Semi Bioactive Enclosure Pics

[ROSIEonFIRE]

Hi all! I will be bringing my first ball python home soon (yay!) and am thinking I might do an enclosure with some potted plants. If you have an enclosure like this, please share pics/tips! I have a 4x2x2 pvc enclosure coming in the mail.

[ROSIEonFIRE]

Also just to clarify my vision, I am interested in the plants primarily for aesthetics. Additionally I imagine they’ll help with humidity and may provide some level of enrichment for the snake. I will also be providing a variety of artificial climbing structures such as magnetic logs, branches, and ledges, ropes, etc, so I don’t need the real plants to bear weight.


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[Homebody]

Sorry. Have no pics to share because I wouldn't even attempt it. I applaud your goals and wish you luck, but I just can't see how you'll be able to keep plants alive in an enclosure with a heavy bodied snake. Keeping them in pots is good idea though. That way, when your bp tramples them to death, you can replace them easily.

If you do manage it, I'd love to see pics. Maybe, I'll follow suit.

[Lord Sorril]

Hi all! I will be bringing my first ball python home soon (yay!) and am thinking I might do an enclosure with some potted plants. If you have an enclosure like this, please share pics/tips! I have a 4x2x2 pvc enclosure coming in the mail.

Congrats on the new ball python!
Did you get a boy or a girl?
Either way: Make sure you post some pictures for us!

As for bioactive: I avoid living plants in my standard enclosures because they are going to get dug up and/or steamrolled by the ball pythons sooner or later (as the snakes get larger)... There are some species of tough living plants that I imagine you could rotate through the enclosure and swap out until they recover enough to go back in (e.g. Sansevieria), but most are not going to do well...

[Homebody]

Hi all! I will be bringing my first ball python home soon (yay!) and am thinking I might do an enclosure with some potted plants. If you have an enclosure like this, please share pics/tips! I have a 4x2x2 pvc enclosure coming in the mail.

Here a link to a recent post with pictures of a planted BP enclosure:https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ip#post2788323. Further down in the thread the poster describes the plants as "a bunch of photos, ivies, random tropicals, even orchids." Hope it helps.

[ROSIEonFIRE]

Congrats on the new ball python!
Did you get a boy or a girl?
Either way: Make sure you post some pictures for us!

As for bioactive: I avoid living plants in my standard enclosures because they are going to get dug up and/or steamrolled by the ball pythons sooner or later (as the snakes get larger)... There are some species of tough living plants that I imagine you could rotate through the enclosure and swap out until they recover enough to go back in (e.g. Sansevieria), but most are not going to do well...

He’s a 1 yo pied. I don’t have him yet and I haven’t picked out a name but I’ll definitely post pics when I get him!

[Malum Argenteum]

I agree about the humidity, and the enrichment. I think some tough vining plants that grow quickly (like "pothos" -- Epipremnum sp) would be a good sort of choice. Since a 4 x 2 is minimal floorspace without plant pots, putting at least some of the plants up off the bottom a little ways will help get their benefits without wasting space -- pots can be mounted to the sides of the enclosure pretty easily. Some similar vining plants have a tendency to grow upwards, too (Monstera siltepecana and Philodendron micans are ones that I use for this that might be appropriate for you). These might be placed a bit off the ground and then trained up onto a board that's attached to the inside of the enclosure -- nice aesthetics and some humidity assistance, and out of reach of the snake's bulldozing.

Personally, I would call what you're doing 'naturalistic' -- and I think it is a fine idea. What people usually do when they think they're doing 'bioactive' is better termed 'semi-bioactive (since it usually doesn't process all the waste, and usually doesn't create any food). People who are actually creating bioactive enclosures (dart frog keepers) usually don't call them that.

[ROSIEonFIRE]

I agree about the humidity, and the enrichment. I think some tough vining plants that grow quickly (like "pothos" -- Epipremnum sp) would be a good sort of choice. Since a 4 x 2 is minimal floorspace without plant pots, putting at least some of the plants up off the bottom a little ways will help get their benefits without wasting space -- pots can be mounted to the sides of the enclosure pretty easily. Some similar vining plants have a tendency to grow upwards, too (Monstera siltepecana and Philodendron micans are ones that I use for this that might be appropriate for you). These might be placed a bit off the ground and then trained up onto a board that's attached to the inside of the enclosure -- nice aesthetics and some humidity assistance, and out of reach of the snake's bulldozing.

Personally, I would call what you're doing 'naturalistic' -- and I think it is a fine idea. What people usually do when they think they're doing 'bioactive' is better termed 'semi-bioactive (since it usually doesn't process all the waste, and usually doesn't create any food). People who are actually creating bioactive enclosures (dart frog keepers) usually don't call them that.

Yeah I definitely called it semi bioactive with my tongue in my cheek lol. I agree that pothos and philodendrons are a good option! I also plan on making a substantial second level which the plants will look cool on! I will keep yall updated on the progress I’m probably gonna make a build thread.