(HELP w/ Isopods) BIO ACTIVE VIVARIUM

[Frosted]

I keep quite a few species of isopods as well as have a bioactive setup so hopefully I can answer a few questions!

For starters, chose one isopod or the other. Dwarf white reproduce via parthenogenesis and are very prolific. They will outcompete any other isopod in the enclosure and you'll eventually just have all dwarf whites. Both are a good choice. Dwarf whites you will never see as they live mostly below the substrate. Powders will be a bit more active and personally I find them fun to watch. You also have to be extra careful using dwarf whites if you have any other cultures because all it takes is a single pod to slip into another culture or bioactive setup for them to take over. Most people don't even keep whites in the same room as other pods. I would recommend adding at least 30 to your bioactive. This is a good breeding population and should quickly explode. You won't need to add more as long as they don't have a die off. Make sure you keep a back up culture!

The bark and leaves is enough for them to survive and they will also devour snake sheds and pretty much any other organic matter. Cork bark is good, any other hardwood bark will work as well. I get all my bark and leaves from outside. I use mainly oak for both. To sterilize I bake in the oven at 250 for 20 minutes. I do that for basically anything I take from outside.

To keep your isopod cultures healthy, you need a nutritious substrate which coco fiber is not. I use a mix of hydrated hardwood pellets, top soil and sand. This is what I use in all my isopod cultures as well as all my ball python setups, even the ones that aren't bioactive. It's very cheap to make and is probably my favorite substrate I have ever used honestly. Make sure you have a moisture gradient. Keep a pile of moss on one corner, usually about 1/4 the tub and keep that hydrated. Too dry and they dessicate, too moist and they drown. They need to be able to regulate their own moisture needs so have a moist and a dry side is preferred, though both dwarfs and powders are pretty hardy.

To be honest, if you have isopod cultures you more than likely have springtails. I have never purchased springtails or intentionally added them yet they are in all my isopod bins and my bioactive setup. They are small and hitchhike easily. If you do decide to purchase some, just dump the whole culture in. Most cultures sold in stores and online are small starter cultures. You could get two and have one to start culturing your own as well.

You can absolutely add your springtails later. You don't necessarily need to have both, they just work together well to make healthy soil and do different jobs. Like I said, you probably have some springtails in your isopod cultures already as well.

As for scale rot, just make sure your ball pythons humidity needs are correctly met and then provide one or two spots of sphagnum moss that you keep wet for the isopods to retreat to when they need moisture and you shouldn't have to worry about scale rot.

For the terrarium, just add lots of naturalistic stuff. The leaves,.moss, and bark for the pods make an enclosure look really nice. Throw in some real branches, maybe some rocks if you want. Ball pythons like clutter. I don't have any recommendations for low light plants, but the plants I have in mine are spider plant, Boston fern, pothos, and aloe. My favorite is the Boston fern. Balls will crush most plants but the Boston ferns have very fibrous stems and can handle the crushing well. I like the pothos as well. They will get crushed, but they seem to tolerate it well and perk back up quickly. The spider plant looks nice but it gets pretty flattened, though still thriving just fine. I'm indifferent on the aloe. It holds up well to the crushing but just looks a little out of place in my setup.

Contrary to popular belief, isopods won't eat much poop or urates. They might nibble on poo, but won't get rid of it. That's just my experience with powders and poo, maybe other species enjoy it more. You should spot clean as needed if it starts to build up, but it's also good for the soil. I would only remove the decorations for cleaning if they get soiled.

Sorry that was a really long post! I kind of rambled. I just love isopods and bioactive setups so wanted to dump all my knowledge and experience!