Ventilation Windows

[Roachman26]

All of my bins have a 3"x6", aluminum screened, vent hole on opposing ends of the bin.

Does this sound like enough? Too much?

I just guesstimated when I started building them and so far it seems to work in my room. What does everyone else do for 18 gallon bins?

I'm about to make some new bins up and would love some suggestions for improvement.

 

[Matt K]

Photos of what I use are somewhere in this forum... you may need to search for posts by me to find it..... :blink:

 

[Peter Clausen]

I don't really have holes for my bins that size. The lids don't fit perfectly (non-climbing feeders, like B. dubia) and get pulled off to feed our reptiles often enough.

 

[BugmanPrice]

All of my bins have a 3"x6", aluminum screened, vent hole on opposing ends of the bin.Does this sound like enough? Too much?

I just guesstimated when I started building them and so far it seems to work in my room. What does everyone else do for 18 gallon bins?

I'm about to make some new bins up and would love some suggestions for improvement.

A lot of it depends on what you personally need. Say if I were going to do it, with my low ambient humidity, I’d want small ones (maybe 3”X3”) to hold in moisture by decreasing ventilation. If someone in FL were to put in ventilation they could put in huge vents to help ventilate and decrease any chance of mold.

Really it just depends… and I doubt you have to worry too much about suffocating them unless it’s pretty air tight. So if it’s working then it’s right. I used to worry about that too.

 

[Matt K]

Photo of a typical tub I use (some with and some without egg crate cartons):

This is an average tub I use (66 qt Sterlite brand) (though I have been told they dont make them the same like this anymore) the holes are 2". This will hold a few hundred Lucihormetica sp, Blaberus sp., or nearly a thousand P.aegyptica, Therea sp., Ergaula sp., and two thousand Blatta lateralis, sand roaches, and even more if for Pseudomops or something like that.

Though I have gone to putting some things into 1.5 gallon containers like this:

Just to keep from getting overrun with something I dont use as a feeder roach-

 

[BugmanPrice]

@ MattK: I noticed on your tub that the vents are towards the bottom... I was wondering if you put them down there for a reason or if that just happens to be where you stuck them? I'm just curious.

 

[Matt K]

@ MattK: I noticed on your tub that the vents are towards the bottom... I was wondering if you put them down there for a reason or if that just happens to be where you stuck them? I'm just curious.

Yes they are on purpose. It allows for a convection current of air to prevent either overheating (crowds of roaches produce heat) or staying too cool as chambered air (like a bucket, for example) will reserve cool air as it is denser than warm air and sinks. So too much heat rises and leaves and too much cold air escapes. This is really a passive way to allow fresh air flow through the tub without so much ventilation that it can't retain the temps or dries out too fast. If the tubs are stacked the holes in the top are positioned so that they are not fully covered and still function.

 

[BugmanPrice]

Yes they are on purpose. It allows for a convection current of air to prevent either overheating (crowds of roaches produce heat) or staying too cool as chambered air (like a bucket, for example) will reserve cool air as it is denser than warm air and sinks. So too much heat rises and leaves and too much cold air escapes. This is really a passive way to allow fresh air flow through the tub without so much ventilation that it can't retain the temps or dries out too fast. If the tubs are stacked the holes in the top are positioned so that they are not fully covered and still function.

I thought you might be going for the “chimney” affect (kind of). Good idea.

I hadn’t really thought about that before since I have ventilation towards the top, an automatic “keep the holes away from the contained” response. Then when I saw how yours were positioned I thought something must be going on…

 

[Roachman26]

I thought you might be going for the “chimney” affect (kind of). Good idea.I hadn’t really thought about that before since I have ventilation towards the top, an automatic “keep the holes away from the contained” response. Then when I saw how yours were positioned I thought something must be going on…

Pics are so helpful. You see things that you wouldn't have thought about if a thousand words were written about it.

Thanks, Matt... and everyone else who posts their pics.