Bioactive Substrate System

[mommamonty]

I'm following The Art of Keeping Snakes (along with some helpful tips from a few others) for creating a Bioactive Substrate System for my ball python. I know I will probably be able to answer my own question as time goes on--but if anyone has any experience with this, I have a water question:

I ended up using some "larger-ish" lava rocks in the rock/water layer----so the rock/water layer is pretty uneven (with dips and valleys as you look through the tank). Because it is so uneven I have some substrate significantly either above the water or slightly submerged in the water. I know I don't want any rotting--so too moist isn't good--but we also want decent humidity for the snake as well. I will definitely be using a different rock when we schedule a redo--however I don't want to take the whole tank apart to change out the rocks now if I don't need to. Any tips/suggestions welcome.

PS. We put the snake in his new Vivarium last night and he was a completely different snake!!! He LOVES it!!!

[Annarose15]

Pictures?

[mommamonty]

Pictures?

LOL--I've been so consumed by monitoring the temps and humidity that I have not even taken a single pic! I will try take some tonight and post. I'm still researching and working on the final plant list--so its a little bare yet. I have a few in there that probably won't last the week. I really enjoyed watching him explore and actually try to burrow down into it a little bit. He was REALLY active and wanting to explore everything and every corner.

[3skulls]

Can you give us more info on the bio active substrate system?

Are you creating a microfauna in the substrate?

[Archimedes]

Consider this thread FOLLOWED, I am very very interested. I'd love to get something like that going someday.

[meowmeowkazoo]

Very neat idea, can't wait to see pictures.

[Mike41793]

I don't like the idea of leaving waste in my snakes enclosure, personally.

[3skulls]

I think it would best to pick up all solid waste.
You would have to have a huge enclosure to support the clean up crews that would take down that much waste.

Springtails, isopods would need it to be moist at some level.
My native tanks "cleans" itself but I don't have the large amounts of waste a snake would leave.

I love ideas like this.

[Pythonfriend]

interesting, unfortunately, like most others, i know nothing about it. But it is really interesting!


can you link online sources to this all, the whole subject? Maybe some of us can somehow help after we did read up on it. Also to the others, related links explaining what it is about? i could go into questions like.... is the water underneath steady or free to move, how far above the water level is the ground for the snake, etc, many questions. But sources, and then reading up, and then suggestions/questions is probarbly the way to go.

EDIT: so much i do know: big stones are the problem, since you cannot easily turn small stones into big stones. Small stones are no problem, just combine the following: hammer, stone, outdoor. Dont discard a stone because it is too large, show some manlyhood Sounds like quite a soft stone anyway.

[mommamonty]

I think it would best to pick up all solid waste.
You would have to have a huge enclosure to support the clean up crews that would take down that much waste.

Springtails, isopods would need it to be moist at some level.
My native tanks "cleans" itself but I don't have the large amounts of waste a snake would leave.

I love ideas like this.

Absolutely, solids are removed.