Can I put a clean up crew in normal substrate without bioactive?

[CakeLike]

I clean the viv out every month now, but it takes me about 4 hours (I am very thorough). That's taking a toll on my scedule and I would like to use a clean up crew to help.
But I don't have a bioactive setup. Currently using eco earth but I could switch too.
Can I put isopods in the normal substrate if I provide food for them? Like leaf litter, calcium ect. ?

[Starscream]

There's not really a point to putting in a clean-up crew if you're not going bioactive, as eventually you will have to dump the substrate with the CUC in it to clean. Also, you still need to clean things even with a clean-up crew, as they're not going to get everything. In fact, with the lower frequency in waste production and the size of it, they're not really going to do much waste-wise on cleaning up after a ball python. It's mostly so you don't have to do full substrate changes and instead change it out small increments as a time, as even bioactives will need new soil mixed in eventually as you clean up after your snake.

The benefits of bioactive are there is, overall, less cleaning to do, as you're usually spot cleaning instead of deep cleaning, and you can see natural behaviors like digging with the deeper substrate levels bioactive requires, and the ability to keep plants in with your snake,, as well as a few more I'm definitely forgetting. However, bioactives can fail, and require a few months lead time of setup so the CUC can get established before the snake can be added; this means feeding them in the meantime up until adding the snake so they can hopefully try to keep up with what your snake produces. It is definitely not for everyone, and having a backup in case the system does fail is essential.

I personally love bioactive setups, but yeah. They are work to maintain. Plants fail, and you have to pull them out. Sometimes the system collapses without any specific reason and you have to start over. Keeping on top of it helps to mitigate that, but it's not a leave it and you're done kind of deal.

[dakski]

Cakelike,

Please see your other post. If I were you, I would go paper substrate all the way.

Don't make things more difficult for you or your BP. Eventually, your BP will need a bigger tank and make bigger messes. Do you plan on spending your life cleaning up after your BP?

Good luck.

[CakeLike]

But I care about the looks of my enclosure. It's a decorative item for me as well. And I want to make it more natural for my snake to enjoy. So eventually I will be trying full on bioactive but only after hes in his forever home.

[Frosted]

Coco fiber really isn't great for isopods. Some people do it though and it works. As long as you have leaf litter and bark, they will survive.

If you're going to add isopods and eventually go bioactive, you may as well just make up the substrate. Top soil, sand, and hydrated hardwood pellets are my mixture. It's cheaper than coco fiber as well. You can always add the plants later.

I can tell you, isopods will not decrease your maintenance drastically. They won't really eat poop like some say they do. Mine will make a quick meal of a shed but besides overall soil health, that's all they really do. You will still need to spot clean.

If you're just going for aesthetics though the added leaf litter, bark, and moss looks really nice along with a good substrate. I probably wouldn't have added that to my setup normally but it does look really nice. Plus I like searching for isopods when I go into the enclosure!

[plateOfFlan]

The thing about cleanup crew insects is the substrate is going to be their main source of food. The leaf litter, shed skin etc is a nice bonus for them and they like it but they mostly eat soil, so the substrate they're in and the moisture content are both super important. I also wouldn't call bioactive a timesaver if that's your motivation, you're putting more animals in there that you also need to feed and care for, so I think you'll ultimately be giving yourself more work, particularly if you cut corners so it can't be self-sustaining.