Ball Python Bioactive Substrate

[SamLuvSnake]

Hey everyone. I'm wanting to setup a bioactive vivarium for my ball python. I've read The Art of Keeping Snakes and many other threads and websites, but I still can't find a suitable substrate mix recipe. Has anyone had success with this? I know theres ABG mix, but that seems too tropical for bp. It looks like there should be a mix of sand, peat moss, fir bark or cypress mulch, organic potting soil, clay, coco coir, and more... Not sure what ratios to use or what combination of these ingredients I should use for a ball.

[SamLuvSnake]

If I don't hear anything conclusive, I'm thinking of using roughly:

2 parts potting soil
1 part sand
1 part fir bark or cypress mulch
1 part peat moss or coco coir
1/2 part fired clay

How does this sound for a mix?

[Oxylepy]

It is my recommendation that you do not do a bioactive setup for ball pythons. It's pretty important to maintain a number of insect species in there, insects which nothing in the enclosure will keep in check (the BP doesn't eat them). The insects help with the breakdown of wastes to allow the plants to remove toxic compounds from the soil.

It's fairly complicated, and extremely prone to failure, including fungal growth, the destruction of the enclosure (depends on what it is made of, but even with glass the silicone that bonds it can ultimately be destroyed), and extreme upkeep.

Save yourself a heck of a lot of a headache and turn back now.