area. If your area is larger than the requirement, the cell will change to green and a message will be displayed to tell you that you have met requirement 1 above.
- In both the CL and CM calculators, if an animal length is entered, the dimensions are checked to ensure they meet point 2 above and, once again, the message will be green if it does.
So, basically, if all is good, all messages should be green. Any red in the particular calculator you are working with indicates a problem.
Note - the values calculated here are all based on minimums. There is nothing stopping you making enclosures which are larger than these minimum values. In fact, I personally encourage that all enclosures are made as large as the keeper has room for.
Extra note - even if you aren't in NSW or if the CoP doesn't get implemented as law, there are a number of threads which pop up on here with people asking what size enclosure they should make/get for their new pet. This could come in handy for people who are unsure of recommended sizes for various animals. Every animal listed in the CoP has been included so it is accessible to basically anyone.
Disclaimer: I have made this spreadsheet in good faith to provide a potentially useful resource for the community. I have made every effort to test it thoroughly but there may still be errors in the calculations and/or the CoP may change.
I hope everyone finds this useful and easy to use.
Regards
Dan
