Success With Planted/bio-active BP Vivarium?

[Slither Seeker]

a quick question. I think this is an awesome idea, and I would really like to know how I should build BP's environment.

Since bp is from a savannah, should I use clay or sand to mix with eco earth substrate?

I've been making bio-dome-ish kinds of set ups on and off since I was a kid. I got interested in bio-topes, where you actually try and mimic the actual environment, plants and species of a given ecosystem, with respect to fish tanks and terrariums. one of the more interesting ones is the ecosphere, where coral and shrimp are sealed in a blown glass sphere that stays in relatively balance for, some say decades without any input other than light... but I digress :~). I'm wondering with BP's any sort of bio-tope is really practical and if so, what bio-tope would be the focus, the forest floor or the den where they live most of their life? it would seem that the real bio-tope they exist in is largely that of termite mounds and I think the wife would leave me if I ventured in that direction. then I hear about them being found in a wide range of habitats including rainforests and savannahs. how critical is soil type and plants then?

does anyone have some detailed information on where they are found in the wild? if it's a termite mound, are we talking an active one, are the termites themselves producing the heat for the snakes in some kind of symbiosis? is it the thermophilic bacteria in the gut of the termite that is responsible as a heat source as it breaks down cellulose? if they are as sedentary in the wild as they appear in captivity, then what environmental aspects are the key, maybe what we are really needing to focus on is mimicking the dynamic in the burrow itself, in which case it's the micro biom that would be most important as the plants and all above ground would mostly be for our entertainment? so it seems we all want something interesting to look at, even if the snake doesn't. I can come to terms with that, I just want to know what the key elements are for the snakes health and then what I can add for a cool look without hindering the health of the snake.

i'm not intent on mimicking their exact environment, but I'd like to know what it is and what provides a constant 90F underground, that's really is hard to imagine, unless it is the termite "hive". In any case, I'm fine with a hodge podge of spring tails and or other symbiots as the micro biom, I'd just like to hear what has worked for folks. the one thing I'm trying to wrap my mind around is how to keep plants watered without the humidity shooting up. in my BRB vivarium it's pretty easy, it's super wet and he likes it that way. I haven't removed a dropping from the vivarium in over a year and it does not smell, they are food for the plants, it really has balanced out. I do use a fish tank air pump to keep a constant flow of fresh, oxygenated air coming in. I know the thought of all that may be disgusting to some or even seem inhumane, but you really have to see it to believe that it is sanitary if you build up the right (aerobic) microbes and monitor it closely, at least early on. Nature adhors a void, we can focus on trying to spray pesticides and cleaners to sterilize the enclosure on a regular basis, which may be the only practical approach for breeders with large collections, but unnecessary for those with just a few snakes, particularly for those with a knack for ecology.

with the humidity, if I were to keep the humidity more constant around 70%+, I'd be worried about mold/scale rot/pneumonia with BP's. are folks having success with keeping the plants happily watered while keeping the humidity down in the 50% range? what grow lights are folks using? I use finnex planted plus LED strips, is the temperature swing from grow lights on a day timer a problem if the lights are kept inside the enclosure? for my BRB, the grow lights add heat, which fluctuates the air temp but has little effect inside the hide where he spends all his time during the day. I presume if you are still reading this, that this sort of thing interests you and I will not spare you the mind numbing details as i delve into attempting a planted tank for one or both of our BP's.

I use ABG type mix and some home compost. The plants do well in it. a substrate that is mostly clay will pack down too much to grow plants in. It needs to stay light and fluffy for proper aeration, so for this application, just garden soil doesn't work well either. Not sure about mixing sand into the substrate. Some would be ok, but putting snakes on primarily sand seems to be controversial. No experience with Eco Earth. The top surface of the substrate should be DRY. It will be dry with a screen topped drainage layer (absolutely necessary!). New England Herpetoculture has good info on how to properly layer the drainage and top substrate. Serpa is a YouTube channel run by a guy who shows terrarium/viv builds step by step, with emphasis on the construction of the bottom layers.

this is gold, thank you distaff!