Shed to Reptile "House" conversion help please :)

[sharky]

Hello good people of APS (Again)

Okay, as my reptile collection is continually expanding I need a larger space for my herps and their enclosures. Mum doesn't like them in the house so she said I can put them all in the shed once she sorts through all the junk in there. The shed is pretty big, has electricity, lights, etc.
I have a few questions though, it would be great if you could help me out!

1) We have a lot of wild rats and mice where we live and most build colonies in the shed. When it is all cleaned out I shouldn't have this problem but I am nearly 100% sure they will still be visiting and living in there. What is the best solution? Should I put rat poison around the shed or is there another way I can get rid of them?

2) Ants. Where do I start? So many ants in the shed, they get in the cupboards, the fridges and anything else in there! I have heard of ants eating geckos alive and other species of lizards. How can I prevent the ants from getting in? I know ant spray is the go but I will have to keep applying it so they don't get in. But I don't want to hurt the reptiles in there with the fumes....is there a 'safe' way to get rid of them?

I'll have more questions as I go but for now that's all! Thanks

 

[intoxicated88]

dont take my word for this but maybe a rodent bomb you place it in the room and it gases the room out, but also rat traps and poisoned honey

 

[junglepython2]

Is the shed insulated?

 

[sharky]

dont take my word for this but maybe a rodent bomb you place it in the room and it gases the room out, but also rat traps and poisoned honey

Never tried rodent bombs....are they like the termite ones :?

Is the shed insulated?

Yes

 

[Xeaal]

Quite a few well-placed, small bowls of Ant-Rid should make a good head start on that problem for you as they carry it back to the nest and it wipes out the entire colony. As for the rats... um.. buy a really big freezer.... lol

 

[sharky]

Great idea Xeaal! (the ants anyway lol) Should I still leave a supply in when I set up all the reps?

 

[-Peter]

If rats can get in then snakes can get out. Insulate and line the shed. You'll really appreciate it oneday.

 

[Melzey]

Build a moat .. Im kiding.. we have ants here too, they are such a pain! I get the ant rid things that have a sticker on the back and you can stick them to the wall etc. they are great because you can find the path the ants use and stick it on there.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

My biggest concern, and it's been touched on by other members, would be temperature control, especially in summer. If the shed is shaded you should be OK, but in the sun in summer you could lose all your animals in one hit during heatwaves. There have been many losses even in houses this past summer, and sheds just become ovens on hot days. Insulation will help to some extent, but you'll need some means of cooling for emergencies, perhaps a small aircon unit.

On the other hand, if it gets extremely cold during winter, your heating/energy costs will soar.

Ants and rodents are the easy part...

Jamie

 

[TrevorJ]

I read of a cure for rodents that is non toxic but have never tried it myself. You need a saucer and a large amount of cayenne pepper. You form the cayenne into a pile on the saucer and them light the top, leave and seal the shed. Leave it for about two days. Apparently when you re-enter it smells initially like someones very old socks but this quickly dissipates. However the smell permeates all the materials in the shed and rodents find it extremely repulsive. Apparently it will stay working for a couple of years. Won't cost more than a couple of dollars to try it. As for ants, the ant powders seem to work pretty well around here especially if you can lay it on their trackways.

 

[Snowman]

My biggest concern, and it's been touched on by other members, would be temperature control, especially in summer. If the shed is shaded you should be OK, but in the sun in summer you could lose all your animals in one hit during heatwaves. There have been many losses even in houses this past summer, and sheds just become ovens on hot days. Insulation will help to some extent, but you'll need some means of cooling for emergencies, perhaps a small aircon unit.

On the other hand, if it gets extremely cold during winter, your heating/energy costs will soar.

Ants and rodents are the easy part...

Jamie

As stated above your biggest concern is summer heat. If you don't have an aircon out there then forget about it. If you are wondering how they survive in the wild with heat the answer is they find stable cooler temps underground etc. Heat will kill your reptiles quicker than the cold.

 

[montysrainbow]

hmm....u could get a pet anteater lol and have a wild coastal that can roam free to control the ants :lol: OR on a more serious note take the others advice. I have an ant problem in my inside enclosure.....super annoying as they have made a home in one of gorgoos logs :evil: ants suc mind u they seem to keep to themselves or his water bowl .

Have u thought about setting rat traps? Oh and great idea too by the way putting them in the shed.

 

[Xeaal]

Great idea Xeaal! (the ants anyway lol) Should I still leave a supply in when I set up all the reps?

yes you can.. you can even leave it outside around the shed so they go to that supply first

 

[reptalica]

hmm....u could get a pet anteater lol and have a wild coastal that can roam free to control the ants :lol: OR on a more serious note take the others advice. I have an ant problem in my inside enclosure.....super annoying as they have made a home in one of gorgoos logs :evil: ants suc mind u they seem to keep to themselves or his water bowl .

Have u thought about setting rat traps? Oh and great idea too by the way putting them in the shed.

Yeah import an aardvark illegally......it's only an exotic.........:shock:

 

[Burnerism]

I think you mist the "on the more serious note" bit following the anteater advice :/

 

[sharky]

Personally, I'd love to keep them inside! I was going to turn my room into a reptile room but mum didn't want that because apparently the enclosures take up too much space And mum doesn't like looking at them so the poor scaley creatures are condemmened to the shed *sigh* It makes it a whole lot harder as well.

We have about 4 old airconditioners in the shed which I will use in summer. They are the old ones that you poor icy cold water into and they blow it out into the air They work really well, they are just to bulky for inside :/ As for heating I am using 100 watt bulbs in the enclosures and if it is still too cold we have an old kerosine (spelling) heater we can use to keep it warm and toasty.

The shed is insulated it is just the door, it has a small gap under it and small holes in the corner. I can easily fix that though, I'll (Well, dad will) just attatch wood to the bottom to seal the gaps. Any other holes we will find we will seal as well, hopefully that will stop the rodent problem?

The only concern I have about the ant strips is incase a gecko manges to get out and gets stuck....I don't want that to happen I think I will stick with the Ant-Rid in a bowl idea but thank you anyway

I might try the cayenne pepper idea, it sounds great! Hopefully that will keep the rodents away from the shed

lol, I'm totally going to get an ant eater :lol:

 

[Damiieen]

I can't wait to see this completed!

 

[Damiieen]

Goodluck with getting rid of the ants and rats

 

[sharky]

Thanks Damiieen! Hopefully it turns out just as good as I plan it to be! It's going to look really cool....hopefully

 

[Damiieen]

I wish I had a reptile room -.-