Multi-Species Paladarium

There won't be sufficient food for dung beetles. The problem with worms and most 'decomposers' will be offering a required soil moisture level. There'll be plenty of carbon in the woodchip (?) bio-floor to offset the nitrogen in the feaces and urine, but I don't see having a permanently damp substrate, in which the organisms can thrive, as desirable. If your decomposition system crashes, it'd be messy to decommission and start again.
Cam and other bird keepers will know how best to design perches etc to concentrate droppings for ease of control.
As cool as the French doors would look, I'd recommend an airlock style door, assuming a rotating door would cost too much floor area. These are used in all large walk-in 'cages' to preclude escapes, especially birds.
Temp/humidity control becomes more (seasonally) problematic if you take out an external wall. I think keeping it in the designated space is the way to go.
Don't forget quarantine of all specimens, especially birds. If you introduce mites, etc, you'll have a heck of a time eradicating them from the bio-floor.
Nathan suggested a planted aviary, which could look good, but matching species would need to be well advised. Birds can destroy an enclosed habitat pretty quickly, so maybe have spare plant stock at hand. Knowing him he probably has some species in mind.
Consider how you'll accommodate specific breeding needs and house offspring.

I wish you every success with this. Just following your research will make this a facinating thread.
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vanillaXtiffy said:
I suggest knocking the room down and in it's place building a green house. It will be more cost effective in the long run because you'd use less electricity, it'd be better for the plants and animals (esp. reptiles), it'd be easier to clean, and probably more enjoyable for you because it's better than being crammed inside a room pretending you're outside. Might even be cheaper, but then again, I've got no clue how you'd go about knocking down just one room of a house.
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The green house idea is fantastic (and probably the safest and most cost effective. Somebody mentioned the "Black Mold" and I'm very glad you did. Mold is in my line of work. This black mold is called Stachybotrys chartarum and it is highly toxic when airborn. It is a slimy mold and it's spores do not become airborn easily. When it dries out it enters the air and causes all sorts of problems. Stachy and all other molds love drywall and moist conditions. You would have to replace an drywall in the room along with any wood. Making the room like a bathroom isn't a good idea. Bathrooms are mold breeding grounds. There are antimicrobial paints but they only prevent growth on the paint, not behind the wall.
I wish you all the best on your project. I'm sure the finish project will be well worth the work put in. Just keep in mind of the health of yourself and your family. Good luck and KUP!:thm:
 
calivivarium1 said:
^ I think that could be the most economical solution, but the OP stated that they specifically wanted to use this room.
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My suggestion is using the room, the OP can't do the other greenhouse idea because there's no space in the back yard, seeing as this room is in the back of the house it makes sense.
 
Susan0218 said:
dung beetles and many other insects eat poo. I'm also fairly certain that some rodents will eat their poop to get more out of their hard to digest diet. I'm sure there's more.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. The why's don't really matter but the fact is, a lot of animals do eat poo.
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Wanted to point out that this does not mean I recommend adding any of those creatures. Nor do I recommend adding land hermit crabs. I was simply pointing out to another poster that there are animals who eat poo. Was probably inappropriate to post it on this thread, but it came up on this thread.
 
vanillaXtiffy said:
My suggestion is using the room, the OP can't do the other greenhouse idea because there's no space in the back yard, seeing as this room is in the back of the house it makes sense.
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If the OP turns that room into a greenhouse it's doable. A sunroom of sorts.
 
This guy did what Sploke mentioned earlier.
Personally I'd like to try this one day but outside in my garden.
Easy to modify to your own ideas and specs and you would not need an expert.
Common sense and good preparation of the room..
 
Wow! This thread is sure interesting. I've wanted for a long time to make a mixed species tank, but haven't yet.

I don't know if anybody mentioned this already, but if they did, it's worth repeating. Make sure you have enough cages or tanks for all the birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, basically everything but the insects and things like that. If a fight breaks out, or if somebody gets sick, you need to make sure you have space to put them. In addition to cages, you will need extra heat lamps for the cold-blooded creatures, and extra UVB lights for the reptiles and some amphibians. While you may not need one cage per animal, you may want to invest in several ten gallon tanks along with stocking up on heat lights and the like, as well as several bird cages. You can also use these as quarantine tanks and cages.

Also, this website is an amazing one, full of helpful information, especially for what you're doing: http://bamboozoo.weebly.com/ This person has lots of experience with mixing species and has done so quite successfully.
 
^ 2 good points, the emergency cages, and the UVB lights.

i believe the lights needed for the reptiles could be problematic, strong lights will be needed for basking spots, but they would have to be well protected so other critters don't get burned. if your going to put in a sunroof make it big so even with the basking lamps there is still a good deal of sunlight

i personally think that butterflies would be much more peaceful and easy to clean up after. but it may be hard to keep a steady suppy of pollen and it will affect your reptile choices. my preference for birds in this situation would be tame or hand raised parakeets, so they dont lose it everytime you walk in the door
 
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if you make the floor sloping in towards the drains and use some kind of rocks or gravel floor it would be easy to spray down the whole room to get rid of poo. i'd be concerned about mold in the walls myself and probably talk to a specialist about ways to prevent that from happening
 
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