Success With Planted/bio-active BP Vivarium?

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Originally Posted by fourward

a quick question. I think this is an awesome idea, and I would really like to know how I should build BP's environment.

Since bp is from a savannah, should I use clay or sand to mix with eco earth substrate?

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I've been making bio-dome-ish kinds of set ups on and off since I was a kid. I got interested in bio-topes, where you actually try and mimic the actual environment, plants and species of a given ecosystem, with respect to fish tanks and terrariums. one of the more interesting ones is the ecosphere, where coral and shrimp are sealed in a blown glass sphere that stays in relatively balance for, some say decades without any input other than light... but I digress :~). I'm wondering with BP's any sort of bio-tope is really practical and if so, what bio-tope would be the focus, the forest floor or the den where they live most of their life? it would seem that the real bio-tope they exist in is largely that of termite mounds and I think the wife would leave me if I ventured in that direction. then I hear about them being found in a wide range of habitats including rainforests and savannahs. how critical is soil type and plants then?

does anyone have some detailed information on where they are found in the wild? if it's a termite mound, are we talking an active one, are the termites themselves producing the heat for the snakes in some kind of symbiosis? is it the thermophilic bacteria in the gut of the termite that is responsible as a heat source as it breaks down cellulose? if they are as sedentary in the wild as they appear in captivity, then what environmental aspects are the key, maybe what we are really needing to focus on is mimicking the dynamic in the burrow itself, in which case it's the micro biom that would be most important as the plants and all above ground would mostly be for our entertainment? so it seems we all want something interesting to look at, even if the snake doesn't. I can come to terms with that, I just want to know what the key elements are for the snakes health and then what I can add for a cool look without hindering the health of the snake.

i'm not intent on mimicking their exact environment, but I'd like to know what it is and what provides a constant 90F underground, that's really is hard to imagine, unless it is the termite "hive". In any case, I'm fine with a hodge podge of spring tails and or other symbiots as the micro biom, I'd just like to hear what has worked for folks. the one thing I'm trying to wrap my mind around is how to keep plants watered without the humidity shooting up. in my BRB vivarium it's pretty easy, it's super wet and he likes it that way. I haven't removed a dropping from the vivarium in over a year and it does not smell, they are food for the plants, it really has balanced out. I do use a fish tank air pump to keep a constant flow of fresh, oxygenated air coming in. I know the thought of all that may be disgusting to some or even seem inhumane, but you really have to see it to believe that it is sanitary if you build up the right (aerobic) microbes and monitor it closely, at least early on. Nature adhors a void, we can focus on trying to spray pesticides and cleaners to sterilize the enclosure on a regular basis, which may be the only practical approach for breeders with large collections, but unnecessary for those with just a few snakes, particularly for those with a knack for ecology.

with the humidity, if I were to keep the humidity more constant around 70%+, I'd be worried about mold/scale rot/pneumonia with BP's. are folks having success with keeping the plants happily watered while keeping the humidity down in the 50% range? what grow lights are folks using? I use finnex planted plus LED strips, is the temperature swing from grow lights on a day timer a problem if the lights are kept inside the enclosure? for my BRB, the grow lights add heat, which fluctuates the air temp but has little effect inside the hide where he spends all his time during the day. I presume if you are still reading this, that this sort of thing interests you and I will not spare you the mind numbing details as i delve into attempting a planted tank for one or both of our BP's.

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Originally Posted by distaff

I use ABG type mix and some home compost. The plants do well in it. a substrate that is mostly clay will pack down too much to grow plants in. It needs to stay light and fluffy for proper aeration, so for this application, just garden soil doesn't work well either. Not sure about mixing sand into the substrate. Some would be ok, but putting snakes on primarily sand seems to be controversial. No experience with Eco Earth. The top surface of the substrate should be DRY. It will be dry with a screen topped drainage layer (absolutely necessary!). New England Herpetoculture has good info on how to properly layer the drainage and top substrate. Serpa is a YouTube channel run by a guy who shows terrarium/viv builds step by step, with emphasis on the construction of the bottom layers.

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this is gold, thank you distaff!

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Originally Posted by distaff

I use ABG type mix and some home compost. The plants do well in it. a substrate that is mostly clay will pack down too much to grow plants in. It needs to stay light and fluffy for proper aeration, so for this application, just garden soil doesn't work well either. Not sure about mixing sand into the substrate. Some would be ok, but putting snakes on primarily sand seems to be controversial. No experience with Eco Earth. The top surface of the substrate should be DRY. It will be dry with a screen topped drainage layer (absolutely necessary!). New England Herpetoculture has good info on how to properly layer the drainage and top substrate. Serpa is a YouTube channel run by a guy who shows terrarium/viv builds step by step, with emphasis on the construction of the bottom layers.

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Awesome! bookmarking this page for future reference. I am also using an UTH right now, but after doing a quick search it seems like the soil needs to be deep, so I need to find another method of warming up the hot side. Time for me to go on Botany search :D

actually, while I am searching, I noticed a problem... how does the UTH radiate heat on the hot spot for BP if there are layers of substrate between the floor and the snake? Should I just stop using UTH, and go with 2 ceramic heat lamps on each side to adjust heat?

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Originally Posted by fourward

actually, while I am searching, I noticed a problem... how does the UTH radiate heat on the hot spot for BP if there are layers of substrate between the floor and the snake? Should I just stop using UTH, and go with 2 ceramic heat lamps on each side to adjust heat?

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Ceramic heat lamps should work, I have an RHP. In a tall glass tank, you may have trouble getting the heat you need, depending on your house temp. I have colubrids and North American species,so the higher ambients aren't so critical.

What i did in addition to the RHP, was to take a UTH and silicone it to one side of some styrofoam (I use the flat back side styro background that comes with the Exo-Terra. I find that background ugly, but it is dark, is textured and earthy/rocky looking on one side.You could also use black silicone to adhere moss and eco earth to make a textured side with a plain slab of foam) I like the foam because I can carve out the channel for the t-stat probe and electrical cord on the flat side, so that the UTH lays perfectly flat against the sheet. Lay the foam textured side up, UTH side down on the surface of the substrate. My snakes make their own little space in there, and that is the warm hide. You will have the electrical cord and the thin t-stat cord running up an inside corner of the viv and out, so your lid needs to accommodate for that. Obviously "off label" use, and you again need a t-stat, or it's a fire hazard, so do this at your own risk, but these UTH adaptations have worked well for my planted tanks.

I ran into that issue as well, so I decided to make an UTH set up that could go inside the enclosure with a thermostat probe siliconed in between two panes of glass. in the second picture you can see the silicone "feet" that assure it does not ever get too close to the bottom of the enclosure, I also use them as spacers in between the glass (you need to take some care like this to prevent heat encapsulation/over heating). I leave it close to the surface with maybe an inch of substrate on top. I use cypress bark on top of the UTH, it allows heat to permeate pretty well. for the plants in my BRB vivarium, I have them basically potted so that the fertile soil is localized.
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/img_8201.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/img_8200.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fourward

actually, while I am searching, I noticed a problem... how does the UTH radiate heat on the hot spot for BP if there are layers of substrate between the floor and the snake? Should I just stop using UTH, and go with 2 ceramic heat lamps on each side to adjust heat?

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