Bioactive Substrates for dummies

[Terranaut]

So this is going to be a thread to discuss how you start and maintain a bioactive substrate. Another thread sparked a lot of debate about starting one. I am very interested in going this route so my questions are ....
1) do you cook or sterilize the soil first?
2) what do you add to your soil?
3) do you need plants or just a microb laden soil?
4) do you need to add anything during its use or is a bit of snake waste enough to support everything?

Thanks in advance


Forgot to add 5) where do you source your soil?

[poison123]

1) If you are confident that your soil has nothing harmful then there is no reason to do anything to it.

2) No clue if dum's are burrowers but sand helps with holding burrows. Also add leaf litter from outside to help with bacteria count and a food source for the bugs that are in there. If you need to then add springtail and earth worms.

3) Never seen a need for plants other then making the cage look nice.

4) The leaf litter will decompose over time and you will need to add more.

5) My soil came from homedepot, topsoil and play sand. You can dig up your own soil if you are 100% certain that it has nothing harmful in it.

[lisas]

I've had bioactive tanks going since July and they are completely odor-free. I put some moss from the woods in the cornsnakes' tank and it holds moisture pretty well. I got the soil from my garden and mixed it with sand from a pit. I just added some bark with lichen on it too.

[Terranaut]

Is there a best mixture of micobes or will the natural occuring stuff be what ai need ?

[muffiewrites]

Spike is a Honduran milk snake.

1) do you cook or sterilize the soil first? No. I don't want to kill the soil's fauna. I do cook the wood "furniture" I put in there. My area is loaded with chiggers (aka non-host specific mites), ticks, and what not. I get my furniture fallen branches and interesting rocks.

2) what do you add to your soil? water. I keep thinking I should add springtails, but I don't know enough about them yet. So far, the set up has been healthy without them. It's nearly three years old now.

3) do you need plants or just a microb laden soil? The soil should already have microbes in it. I have plants (pothos is a good start, unless you have an herbivore that shouldn't eat it) because I think they're healthier for Spike overall. They "clean" the air in the viv, they hold the soil in place, they create hides, they give the viv a good temperature gradient, and they give his brain some happy while adding usable space. He climbs all over the plants. I have a pothos, a sansaveria, and a neoregelia bromeliad (be careful, these usually have sharp leaves). He drinks out of the bromeliad.

4) do you need to add anything during its use or is a bit of snake waste enough to support everything? I add water, as needed. I use purified water because the local tap water sucks rocks. Spike's never been too water picky, but the bromeliad is. I also add dirt as needed.

5) where do you source your soil? I got organic soil at home depot. I also add leaf litter for mulching purposes as needed. I bake the litter before I put it in the viv because there's likely a lot of pests that shouldn't be introduced.

The literature I've read says that about 30% of the ground should be open dirt to maintain the bio-activity. I have a plastic fork that I use to turn the soil over regularly (about once a week or so). I remove the solid waste, but don't worry about the rest. Okay, I mostly remove the solid waste. Spike isn't always considerate enough to do his business above the dirt. Spike is sub-terrestrial, so I keep the soil deep enough for him to use. He spends a great deal of his time sleeping in the dirt itself.

The big trick was figuring out how much water I needed to keep in the viv to maintain humidity and temperature. Water acts as a coolant. Once I got that down, Spike's sheds have been picture perfect and his scales have been very healthy.

Once established, it keeps very well. I've never done a natural viv before this one and pretty much went trial and error with it. I have an exo-terra cage, and it totally leaked on me after the pothos' roots got into the silicone in the corners and seams. I ended up having to start over. This time, I reinforced the silicone. Plant roots are like water. They're destructive.

I'm going to get television stand, one that has a low table where the TV is supposed to sit, and a tall hutch. I'm going to turn that into a viv with front opening doors.

[kelzerman]

What heating source is best used with this? I don't see a UTH heating 4-5" of soil. Is a heat lame needed?

[poison123]

I use low wattage heat lamps closer to the surface or you can use a heat panel.

[kelzerman]

I wanna switch my blood python over, but I'm worried about scale rot and organisms bothering the snakes. I really don't know much about vivs sorry.

[poison123]

I don't believe blood pythons are much of a burrower but more of a leaf litter snake (could be wrong). Keep the top of the soil dry and moist at depth.

[kelzerman]

No they don't burrow at all but I want it more for humidity. I'm just a clean freak when it comes to my cages and this is really new to me.