Kold Klimate Kam Keepers???

[BIGGUN]

I wanted to get as much input from those of you that keep many chams in colder climates. I'm playing with panthers and have no room to keep as many as I'd like in the house.

I was thinking of buying a 12x8 shed and insulating it with foamboard then installing electric baseboard or oil rad heating for the winter. I also wanted to modify it so I could open the roof during the summer to take advantage of sunlight and let the heat out in the summer.

We normally have about 5 90 degree days in the summer and get near 0 a few nights in the winter.

I wondered how everyone else did it in this type of climate.

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

 

[Canopy Chameleons]

Well, I live in Alberta Canada, and I consider that a cold climate.... I just adjust the wattage of the bulbs, depending on season, and when it's colder, I use a space heater. It can be a challenge at times, but it's more than do-able. For instance, my montane species live downstairs, and my more warm and tropical species live upstairs, that helps alot too.

 

[AFH]

I did build a lizard house comprised of a storage shed shell that I insulated, etc. Now I'm not in a cool climate, but even with R13 rolled insulation in all of the walls and ceiling, I still have to use a space heater in the winter because it will only maintain about 10-15 degrees above outside on it's own. Those things are still damn leaky. So I use the heater when the nights are going to get 45 or under.

But only at night, in the days when it was in the 30's, all of the bulbs kept it warm enough in the day that the AC still ran occasionally to bring it down to an ambient 75.

 

[BIGGUN]

I'm not so worried about the ones I keep inside. I'm more concerned about how my outside ideas might hold up?

Thanks for the tips. Sounds like a good idea to keep them in the sections of the house that most meets their environment.

I'm struggling to keep my eggs at a steady temp as I live in a coalmining house that was built for my great-grandfather in 1921. There is no one spot in the house that holds a stedy temp. I ended up making an incubator out of an old lunch box, a plastic devider, an aquarium heater and water. It works well but I still need to make adjustments when the outside temp changes more than 20 degrees.

Kevin

 

[BIGGUN]

AFH,

That's exactly what I want to do. I think the biggest leak is around where the trusses meet the walls. In sheds it's wide open.

Did you plug those holes?
Did you insulate all 4 walls, the door, and the roof?
What type of heater did you use?

I was thinking about a small wall unit AC.

Thanks a ton!
Kevin

 

[AFH]

I stuffed insulation into every crack and crevice I could find plus all the walls and the ceiling. Then I plyboarded the bottom half of the walls, sheetrocked the top half and the ceiling, and put up tile board around the bottom half for water overspray. I tiled the floor and put in multiple drains. I installed a 6000 or 8000 BTU AC (don't remember which) on one end pretty high up so the air wouldn't blow directly on the cages, but also because cool air falls. For a heater, I used a 1200 watt electric heater with a fan , but I found that it was killing me on electricty, so I switched to a propane Heater Buddy. It's supposed to be ventless with an low oxygen shutoff, but I could still smell fumes, so I installed a couple vents and registers in the ceiling, one right above where I used the heater. It's much better now. I also leave the vents open during the day and it sucks out some of the heat and my AC runs less.

My lizard house is 12'x18', so proportion accordingly for your space. I'm sure a smaller AC would work and you could probably heat it with your idea. I'm not real familiar with oil burning heating devices, but keep in mind the ventilation.

My worst temperature leaking areas are the door, the floor, and the windows. If I built it over, I would have eliminated 75% of my windows. I am in the process of gluing styrofoam insulation planks on the underside to try to insulate the floor more. I crammed the edges of the door (it's 4'x8', didn't have a choice) with weather stripping and use a rolled up towel across the threshold. I got one of those infrared thermometers, so I can pinpoint heat leaks. It's helped tremendously.

I've only had this built since August, so this is my first winter. I'm still working out some of the kinks, but I have to say I love it.

Also, I got a decent humidifier with a humidity selector. I set it on 60% and unless I'm going in or out a lot or the misters come on, it holds pretty damn good.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

I know in construction that there is a dead space of 6 in between the outside and inside wall that creates a natural barrier (air space) that will stop cold air from coming in as long as the heat inside is adequate. Then they use roll insulation and Sheetrock. They don't even use outside insulation on the wall when they do the siding. The dead space and roll insulation is more then enough to keep the interior warm.

 

[AFH]

Yes, for house construction. But when you get a shed or portable building type structure, your inner wall is your outer wall. There is no airspace. Air is acutally an awesome insulator, but it doesn't work in these constructions, unless you walled off all the studs, then put another row of studs and put your insulation there, then the sheetrock.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

Thats what im saying if you want to make it suitable for keeping chameleons in there during the winter you would have to do that to make it efficient.

 

[BIGGUN]

Wow thanks for ALL the info that will help a ton!!!

Thnks again,
Kevin