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.

[anatess]

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.

I wouldn’t claim to be an expert at it even after 8 years of experience. I learned everything from the Bio Dude to start off and trial and error from there.

For what it’s worth, this is my current set-up:

4’x2’x2’ pvc enclosure.
Foam board insulation on 3 sides. I built “shelves” into the back board using broken up pieces of insulation and some expansion foam.
Ventilation cut-outs covered with eaves vent covers.
Painted the entire interior with watered-down grout. Then painted over that with dry-loc paint mixed with acrylic craft paint to get the color I want.
Custom cut glass sliding doors (this was surprisingly only $40 with very accurate fit to whatever size the front opening ends up being after my super inaccurate circular saw skills).
Laid down an inch of hydroton (clay pebbles used in hydroponics), then about a 4-inch layer of moist coco coir mixed with top soil and perlite. The Bio Dude has a ball python soil mix that I used when I started out. This is a really good mix but quite pricey.
I’m in Florida so heat and humidity is simpler to maintain year round with caged heat lamp.
Hides, water bowl, wood branches stabilized by expanding foam.
Then planted a bunch of photos, ivies, random tropicals, even orchids. It’s a jungle in there.
Added isopods and springtails.
Added Bioshot from the Bio Dude.
Threw some dead leaves in there.
Stabilized for a couple weeks.
Added snake.

Haven’t replaced Jack’s substrate in 2 years. CuCs thriving pretty well in there. Humidity is high. Lots of ppl say it’ll cause respiratory problems. My son insists that’s not true (probably got it from reddit, so don’t just believe him, lol). But we haven’t had problems with that. We have more problems with lower humidity with keeping plants and CuCs thriving and incomplete shedding.

[anatess]

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.

Bioactive setup relies on the plants for uptake (e.g. nitrogen and phosphorus) from the soil. Then a Cleanup Crew of isopods and springtails live in the soil to break down decomposed matter into soil nutrients. Naturally occurring beneficial bacteria help the process in a balanced setup. It takes a while for bacteria to develop in the system so I used BioShot (from the Bio Dude) to start it off.

There is no need for a drainage layer as a ball python setup doesn’t produce much waste water. The soil absorbs waste as the CUCs feed on them. But, I did add a layer of hydroton to the bottom of my setup in case we over water plants.

[anatess]

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.

Forgot to mention -

There’s LED grow lights on the ceiling (surprisingly cheap on Amazon).