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Thread: BioActive
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Old 09-10-2019, 02:41 PM   #3
alibaba62398
You can most definitely setup a bioactive enclosure for a hoggie and I'd recommend it over standard enclosures for many reasons. As you stated, microfauna like springtails and isopods take care of the waste and organic matter in the vivarium. Theyre harmless and wouldn't survive outside your enclosure most likely so no need to worry about them. Theyre a set and forget custodian crew thatll sustain their population off of leaf litter and your pets waste. The appealing thing about this is that with organic matter like waste converted to soil, you can let your imagination run wild with live plant selection (provided you source your plants from a pesticide/additive free grower) and even rebuild your pet's native habitat with plants that it would live among in the wild. You will probably have to spot clean in the beginning unless you let your bioactive tank run for a couple months before introducing your snake. With this setup, you wont have to keep spending on bags of substrate replacements between standard cleanings and you wont have to hassle with tank breakdown or moving your snake around a lot as the beneficial bacteria in the substrate compete with harmful microorganisms from pet waste. The tank will likely smell earthy or like a greenhouse. Many people who move their reptiles into bioactive ones report how much more active, inquisitive, and interesting they are in exhibiting more natural behaviors like burrowing (in a substrate thatll hold a burrow as opposed to loose coco coir or aspen shavings) and foraging. I kept a beardie in a bioactive eenclosure and he LOVED digging to better regulate his body temps with a more specific means to as well as to find microfauna to eat. In this case of an arid setup, he would dig for clean up bugs like superworms, mealworms, their beetles, dubia roaches, powder blue isopods, and crickets which would all eat any leftover food, waste, keep the substrate cycled and aerated, and breed within the tank in approximation to the heat lamp to better regulate their breeding cycles. Id highly recommend bioactive over a standard enclosure anyday (of course there are exceptions like monitoring hatchlings, injured, ill, or parasite infested pets in quarantine)!