Setting up my Naturalistic Vivarium

That looks quite wonderful! Good work! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much for sharing your BSS "journey". I'm currently reading The Art of Keeping Snakes and was looking for a more detailed "recipe" (if you will) of substrate material proportions for our ball python. I CANNOT wait to transition him over. Did you mix up your substrate and introduce it to the enclosure immediately or did you let it sit for a while???

No I let it sit for quite a while 4 months the system sometimes crashes and you need to let the plants get established


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cool and all, but if you really want a naturalistic looking setup, ditch the cheap plastic water bowl and go get a large one at petsmart for $15. I love how creative you got with the organic substrate though and also the rest of the cage.

why do you water in the drainage layer? wouldnt that cause bacteria? also wouldnt regular misting allow water to fall in the drainage layer? im new this and building my own viv. Just curious if bacteria was an issue or if I should b worried about it?? thanks

The system is bio active it requires the bacteria. Often it is started with really well balanced aquarium water and or filter medium. The key is allowing bacteria that break down wastes and preventing harmful bacteria.


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is this possible to create without the cleaning crew?

If you mean insects no you don't need them. But you still must have 'good' bacteria cultures. The system must be balanced or you will be cleaning it out completely every month. As it takes time to establish plants this defeats the whole set up. It is very similar to closed system tanks where the tank grows food for the fish it holds. The fish then feed the plants and feeding externally is not very common.

Properly set up will run with out anything more than plant care (pruning and rare fertilizing) and removing solid wastes with occasional stirring the soil. Friends have a huge royal enclosure that has not had a substrate change in years it smells like outside fresh plant and very slightly earthy. There should never be any smell that is unpleasant.


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