Bioactive enclosure for a rosy boa?

[freeflow246]

Hey all! I've lurked on here several times but figured I'd join because I've recently (within the past two hours) become interested in giving my rosy boa a bioactive enclosure. I found some instructions on how to make a bioactive vivarium, but they all seemed to be for reptiles or other animals that appreciate a lot of humidity. Rosies need to stay away from humidity so I was wondering if this would affect anything.

Some info (not sure if any of this matters):
She's currently in a 20 gallon tank with aspen bedding as substrate. A locking screen top. I probably give her about 2-3 inches of substrate to dig around in. She's about 30 inches long and 230 grams (she recently hit a growth spurt, that's why she's a little light compared to her length).

I upgraded my betta fish from a small 2.5 gallon to a natural planted 5 gallon a little less than a year ago and I'm loving it. I just realized the same principle can be applied to snakes. My questions are:

- can this be done in a 20 gallon tank? I might consider buying a different enclosure if I have to but I'd rather not.

- does the fact that rosies need to generally avoid a lot of humidity affect the setup at all?

- I'd like to stick with the environment her species came from cuz I think that would be neat. Is there a way to give the bioactive enclosure concept a desert spin? Any desert-y plants that would do well? Like succulents?

- I have a UTH permanently stuck to the bottom of the tank. Would that be adequate for heating?

- The tank is right by a window. If the drapes are left open, it gets about 30 mins of direct sunlight. Thadine actually likes it. Rest of the time there is plenty of natural light coming through the window, just not a strong, direct beam. Is this enough lighting for plants?

Thanks in advance!

[eminart]

I'm not very familiar with rosy boa care, but if it's VERY dry, then I don't think you'll have much success keeping your substrate bioactive. I've thought about this some in the past, but haven't tried it with dry substrate. I don't think you'll be able to find any microfauna that will survive in dry sand.

BUT, you could still set it up as naturalistic. It will be a little more difficult to clean than simple substrate, but probably not too bad.

It's really difficult to give a definitive answer on this. I think it's more trial and error than anything. If your boa can stand SOME humidity, you might make it work. I think you'd have to use watering pipes that go down to the bottom layer of substrate (which I use anyway) to avoid watering the top layer. And use a lot of ventilation.

If you have a spare tank, do an experiment without your snake in it.

[Pirarucu]

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/natural-vivaria-plant-forum/108598-natural-desert-viv.html

[freeflow246]

I unfortunately do no have a separate tank to practice in. She's in a wire-topped cage to plenty of ventilation.

Thank you Pirarucu, that's pretty much exactly what I was asking. The more looking around I've done, the more I think I'm going to go for a scrub type of setup since rosy boas are more often found around sources of water. I have an Otay Lake locality which is obviously found around Otay Lake. I've been looking at pictures to see if I can replicate the terrain... I'm such a nerd. I've been looking at plants that live around there too. There are a few hardy species that I think would work. I think I'm going to go for really sandy dirt. Most likely what you mentioned in that other thread, Pirarucu, or very close.

She has always had a small water bowl available and been okay with that. So I think that she will do fine if I have a small false bottom to catch anything from very occasionally spot watering the plants. Like pouring a small amount of water right by the roots. It's not like rosies live out in the sand dunes.

Would the granite and loamy topsoil mix hold burrows?

[jarich]

The only issue Ive found is that the sandier the soil is, the less it will hold a burrow. Ive made scrubland enclosures for both my bearded dragon and uro enclosures and still prefer the more humic soils even for them. Its simply a matter of making sure to give the ground cover so that the snake has the option of being dry if it wants to be. I use either grass, leaf litter, or dried moss. This allows your soil to stay moist while still keeping the animal dry on top.

[freeflow246]

That's a good point. Too much sand and it won't hold a burrow. What do you guys think about the desert mix here: ww w. reptilesmagazine.com/ Natural-Vivarium-Substrate-Recipes/

Just remove the spaces in the URL. Too new to post hyperlinks lol. I could spread that decomposed granite along the top to keep things more dry. Out of curiosity, jarich, how did you make your substrate?

[jarich]

Im not crazy about that mix they suggest, but then again Ive never tried acidifying the soil like that before (adding sulfur). Thats an interesting addition, especially because its soils that are in areas of high rainfall that are acidic. I guess I dont see why they would want to make the soil more acidic in an arid environment. Also, what they are suggesting seems unlikely to hold a burrow of any kind, and where do you get fully composted leaves? That substrate seems like it would be really hard to grow plants in and keep any kind of good bacteria alive. Again, that may just be my own inexperience with this particular mix though. Ive never tried something like that one before.

Personally, for my semi arid enclosures I use 40% sand, 30% topsoil, 10-15% peat/fir mix, 10-15% coir. Then when you have the plants in and the soil packed down, cover it all with a good layer of leaf litter. I really think that plants in the soil are essential, and for these types of enclosures I use hen and chicks, aloe, and various spineless cacti. Since you are talking about a snake though, and not a lizard that is likely to take a bite, you have more freedom with your plant selection. A nice big jade plant would go well, creosote bush, any kalanchoe, and the list goes on. You never have to worry about the snake ingesting it so the toxicity is only important if they are sap producing.

[freeflow246]

Thank you! That's super helpful. I'll give both mixes you guys suggested a try on a small scale and see which seems to be the best consistency. I'll also give those plants a look.

[jarich]

Also have a look at a website called Josh's frogs. They have a great live plant selection, with plants specifically for dry enclosures. Again, with yours being for a snake, you can literally get anything they have in stock there.

[freeflow246]

Some of those look pretty nice! Might use a few. Thanks!

[NewHerp293]

Ive also wondered about this (it was my linked thread above)! I really like the sound of your substrate mix and am gonna look at joshs frogs for some plant variety. Do you still keep some bugs in there with your mix?

[freeflow246]

NewHerp, I've been looking at bugs a lot and I can't find too many that would both survive in the dryer substrate and eat snake waste. Apart from the blue feigning death beetles, and I'm not sure how much poop they would eat. They are omnivorous. So I'll have to make sure none of the plants I get are toxic just in case they decide to nom on them.

I'll probably throw a couple of those beetles in there once it's all set up and see what happens. I was trying to find California bugs to see what kind lived in the same areas as rosy boas, and there isn't much that would help break down waste. Mostly a lot of plant eaters.

[freeflow246]

Quick update. Grabbed some succulents, started gathering things for the substrate. I found sand, topsoil, and coir fine, but no peat and fir mix anywhere locally. I would have to order online. I don't really mind, but could I go 20% coir and leave out the mix or would that not be so good?

[jarich]

Ya, that should work fine