So I'm getting ready to get my snake room set up, it's going to be in the basement and I'm wondering for you guys who live in cooler environments and keep your animals in the basement do you find that it's necessary to have some sort of floor over the concrete to hold in the heat?

The room is going to be about 16' X 12', I'm putting up drywall and insulation on the concrete walls and we're putting another insulated wall with a door in to close the room off from the rest of the basement. If I was to leave the concrete floor uncovered do you think that that would just suck all the heat out? What do you guys think would work well as a floor covering if I was to use something? I'd REALLY like to avoid any carpet, we have carpet in the room they are in now and it's such a pain having to vacuum up all those little pieces of aspen every few days.

Adam - The concrete will work, just not really effectively. The heating elements in the room will have to work harder to keep the the temps up.

I would recommend building a raised floor and using a vapor barrier and insulation in your snake room. Doesn't have to be fancy, and if you are handy - it can be done pretty cheap. It more then likely pay for itself in a hurry with the savings on the utility bills.

From there, there are several choices that make a good finish for the floor - tile, wood or laminate all work well, just go with your personal taste and budget there.

if you keep the cages about a foot off the concrete it should be ok .
The floor shouldn't really suck up the heat that much since heat rises ,and thats the only problem i see ,near the floor will be colder
Pretty much any flooring you put down will be the same as nothing unless you do go with carpet
If you really want something to ease your mind you can try carpet tile
They come in 2x2 mostly and some have little stickys on the back ,but you can just loose lay them in any pattern you like and most of the tiles are close to commerical grade carpet so not much of a pile .You can alos take the tiles up to brush off the bedding
Only other sugestion would be placing some type of insulation on the bottom of the cages to block the cold coming off the floor .hope that made sense and helped alittle
One more thing .will you be heating the room ? or is in central heat?
good luck

It will be colder nearest the floor. However, the perception that heat rises is incorrect. Heat itself moves in any direction.

Thanks guys! My dad mentioned an underlayment that he's heard about that has a layer of insulation sandwiched between plywood anyone familiar with that??? I'm thinking I could use something like that and tile or just lay some linoleum on top maybe.

Tim, what is a vapor barrier? I've never heard of that before lol.

I have hardwood floors all through the house except for the snake room...I have padded carpet, yes clean up sucks but for me in the winter it works wonderful...the only way I am pulling it out is if I insulate underneath in the crawl first...

Put the subfloor in man!!Trust me!These New England winters are brutal.(As you know)

Put the subfloor in man!!Trust me!These New England winters are brutal.(As you know)

:lol: Yeah I hear ya there man! What do you think I should use for that?

vapor barrier is just a sheet of plastic to help keep the condensation under control. Will minimize mold and help extend the life of your structure.

If your basement is sealed properly and stays dry, you won't need it - but many basements are completely dry...

vapor barrier is just a sheet of plastic to help keep the condensation under control. Will minimize mold and help extend the life of your structure.

If your basement is sealed properly and stays dry, you won't need it - but many basements are completely dry...

Ahhhh ok :D Yeah I know that our basement does tend to stay fairly humid. Not any real water leakage to speak of but the humidity level tends to stay around 50-60%. I'm hoping that with the propane heater going in the room it'll knock that down a bit since I use RBI racks and they hold a lot of humidity.

I would go with subflooring as well.....

Adam, I have my snake room in the basement with a concrete floor. We just simply used 12 x 12" vinyl tiles and haven't noticed any big heat loss because of it. If your basement stays humid it could be because you have small amounts of moisture rising up through the concrete. You really have to be careful about adding a sub floor and trapping humidity or moisture. It can cause more problems if not done correctly. It can even cause dangerous mold growth. My recommendation is to try it without the sub floor, it can always be added later if really needed. ;)