Bio Active Desert Enclosure

[sirtalis]

So anybody have an idea of how to do this? My leos were in a standard bioactive for awhile (until a slug problem) My peacock monitor is also in a bioactive enclosure. How should I get about doing a bioactive desert cage. What insects? I figured for the substrate I'll do about 3 inches of standard bioactive soil and then put about an inch of play sand on top to create a desert look?

[poison123]

This is pretty simple. Just provide lots of substrate. Keep it moist at depth. As for insects depends on the type of soil you use. Idk what "standard bio active substrate" means. I use different types for different species. Bio active is more then just the bugs. Its also the helpful bacteria that break down the bugs waste matter and turn it back into soil. Ive been gone a while and ever since i got back into the online reptile seen it seems alot of people are promoting bio-active as just the bugs. Sure they can last a while. But it is much more then that.

[poison123]

But back to your original question. Keept it moist at depth and dry on top for most deset species. idk what type of sumbstrate youll be using.

[sirtalis]

Thanks! As far as standard I meant just soil mixed with sand and a heavy leaf litter with a variety of insects but true I've used tons of different mixtures so I guess there is no standard

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

I used a light mixture of soil and aragonite that I had on hand when I went to use it.
I first set this particular enclosure up in the early 2000s. Never cleaned it or touched it. I figured the bacteria that's naturally in the sand would have been killed from the dryness but I actually mist the enclosure lightly at night and heavy in the morning. Until him and his two ladies died not to long ago anyway. (time apart, natural)

The enclosure was a 75g.

Id stay away from playsand.

[IMG][/IMG]

[jarich]

For my desert lizards, I simply increased the sand content a bit more. So around a 60:40 mix. I would also add some charcoal or small pebbles and a bit of humic content (coir, peat, etc) to keep the aggregate sizes mixed. I always recommend a drainage layer too. Aside from that, youll just want to keep in mind that some inverts do better with slightly drier soil than others. Use red wigglers as they are more adept in living in less humid soils. Use P. scaber or P floria, similarly, that can handle a less moist top level. Then give it a nice leaf litter covering so that there are plenty of microhabitats that are created. There are also even springtails that work in dry settings (E. unostrigata for instance).

[sirtalis]

Thanks guys, this weekend im switching the colony to a bioactive enclosure, I'm gonna follow the same design as my "tropical" one from a few months back. Needless to say, im excited that they'll be acting how they should soon