Best LED lighting for bioactive?

Hi everyone! It’s kath yet again doing research. Thanks again for bearing with me as I navigate through this. Y’all are the best!

Here’s what I’m looking at so far for the lighting.
The enclosures will be bioactive.
Inhabitants will be a ball python and a BCI. Separate of course!
Each enclosure will be PVC solid top and measure 6’x30”x2’

Right now I’m looking at the Jungle Dawn 34 watt, 22.5-inch LED Bar (6200°K) but am wondering if that would be overkill for my snakes, plants, CuC, etc. I hear they’re quite bright.

The Jungle Dawns also come in 22 Watt (18.5 in) and 15 Watt (11.5) versions.
Which one(s) do you think would be appropriate for my animals?

The plants I’m planning on growing are pothos, philodendrons, snake plants, and maybe moss and bromeliads.

A few things;

Snakes that size are going to bulldoze/destroy most plants. Choose plants that can take a beating and/or quickly regrow after being torn apart. I think the snake plants, pothos, and philodendrons are good candidates to try (also consider ficus species), but bromeliads are definitely going to get torn down from wherever you mount them.

Mosses that work in vivaria tend to require high light levels AND near constant moisture. The moisture requirement can be problematic (and inappropriate) in a ball python viv (I've never kept BCI's).

The Jungle Dawns are very bright, yes. I don't like to throw a ton of light at nocturnal creatures in captivity. I know hides are typically provided, but the light still blasts in through the hide openings. (again, this is in reference to the ball python). In my ball enclosure which is 48x18x18", I have a single 36" 15W led tube light.


In closing, I think a good naturalistic setup for a large snake is more about fresh foresty substrate, woody rubble, and creative hiding places and less about maximizing plant growth. If some green stuff grows- awesome, but it's never going to be enough growth to consume/process snake waste, and it will mostly get bulldozed.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!
This is all really helpful information and I’ve been trying to do as much research as I can before making the decision to take the plunge on this. So I really appreciate the insight. There’s so much conflicting information online so it’s hard to narrow it down, but one consistent thing about setting up a naturalistic enclosure with live plants at the very minimum involves a lot of trial and error.

I think the term “bioactive” is a double edged sword in the industry because while it can be a fun, rewarding (and expensive) way to observe and appreciate nature it’s also been turned into a buzzword that for some reason people deem as the “best” way to keep BPs and other snakes, which is just not true.

Here's a couple links that I think you may find helpful. The first is to an online article, Vivarium Lighting 101, recommended by TofuTofuTofu. The second is to TofuTofuTofu's bioactive build thread that, I feel, shows what a thoughtful and deliberate bioactive build looks like.

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Originally Posted by kath_

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!
This is all really helpful information and I’ve been trying to do as much research as I can before making the decision to take the plunge on this. So I really appreciate the insight. There’s so much conflicting information online so it’s hard to narrow it down, but one consistent thing about setting up a naturalistic enclosure with live plants at the very minimum involves a lot of trial and error.

I think the term “bioactive” is a double edged sword in the industry because while it can be a fun, rewarding (and expensive) way to observe and appreciate nature it’s also been turned into a buzzword that for some reason people deem as the “best” way to keep BPs and other snakes, which is just not true.

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Yeah, you might notice I avoid using the B word when talking about this stuff. It's a newer term (at least in this usage) that I believe carries some baggage and was popularized by internet personalities looking to ultimately make money.

On that same note, a lot of your search results will probably be top hits on popular youtube channels and websites trying to sell you stuff. Or total noobs showing a picture of their VERY newly setup "bioactive" enclosure. Getting advice from several experienced keepers can be tough to come by, but forums like this tend to have more time-tested and animal-need-focused methods.