Bio-Active Soil Guide/Tips

[jclaiborne]

A few people have been asking for a thread dedicated to Bio-Active Soil, different tip/tricks, etc. Bio-Active soil/substrate is common in Monitor and most other Lizard Communities, but not so hot for the majority of the snake world.

**Before I say anything else, I just want to have a disclaimer, nothing I put on here is set in stone, I am still learning myself through trial and error, there are multiple ways to set up a bio-active enclosure, and I don't want this to turn into any back and forth arguments, Bio-Active substrate is probably not for everyone, so use your best judgment when deciding to go this route or not. It is perfectly safe for your animal if done CORRECTLY**


Now that that is out of the way, here is a great link on one of the most accepted methods for starting a bio-active mix, this is the one I followed with a few minor tweaks. http://www.varanustalk.com/forum/index.php?pageid=Dirt

When going this route you are essentially creating a small eco system in your enclosure. You have a nice healthy deep substrate that is full of little cleaner crews (isopods, springtails, etc), they feed on the waste that your reptile produces as well as on mold/fungus. The one thing that always throws up a flag for anyone (including me) when researching it is that you basically throw everything you have been told about keeping an enclosure clean out the window. Things like collecting wood from outside, digging up dirt in your backyard, not sterilizing/bleaching/baking anything and instead putting it directly in your cage, not treating your cage with Provent-A-Mite, not cleaning your cage in general once it gets up and going. My biggest concern when starting mine was bringing mites into my collection, however the life cycle of mites is one in which it really needs a host to thrive, I nor anyone else I know of has brought mites into their collection doing this. All of my wood came from my back yard, however I will note I still am not a fan of buying wood at a reptile show, or reptile shop and putting it right in the cage as there is a potential of introducing mites that way because there were plenty of hosts around where you go it from. (that is just my opinion)

I will say however for my dirt I was not able to dig in my backyard due to pesticides being used, I instead went to a rock/gravel complex and bought a mix of screened topsoil, DG, and some play sand by the truck load and used this for my base.

I figured this is as good a start as any, please post up any advice, questions, input you all may have.

[Snake Judy]

I've had a bio-active enclosure going for my ball python for a couple of months now, and I'm really happy with it. I love that it's a dynamic, living system. It smells great and provides a lot of cover and sensory stimulation for my snake. I'd definitely use it for any future reptile or amphibian enclosures. I do think it's sort of "advanced" keeping, in the sense that it requires a fair bit of research to set up properly and fine-tune to your animal, but once it's up and running maintenance is pretty minimal.

For my particular set-up, I started with a 1 1/2" drainage layer of Growstones. You can use leca/hydroton, lava rock, plain ol' gravel... I chose growstones because they're lightweight and soak up water and wick it back up into the soil. This I covered with a sheet of window screen mesh to keep the substrate from mixing in. I also stuck a PVC pipe in one corner, so that I have access to the drainage layer if I ever need to siphon out excess water or something. So far I haven't needed it, though.

For the substrate itself, I made a mix of organic top soil, peat, coco coir (shredded and chunks), moss and leaf litter. I also mixed in a little activated charcoal, which helps keep the mix sweet for a while. For a humid enclosure, you want a mix that will hold moisture but also drain well and provide a good amount of surface area for beneficial bacteria to multiply. My substrate is about 5-8 inches deep in different parts of the enclosure. I did actually wash and bake some of my wood and leaf litter that I collected outside because I wanted some control over what sort of invertebrates I was introducing into an enclosed system. The woods I collect from have a lot of unwelcome pests like fire ants, ticks, slugs etc. Some people advocate for never baking or treating your material, but I'm in favour of deciding on a case-by-case basis, depending on where the material is from and what animal it's for. If you treat your material, you won't get the initial boost of beneficial bacteria from it, but this isn't really a long term problem. It just means it will take a little longer for the system to start working efficiently and reach an equilibrium.

To the substrate I added springtails, which I bought, and isopods, which I caught in the garden. And plants! Its been sort of trial and error in figuring out what can tolerate the heat of a snake enclosure. So far I've had the best luck with dracaenas, which have the added bonus of being tough enough to withstand a bit of trampling. They'll get very large eventually, but are slow growers. I've also got a prayer plant (Maranta leuconeura) and a couple species of Pilea that are pretty happy so far. I'm trying to get some vining plants established as well, and have high hopes for Muehlenbeckia axillaris. For light I've got a 6500K LED light bar on a 12 hour timer. Heat is provided by a radiant heat panel.

Here's a couple pictures. The second one is newer with some more recently added plants.

[KitaCat]

I've had a bio-active enclosure going for my ball python for a couple of months now, and I'm really happy with it. I love that it's a dynamic, living system. It smells great and provides a lot of cover and sensory stimulation for my snake. I'd definitely use it for any future reptile or amphibian enclosures. I do think it's sort of "advanced" keeping, in the sense that it requires a fair bit of research to set up properly and fine-tune to your animal, but once it's up and running maintenance is pretty minimal.

For my particular set-up, I started with a 1 1/2" drainage layer of Growstones. You can use leca/hydroton, lava rock, plain ol' gravel... I chose growstones because they're lightweight and soak up water and wick it back up into the soil. This I covered with a sheet of window screen mesh to keep the substrate from mixing in. I also stuck a PVC pipe in one corner, so that I have access to the drainage layer if I ever need to siphon out excess water or something. So far I haven't needed it, though.

For the substrate itself, I made a mix of organic top soil, peat, coco coir (shredded and chunks), moss and leaf litter. I also mixed in a little activated charcoal, which helps keep the mix sweet for a while. For a humid enclosure, you want a mix that will hold moisture but also drain well and provide a good amount of surface area for beneficial bacteria to multiply. My substrate is about 5-8 inches deep in different parts of the enclosure. I did actually wash and bake some of my wood and leaf litter that I collected outside because I wanted some control over what sort of invertebrates I was introducing into an enclosed system. The woods I collect from have a lot of unwelcome pests like fire ants, ticks, slugs etc. Some people advocate for never baking or treating your material, but I'm in favour of deciding on a case-by-case basis, depending on where the material is from and what animal it's for. If you treat your material, you won't get the initial boost of beneficial bacteria from it, but this isn't really a long term problem. It just means it will take a little longer for the system to start working efficiently and reach an equilibrium.

To the substrate I added springtails, which I bought, and isopods, which I caught in the garden. And plants! Its been sort of trial and error in figuring out what can tolerate the heat of a snake enclosure. So far I've had the best luck with dracaenas, which have the added bonus of being tough enough to withstand a bit of trampling. They'll get very large eventually, but are slow growers. I've also got a prayer plant (Maranta leuconeura) and a couple species of Pilea that are pretty happy so far. I'm trying to get some vining plants established as well, and have high hopes for Muehlenbeckia axillaris. For light I've got a 6500K LED light bar on a 12 hour timer. Heat is provided by a radiant heat panel.

Here's a couple pictures. The second one is newer with some more recently added plants.

That enclosure is looking really nice! What is the background made of?

I'm currently working on putting together a couple of bioactive enclosures - they'll be my first. It involves a bit of shuffling around, but my intent is to have my corn snake in a 40g (currently in a 20g), and my leopard gecko in a 20g (currently in a 10g). Both are critters that should enjoy exploring and borrowing around quite a bit, so I'm really excited to see their behaviour after the switch.

[Snake Judy]

That enclosure is looking really nice! What is the background made of?

Thanks! It's insulation foam and expanding foam (Great Stuff) that has been carved and painted with Drylok and acrylics. Also a bit of peat stuck on the earthy parts.

I got pretty fancy with my enclosure, but it can be done as simple or as complex as you like. I've seen people use bioactive substrate in tubs successfully.

[KitaCat]

Thanks! It's insulation foam and expanding foam (Great Stuff) that has been carved and painted with Drylok and acrylics. Also a bit of peat stuck on the earthy parts.

I got pretty fancy with my enclosure, but it can be done as simple or as complex as you like. I've seen people use bioactive substrate in tubs successfully.

Dang, I'm impressed at the end result! I'm attempting my first background now, with the same materials. Thus far I've only got the foam laid down, and some of the carving started.

[jclaiborne]

Thanks! It's insulation foam and expanding foam (Great Stuff) that has been carved and painted with Drylok and acrylics. Also a bit of peat stuck on the earthy parts.

I got pretty fancy with my enclosure, but it can be done as simple or as complex as you like. I've seen people use bioactive substrate in tubs successfully.

I am in the process of drawing out the background layout for my empty 55 gallon tank that I want to set up for dart frogs. I already have the bio active mix setup in a tub ready to go and hydroton for the base, this will be my first attempt at doing a foam back ground. Did you just goop a bunch on and start carving away with a razor blade until you got the rough shapes you wanted?

[Snake Judy]

I am in the process of drawing out the background layout for my empty 55 gallon tank that I want to set up for dart frogs. I already have the bio active mix setup in a tub ready to go and hydroton for the base, this will be my first attempt at doing a foam back ground. Did you just goop a bunch on and start carving away with a razor blade until you got the rough shapes you wanted?

Yep! The big ledge and some other sections were carved and painted outside the enclosure out of polyurethane insulation foam (that pink or blue kind) and then glued in. After that I filled in all the empty space with Great Stuff foam. Once it was set I carved it to match the other rocks. I mainly used a little x-acto and a steak knife to get the results I wanted.

A few tips if you decide to use Great Stuff: Wear gloves! It's impossible to get off of skin. Apply it in thin layers and allow it to expand and cure before building it up further. You can mist it a little to speed up the curing process. After you carve, it may continue expanding and contracting for a while, so give it a few days before painting for best results. I was impatient and now I've got a bunch of cracks in the paint that I need to touch up.

Also, people using it on glass usually apply a thin layer of silicone to give it something to cling to. Since you're doing a dart enclosure I assume you've looked through the builds on Dendroboard? That was my best source for information, by far!

[jclaiborne]

Yep! The big ledge and some other sections were carved and painted outside the enclosure out of polyurethane insulation foam (that pink or blue kind) and then glued in. After that I filled in all the empty space with Great Stuff foam. Once it was set I carved it to match the other rocks. I mainly used a little x-acto and a steak knife to get the results I wanted.

A few tips if you decide to use Great Stuff: Wear gloves! It's impossible to get off of skin. Apply it in thin layers and allow it to expand and cure before building it up further. You can mist it a little to speed up the curing process. After you carve, it may continue expanding and contracting for a while, so give it a few days before painting for best results. I was impatient and now I've got a bunch of cracks in the paint that I need to touch up.

Also, people using it on glass usually apply a thin layer of silicone to give it something to cling to. Since you're doing a dart enclosure I assume you've looked through the builds on Dendroboard? That was my best source for information, by far!

Yes I have been going through some of the builds on there. I am trying to decided how crazy I want to get with it, I figured since its a 55 gallon tank I have the room to put plants on the walls, maybe a small waterfall etc. Still trying to get everything figured out because once I start spraying the foam down I don't want to deal with cutting it back out again.

[amcgee2842]

Thinking of doing something like this but with the substrate so thick how do you heat it? I see you have RHP but does it get hot enough at the substrate level since they need belly heat?

[distaff]

Thinking of doing something like this but with the substrate so thick how do you heat it? I see you have RHP but does it get hot enough at the substrate level since they need belly heat?

I'm not sure they need heat as belly heat. I've read some good arguments that heat is heat, and they can absorb it just fine from top or bottom. I have both, and really like the RHP's. If I could only have one, it would be RHP's.