I am planning on building a rodent shed this winter and spring when work with the reptiles is lighter.

I want it big enough to produce more than I need but small enough to not really have to heat it in the winter so insulating the hell out of it and leaving the ceilings around 7 foot I think will help. I am going to install a window ac unit to hopefully be able to keep them going during the summer since they seem to just shut down in the heat. Also some skylights since I think it helps but I really don't have any proof of that. I am going to put a deep freezer out there and a space heater in the winter set really low but it is going behind my garage so that will block most of the north wind. Still need to work on the gas chamber stuff and my final rack designs.

So what would you add? Running water? Automatic watering? Auto system hooked up from a live line or just buckets using gravity? Venting?

Well it will be vented slightly because of my dermestid beetle colony that should be working full steam this winter Hell yea but should I go over the top with some monster venting system to clear out the room on a timer or something like that.

Any other extras you guys can come up with would be great. :letsparty:

running water for cleaning,automatic water,lots of vents it dont take much for a smell to start food bins,lots of shelves for storage like bedding cleaning supplies

This is what I would do.....

Round 12 - 16 skylights along the roof ridge. A few of those will give tons of natural light and save a bit on the electric bill.

Walls framed in 2x6s , why? , thicker insulation and combined with a proper building wrap will cut the amount of time the heater / ac unit would kick on.

I would vent but I would use 2 smaller vents instead of 1 big one. Kick that sucker on 1 x 1 - 2 hours for just a few minutes and you should be good.

Running water for sure but I'd still use water buckets on a gravity watering system. Tying into a main line sounds good until your first flood.

8" high walls , the extra overhead space allows spare tub storage and you can easily put your water buckets up top.

Insulated sub floors and I like to use prop fans to keep the air moving.

Appreciate all the input so far. We have discussed running water and storage for all the supplies. But I really like the idea of well insulated floors too.

Thanks everyone.

Thanks all for the input so far.

Since the shed will be elevated I was also considering a floor drain in the floor or a mud room section that we could use for quick cleaning...

My beetles required a good deal of ventilation so I think I can just go a bit over the top with them and it will take care of the rats to.