sand substrate

[dannybgoode]

Originally Posted by akane

Bioactive is a bit extra challenging in a desert tank because there aren't many critters that survive being dry. In a desert it also gets cooler and moister the deeper you go so top watering and UTH are the opposite of a natural ecosystem. Maintaining a full bioactive desert gets a little more complicated. I debated if I could just add mealworms to the current setup because you can keep mealworms in totally dry bedding if you just give them something moist like a slice of potato on thin plastic against the substrate and a snake is unlikely to go for a cold, damp potato chunk. I don't have to worry about lizard trying to eat various things. A container of mealworms is about what's left of this month's animal budget already lol

That is very true.

What a number of keepers I know do for desert environments is not to go bio but to go naturalistic in terms of substrate and plants where appropriate and then just spot clean.

As for desert tolerant critters yes mealworms are a great choice as are a species of woodlouse but I can't remember which one.

I think for some perverse reason it's the European one but will have to check.

I don't use uth's on any of my setups at the moment. I will for the very small initial viv I put my C. Paulsoni in but she will when fully grown and in her adult viv get some form of radiant heat also.

The top watering is something I'll work on when I get my new vivs. I have seen various articles on how to achieve bottom watering of varying complexities which I may experiment with.

In the meantime I moisten at night so the moisture has chance to permeate down instead of evaporate.

I look forward to seeing how your set up progresses and evolves. I've had great fun doing my T lepidus viv and until I get him his new and final viv I'm entirely happy with what I've achieved. Easier I know as it's not desert but for a first attempt I'm pleased.

I'll be posting photos of it in his thread in the general lizard thread.

[akane]

I thought about just burying a regular small clay pot past a drainage layer so the water would go into the pot and out the bottom hole to the bottom of the tank without spreading in the layer above. It could be left empty or filled with a richer, damper substrate for the insects or a plant. I might start a tiny aloe plant cutting. If 1 hole is too small I could break out the bottom of the pot or plastic pots specifically for orchids have a lot of bottom drainage slits that would spread water even better but potentially too high.

If I put in more layers I was thinking of sandwiching the UTH between 2 slate tiles under the hide to avoid burying it so deep it's useless and prevent digging beyond a certain depth there. Otherwise I have to really increase my heating bulbs. I finally got a heat gun and registered 69F in the coolest spot, 85F under the heat lamp, and 87F in the hide right next to the heat lamp and over the UTH. 75-90F is what I've seen suggested so the heat could expand some as is.