So my fiancé and I are in the process of buying our first home and it looks like I’ll have a nice 12x12 room on the main floor devoted to the reptiles!
I’m pumped, but also at a total loss for how I want it to look when all is said and done.
How would you paint/decorate/design your dream animal space? Would you go with the colors of your branding (if you have any)? All neutrals or white to look clean? Maybe a certain theme?
If you have a reptile room, how did you design it and why?
Whatever you decide to do will of course come down to what you find the most appealing. With that said, I’d suggest painting one wall with photography in mind, whether it is going with an accent color you want to use as a backdrop, or basic white for light bounce. One thing I hated having in one of my first reptile rooms was carpet. Made a mess that would be easy to sweep up far more labor intensive to clean. Plus it holds smells if you end up with a leaky cage, or a tub spill. Installing outlets at the right level is also important, along with plenty of good lighting.
Regardless of what you decide to do, just make sure it is a place you’ll enjoy being in.
I feel like maybe the first step is to decide what reptiles and what type of housing you are going to keep in there. For example, if you have floor-to-ceiling racks, there’s not much point in worrying about the color of the walls. But if you’re a hobbyist that plans to have a few cages, tanks, or stacking cages, maybe you’ll have some wall space to work with. Or, another example- if you have a kid/kids, you might want to paint a dinosaur on the wall or something if you want to pique their interest.
Another aspect would be how you plan to use the room. If you only want reptiles in there, it might be more straightforward planning than if you want to hang out in there for some reason. I like to needlefelt in the room I keep most of my reptiles in, so I have the opportunity to see them moving about and doing their thing.
You can see a few users reptile rooms in this thread for inspiration → Let’s see your snake rooms
Here are some videos aswel that will likely spark a few thoughts and ideas…
I’m telling you right now. Do not neglect the electrical considerations. The work is much easier to do when the room is empty. I don’t know how big your collection is or what your plans for growth are, but keep in mind that if you do nothing, then whatever you plug in here is going to be sharing a circuit with other areas of your house.
I bumped into problems quick when I put two full size ARS racks on a shared 15A circuit. I would walk into another room in my basement and lamps would be dimming and flickering on their own. I got a Kill-A-Watt meter and figure out what was going on. Also some of the rack manufacturers can be helpful on figuring out electrical loads.
Take a look at your main panel and see if you have room. You may want to consult an electrician to see how feasible it is run to run an extra circuit or two. I had an electrician come over to look at everything and make suggestions. Then he came back a few weeks later to do the work. Worth every penny.
Thanks for the tip! This house was built in 1870 and is definitely not up to code electrically, we’re already expecting to have to rewire the whole house before we move in. I’ll be sure to tell the electrician the extra load the reptile room will require.
I only have one snake as of now but my recommendation is to add something to the room that make it yours. Here is my fully decked out for Christmas this year.
nice knifes
