Quote Originally Posted by Kcl View Post
...Bioactive setups have never been used as terminology for something made of just uncleaned cocofiber or wood. It is specifically a mixture of dirt, sand, sometimes coco-fiber and peat moss that needs to be appropriately balanced for the species needs. It also MUST have an appropriate selection of invertebrates established as a population that eat fungus and any other potentially detrimental invaders. It also requires a drainage layer to maintain the appropriate amount of moisture without allowing the substrate to get soggy or stagnant. Bioactive setups are carefully balanced to replicate the natural environment more closely and can be MORE work than other substrates (watering plants, ensuring invert populations are good) and are certainly far more work to set up.
I'm using the term as "uncleaned"....it is what it is. Maybe I have just coined a new term for you if you can't see what it is. And yes I have read several accounts across Google University where a lot of people love their "compost piles". Heck one young man (BioDude) appears to be running a succesful business on what was coined back in the 1800's as snake oil. Market it, hype it, and put it in a bottle (today it is plastic bags) and people will buy it.

I will agree with you setting one up would be a tremendous amount of work. But once set up and that is debatable if it can even be done properly indoors (but lets say it can)we are back to my original point. "Look at my snake sitting on his compost pile. I haven't messed with it or cleaned it in years."

All the while the compost pile is not in it's perfect state since humans have a really tough time replicating nature, who is suffering? The snake.

If you run this type of setup and are on top of it 24/7, I commend you and appreciate the efforts you expend to provide the best for your snake. But I will error on the side of most people who get into this hobby. And that is they want minimal effort to say they have a snake and show off their snake to their friends......"oh never mind the stick sticking out of his nose, it's just substrate and it happens all the time in the wild". "It's usually not too lethal".