Bio-Active Terrarium

My BP is about 1 1/2 years old, and I want to make him a Bio-Active Terrarium now, that I can put him in, permanently. What size should I go for, and how exactly do a make a safe Bio-Active Terrarium for him?

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Originally Posted by Rebeltreestump

My BP is about 1 1/2 years old, and I want to make him a Bio-Active Terrarium now, that I can put him in, permanently. What size should I go for, and how exactly do a make a safe Bio-Active Terrarium for him?

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The first thing you need to do is count the cost. Setting up a bioactive enclosure, for a snake particularly, is an endeavor. This thread is an example of how to do it right: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ight=bioactive. While it's not for a ball python, it does show the amount of work and care that should go into it. Beware of those who advocate the quick and easy approach. They're probably trying to sell you something.

That's a great thread that you linked. :)

One thing worth noting is that though I've never kept a ratsnake, they are likely much more tolerant of enclosure conditions and parameters (light levels, temps and gradients, hiding opportunities, humidity) than a BP, and so if anything that thread is understating the challenges in getting things right.

Providing a naturalistic enclosure (all furnishings made from natural materials, preferably that take into account the needs of the snake species) provides virtually all the benefit of a "bioactive" enclosure (one that is naturalistic and also pretends to process some waste) with much less difficulty and chance of failure.

I keep many dart frogs in what some people consider "bioactive" enclosures (there are differences, to be sure, and imitating dart frog enclosures for other species is both common and a terrible idea) and absolutely wouldn't do that for any species that doesn't require it or at least show substantial and measurable benefit from it.

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Originally Posted by Rebeltreestump

My BP is about 1 1/2 years old, and I want to make him a Bio-Active Terrarium now, that I can put him in, permanently. What size should I go for, and how exactly do a make a safe Bio-Active Terrarium for him?

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Just so you know, a snake (especially one the size of a BP) has way too much "output" for a bioactive enclosure to naturally get rid of. What you'll likely end up with is an unhealthy mess & potentially a sick ball python. If I were you, I'd abandon this idea. It's not easy to get it right, even with smaller creatures. I know there are enticing ads around trying to sell you on this idea, but it's not feasible for what you're keeping. And it's not going to get around providing the proper substrate for your pet, as you recently asked about (how to save money on?).

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Just so you know, a snake (especially one the size of a BP) has way too much "output" for a bioactive enclosure to naturally get rid of. What you'll likely end up with is an unhealthy mess & potentially a sick ball python. If I were you, I'd abandon this idea. It's not easy to get it right, even with smaller creatures. I know there are enticing ads around trying to sell you on this idea, but it's not feasible for what you're keeping. And it's not going to get around providing the proper substrate for your pet, as you recently asked about (how to save money on?).

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Thank you, for your input. I'll do a little more research into why I *shouldn't* instead of why I *should* this time.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Just so you know, a snake (especially one the size of a BP) has way too much "output" for a bioactive enclosure to naturally get rid of.

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I've read this, and wanted an excuse to check the math.

My most heavily stocked frog enclosure (2.5 sq ft footprint) has about ten frogs that each weigh under a gram, so say ten grams of bioload on the high end. They have a much higher metabolism than BPs -- a couple times more, maybe, but let's say 5x more to be really sure we're not overstating things, so 50g of BP equivalent bioload. That's 20g BP equivalent bioload per sq foot of enclosure.

Keep in mind that dart frog enclosures are run pretty humid and wet (so process waste pretty quickly; waste gets consumed by fungus, which gets consumed by springtails and isopods) and also have drains so that final waste products (dissolved organics and minerals) are flushed out in the water that runs through the substrate (maybe a couple cups a week in that size enclosure). A BP "bioactive" wouldn't have a drain, since moving enough water through to saturate and then flow through the substrate would not be conductive to the sort of moisture levels a BP requires. So any calculations are going to be very conservative -- likely a BP would need more square footage than this calculation shows to process waste similarly.

Now say an adult BP is 2500g. At 20g per sq foot, that's 125 sq feet -- a smallish bedroom. Makes substrate cleaning seem like a pretty simple task. :)

Further you should always spot clean the big messes. The cleanup crew has enough with the plants, bits of shed, possible urate that gets missed. Spot cleaning is an automatic and a given, so that's not at all a reason to not build bioactive for your BP.

I'm going to be doing so for Noodle's larger enclosure. I'm taking the next six months to get it right as he's not even ready to move up to his castle.