DIY cage with underground hides

[distaff]

Yes, I've been interested in going bioactive but I know I cannot go that route with melamine. I use aspen so moisture should be held to a minimum. My biggest concern would be a spilled water bowl but I put my water bowl underground in the cool side tub.

I've seen where they install pond liner for the bioactive substrate on melamine. I really don't want to go that route, however, the pond sealant that the DIY King uses on his plywood aquariums could be an option, but I'm not sure if it's effective on melamine.

If I decide to go bioactive, is there a homemade substrate mix I could use that's a little drier and wouldn't require a drainage layer? Since I'd be using it for a ball python, I don't want the substrate to be too wet anyway.

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You could just line the walls and floor with acrylic or plexi. Acrylic is usually glued together with some very thin chemical bonding agent. Dont' know much of anything about plexiglass.

As for substrate, in my experience, the BEST way to keep the surface dry, is to have a drainage layer. Choices are: gravel (cheap, but really too heavy), hydro balls (expensive ugly, but lighter weight), blown glass (can't remember the trade name, looks like grey pumice, very light weight, but pricey, Matalla pond filter (lightweight, not bad looking in the viv, and somewhat reasonably priced - my favourite choice), People also use plastic light diffuser sometimes somewhat confusing called "egg crate" even though it has nothing to do at all with eggs. Drainage layer should be about an inch or a little less, and should be covered with a fitted piece of fiberglass screen to keep substrate from simply falling down and getting soggy.

Now, if you go back into fairly recent bio-active posts there is some controversy and disagreement among members about substrate and drainage layers. I go by results; you do NOT want mucky anerobic substrate for your BP, nor for the plants. However you can achieve a nice fluffy, aerated substrate with just enough moisture for plants is up to you. What works for you, may not be what I would recommend for a beginner, nor what I find seems to work for my soil type. Good results is what matters, so I don't get into arguments with other experienced planted viv people who are doing things differently, but I do strongly recommend what works for me.

A thinner layer of substrate over the drainage layer helps keep things dry and airy, because air can enter from both top and bottom. My most visually interesting viv has soil massed up higher at the back, and esp. at one back corner, and it slopes down toward the front. That gives the plants at the back a bit more root space, but there is still a high surface area to soil mass to allow things to breath. I think things look and work better if there is some variation of soil depth. I like New England Herpetoculture's soil mix, but it gets pricey in adequate amounts. They use charcoal hunks, lots of moss and orchid bark. You can simulate that with leaf litter, compost, and bits of broken up bark. You may have to experiment a bit.