Do I Regret Going Bioactive?

When I first got Marbles, I was excited to make her enclosure bioactive. But, being as frugal as I am, I wanted to do a DIY because I thought it was going to be cheaper- and it was at first. I ended up having to spend lots of money replacing plants and what not.

I actually ordered some springtails to be the decomposers of the enclosure, and the package said to dump the rubber feeling charcoal in there and it'd be fine. Well, my springtailes didn't make it because  I didn't realize you had to feed them things like cucumbers slices. So now I have no clean up crew and just lots of charcoal looking things mixed into the substrate- when I change the substrate here in a few weeks I am gonna get all of it out so the charcoal goes away. It doesn't hurt Marbles and she doesn't eat it, its just annoying and doesn't flow with the aesthetic of the tank.

Before

After

Ball pythons like to bulldoze things. Marbles is four for four on destroying the plants every time I redo her enclosure. I bought some fake vines and put them up high just for now. I really like them because its more green than I have ever put in the pots on the wall and it looks cool hanging down. They're the All Living Things Medium Hanging Terrarium Plants 12". They came with suction cups on them, but I have a dirt and foam background so I just planted them as I would a real vine.




All in all I do not regret trying a bioactive enclosure, I love the idea of it, it is just hard to maintain with a reptile that destroys everything. The next reptile I get in a few years once I am in my own place, most likely a lizard of some kind, I might try going bioactive.

Long Time No See

This summer has been crazy with summer school and moving home and what not, so I apologize for the lack of content lately.

I have had Marbles for about three and a half months, which is crazy because it doesn't feel like its been that long.

Update on Marbles:
She's doing fine but she did nip me because I pulled her back when she was trying to go under my bed when we were just chilling. I accidentally killed the plants due to too much light and I am having issues with keeping the humidity up. She's been kinda feisty lately and I am trying to solve that too.

As summer is winding down I am hoping to begin to post more (school is coming up therefore I will have homework to procrastinate on just like I am now with my summer assignments).

Some future posts will hopefully be over:

1. Perception of Snakes
2. Snake Hooks
3. Enclosure Plants
4. Bonding
5. Updating the Enclosure
6. The Move to the Apartment(!!!)
7. Adjusting to the Apartment

And I am always open to new ideas as well!

Ball Python Setup #3

So now that the background is complete, I added some begonias that I bought from the local hardware and garden store and one Pothos plant I bought from Josh's Frogs. I also added some spring tails from there as well so they can be the decomposers of the environment.

It looked beautiful!... for about a week. For some reason the begonias didn't like it and decided to die which was very rude but honestly it's okay because I thought they were ugly. I only bought them because I did not know what I was doing.

Okay take two. I went to a different store that had a much wider variety of plants and chose some that were better suited for higher temperature and higher humidity (the names escape me). But so far they've flourished in the enclosure. I water them twice a day and they seem fine.

(also added this light the guy at the expo I bought it from was kinda mean though)

Ball Python Enclosure Background Part #1

Today I started the make the background for my snake's enclosure. I have seen a couple of methods for this but I decided to go with the expanding foam method.

*Please keep in mind this is just a journal of how I am doing things not a how-to*

1.  I put my 20 gallon long on its side after taking off the lid and locking clips. The face its resting on will be the back wall.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. I got my two pieces of cork bark and cut them down to sizes that would fit my tank and my design.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. I then arranged the pieces to make a background. I figured that the large round piece wouldn't fit so I decided it'd serve better as a hide.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. 
   I cleaned the glass with rubbing alcohol. I put my rubber gloves on and got to work with Great Stuff expanding foam that I got from the local hardware store.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. About 10 minutes later, I was done. I foamed all the areas around the cork bark and all the glass. I have to wait 8 hours for it to cure before I can continue.

Next steps:

• Carving the foam
• Painting the foam with silicone
• Added Zoo Med Eco Earth substrate to the silicone.

Petco Cork Flat Story

I am getting my snake in less than a month! I am almost done collecting the things I need for her enclosure.

Supplies Left

• Thermometer (temperature)
• Hydrometer (humidity)
• Food
• Bioactive kit
• Microorganisms

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Petco Cork Flat Story

All of the local pet supplies stores near me did not have any cork flats- only cork rounds. I need the cork flats for a specific project coming up soon so I decided I'd have to order them. I ordered two large flats from Petco Online. I paid extra for two day shipping so they'd be here within a few days. The next day when I tried to track them online, I saw that one was going to arrive until the original day and the other would arrive a few days later (even though I had ordered them at the same time).

To figure out why, I decided I'd call Petco. Well the number they have posted on their website doesn't work. So after jumping through some more hoops, I managed to reach Petco HQ. After being on the phone for twenty minutes, I explained my situation to a representative. Apparently, one warehouse ran out of the cork flats and it had to be shipped in from a different location. The representative was extremely nice and refunded me half of my shipping cost since one item was arriving late.

Overall it was a tedious experience but I was very happy with the representative that helped me!

Bioactive Enclosures

There are two types of terrarium enclosures I have seen: bioactive (also called a vivarium) and  nonbioactive. These can be used with reptiles other than just ball pythons.They each have their pros and cons to them.

Bioactive

This terrarium is a mini ecosystem that includes:

• Live plants
• Microorganisms
• Different types of soils and substrates mixed together

The goal of a bioactive vivarium is to have the enclosure become self cleaning and almost totally independent with the exception of low maintenance cleaning (wiping the fogged glass, replacing water, etc.) and maintaining the critter's water and food.

Pros

• Aesthetically pleasing to the eye
• Provides more naturalistic environment for the inhabitant
• Provides more enrichment
• Ecologically efficient

Cons

• Initially more expensive
• Maintenance of plants- not just the critter in it

I am choosing to make my terrarium bioactive because of its aesthetics, low maintenance cost over time, and its going to be enriching to my snake. 

I am going to be using The Bio Dude's Ball Python Snake Bioactive Kit. It'll include tropical plants, cork flats, LED, Terra Firma™ (his substrate), sphagnum moss, leaf litter, and BioShot ™ (plant nutrients). I think I'll have to buy the microorganism separately but I am not sure. It was recommended to me by a multitude of experienced reptile owners so I'll keep you updated on that.