16 years of BP ownership, bio-active is still the way.

[anatess]

16 years of bp ownership and we finally built our final habitats.
My son and I built these ourselves using 4 feet x 2 feet pvc sheets. We put foam insulation on 3 sides and covered them with watered-down grout and dryloc paint. Substrate is a 1-inch layer of clay pebbles on the bottom then put a 4-inch layer of a mixture of coco coir, top soil, and perlite. Temps and humidity are rock steady through the seasons! I'd say we spent around $300 for one habitat (not counting hides and water dish as we already have those).

This here is Jack (14 years old):


And this is his dad, Salazar (16 years old).



Here's Jack's birth story for those interested:
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...est-I-need-you

[Homebody]

Beautiful enclosures! I, frequently, hear about people setting up bio-active enclosures for their ball pythons. It's much less common that I hear about people who successfully maintain them. So, how long have your ball pythons been in these bio-active set ups?

[anatess]

Beautiful enclosures! I, frequently, hear about people setting up bio-active enclosures for their ball pythons. It's much less common that I hear about people who successfully maintain them. So, how long have your ball pythons been in these bio-active set ups?

I'd say 8 years or so now. It took us a while to get it right. It definitely didn't work well in a glass enclosure. I mean it works but is a lot of maintenance to keep things balanced. It worked perfectly in the insulated box with very minimal maintenance.

[Malum Argenteum]

Very nice looking enclosures. I'd term them 'naturalistic', not 'bioactive', though, since there's not apparently capacity to process waste fully (too dry for fungal processing of waste into microfauna food, not sufficient plant biomass to export nutrients, and no substrate flushing).

Looks like the snakes enjoy the climbing space.

[anatess]

Very nice looking enclosures. I'd term them 'naturalistic', not 'bioactive', though, since there's not apparently capacity to process waste fully (too dry for fungal processing of waste into microfauna food, not sufficient plant biomass to export nutrients, and no substrate flushing).

Looks like the snakes enjoy the climbing space.

Fully bio-active. CUCs in the soil process poop in about 5 days unless it gets smooshed into the ground. Jack’s enclosure is 2 years old. Salazar’s just got finished today. We thinned out Jack’s plants to put in Salazar’s. It’s very tropical in there. That was our problem with the glass bio-active enclosures. It was too difficult to maintain moisture levels and we had to replenish CUCs a lot. Coco coir is a lot more effective in pvc.

[Homebody]

I'd say 8 years or so now. It took us a while to get it right. It definitely didn't work well in a glass enclosure. I mean it works but is a lot of maintenance to keep things balanced. It worked perfectly in the insulated box with very minimal maintenance.

Occasionally, we get posts from members seeking advice about how to set up a bio-active enclosure. So, please describe how you set up your enclosures. I realize it was a long time ago, so just briefly describe your process to the best of your recollection. Thanks.

[Malum Argenteum]

Fully bio-active. CUCs in the soil process poop in about 5 days unless it gets smooshed into the ground. Jack’s enclosure is 2 years old. Salazar’s just got finished today. We thinned out Jack’s plants to put in Salazar’s. It’s very tropical in there. That was our problem with the glass bio-active enclosures. It was too difficult to maintain moisture levels and we had to replenish CUCs a lot. Coco coir is a lot more effective in pvc.

How do nutrients get exported? Is there a drain to remove waste water with organic breakdown products and pathogens? I wouldn't think that would work with soil and coco fiber, but I'd be interested to know more.