Hi im looking for help and some ideas from people who have already converted there sheds into vivs.

in the summer (hopefully) im going to be buying a shed, proberly 10 foot by 8 (somthing like that) and i want to convert it into a room for vivs.

i am mainly doing it for my Red tailed boa (he will get a big enclosure) and them maby having other exotics in there (in seperate viv stacks.)

well i was thinking of insulating all of it with a layer or two of loft insulation on the inside and hold it in place with wood. and having some sort of heating system in there (im not sure what yet.)

My dad thinks it wont work and it will all freeze, will it?

Help will be greately apprecaited

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My Balls ... Your Face

All depends on how well you insulate it really and how how well built the shed is.

You can insulate it with rockwool (loft insulation) or use the polystyrene stuff with foil on it which comes in big 2 inch thigk sheets. One company that makes it is called kingspan. This stuff works really well.

Your roof will be the main one you will need to insulate properly to ensure minimum heat loss. A double glazed window is also a must if you need a window.

The floor will also need consideration. The shed would be best sat off the ground on some bricks or timber with insulation under there too.

Loads and loads of insulation and you should be okay. You will probably still need one of those wall heaters of something to keep the chill off and stop all the vivs from condensating.

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1.0.0 Jungle Carpet Python, Brian (CB 06)
1.0.0 Lodger, little Bro (CB 81)

To be honest you'd be better off just drawing something up and building it from scratch, rather than try to adapt a commercially built shed unless you already have it. It will probably work out cheaper, will be better built, and can be designed to suit your needs exactly.
If you don't know how to do this I can recommend a very good booklet that will tell you everything you need to know, from designing it to building and insulating, and even how to wire it up and light it.

I'll second that.

Self build will make insulating the building 10 times easier as you can design to accomodate the sheet sizes.

All you need is some 2x4 timber and WBP plywood. Oh and some felt and paint and a shed load of nails. lol ... shed load.

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1.0.0 Jungle Carpet Python, Brian (CB 06)
1.0.0 Lodger, little Bro (CB 81)

We have four sheds, joined to make 2 sep sheds.

Stand them off the floor, as suggested. build as normal, then we placed 2" poly sheets against the wall and then 3/4 inch chip board on that.

Gives a good hard surface to attach shelves to !.

Done the same with the roof.

We did find a few draughts, but a few tins of expanding foam soon done the trick.

In the winter it goes to about 50-60, so we use a smallish oil filled rad to boost it a bit.

Having said that, all our vivs have heating systems in them, so its not needed that the shed is up in th 90s all the time.

We find keeping cool in the summer is the hardest part. we got a 2 foot wide fan on a cool stat now, but even then it got past 100 last summer !

good luck, its a lot of work, but worth it

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i'm personally in the process of getting a new shed. £396 for a 8x10. thats cheap, but then you add the electrician, insulation, etc etc it really starts to add up. but it is all worth it once you get all the little critters in there.

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PULSE THERMOSTATS £33.00 DIMMERS, twin stats all cheap cheap cheap

My self-built 16' x 8' cost around £750, including insulation, 2 ready made double glazed windows, wiring, lighting, plug sockets, a heater, and the purchase of a couple of new power tools that I didn't already have.

looks good.
I cheated and converted the garage, still needed to insulate and board it out just the sameas a shed tho, but the money saved from not buying a shed paid for an air-con unit to warm it up and also cool it in the summer.