I have my baby corn on bio and he's growing like a weed. The substrate is a mix of arcadia earth mix, organic top soil and coco fibre. The custodians are tropical and native spring tails and tropical and native woodlice.

I don't see much of my snake as he's still relatively small but he tends to hide in the same places so he's pretty easy to find for a feeding.

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:welcome: to the Forum!

'29 Gallon Tank' sounds like a 'fish tank' with ventilation provided just from the top ... I doubt there are many people in the UK that use this sort of set-up, so you might get more relevant answers from your US forums. Can you link us to the same discussion elsewhere, since this design type is a bit alien to US keepers who tend to favour Wooden vivs (or perhaps glass vivs with front opening doors suitable for lizards/frogs).

There seems to be a trend and a lot of interest in Bioactive at the moment. Which is a good thing I think. I've also been looking into this for my future return to having everyone in vivs. But I think the term can be misunderstood a bit. There is a range of styles from ... sterile > naturalistic > bioactive.

Sterile = kitchen towel or newspaper + hides
Sterile + Climbing = as above but some branches
Substrate = a viv full with a depth of some form of wood chip + hides
Substrate + Climbing = as above plus branches
Naturalistic = as above but designed to look like nature, but perhaps still with plastic plants, maybe a soiley substrate
Bioactive = as above but with a bugs in the soil
Bioactive + Plants = as above plus live plants and UV lighting

No doubt that the more 'stuff' in the enclosure the more chance the snake has to exhibit some form of natural behaviour like climbing and burrowing. This can make it tricky to find the snake (which is good for the snake) and get the snake out. Any set-up with multiple hiding spaces and a deep enough substrate for the corn to burrow and hide should result in a snake that feels safe.

My only 'concern' with true bioactive substrate would be that for the bugs to survive they need some form of moisture in their soil and I regard humidity as the devil ... can lead to RI, can lead to scale rot, 'damp' substrate isn't the same as air humidity. I'm planning to experiment a bit with this and will probably settle on naturalistic with a small area that I can use to have bugs while the majority of the viv will have dry substrate in it. My plans are to have an enclosed bioactive zone at the cool end of one large vivarium but I will have the luxury of setting this up as an alternative vivarium to see which species gel with this idea and which don't while they are cycled from there regular drier vivarium.

 

I have about a dozen cages that are bioactive, some with plants and some just with live soils.
I use bioactive for my corns, rat snakes and rosy boas.
I much prefer bioactive soils. The more "ingredients" in the soil the better. I use coir, peat, moss, activated carbon, fertilizer free soil, spider soil, vermiculite, pearlite. I do NOT use sand, my personal choice. The substrate is topped off with leaf litter and dead wood.
My cleaning crew are springtails, a couple of species of tropical and European woodlice, whiteworm, grindal worms and a tropical whiteworm specie. As the rosy boa cage is a bit drier I also have mealworms and beetles in there. I produce my own cleaners in cultures so i can top up any cages if needed.
One advantage about bioactive cage, apart from needing no cleaning, is that i have had several snakes lay eggs directly in the soil, even when laying containers have been provided.
If I can be of any help feel free to drop me a PM.

 

Good to know ... so does that mean Corns don't have a problem being on soily stuff then? (I don't keep corns, but have several kings). Or is part of the set-up containing dry substrate?

 

Thank you guys so much!

Davet1990 - I'm really glad to hear about a baby that's thriving in a bio setup, that makes me feel much more confident ^_^

dcap - Oh no! It is a fish tank, I didn't realize that was bad The advice in US forums seems to be bioactive is weird/bad, and snakes should be in plastic tubs with a sterile with climbing branches setup, which I'm not super keen on unless it's absolutely necessary. What kind of enclosures do people in the UK use? I don't mind changing if I need to also, I think I'll make a nice dry basking area, so hopefully that will prevent any excess moisture issues? (will research that more though-thank you!)

SnakeBreeder - I'm going to send you a pm

 

I'm sure there is plenty of variety in the UK, but from what I've seen at breeders/keepers houses ... I'd say plastics RUBs and Wooden (or plastic) vivs tend to be the most popular.

Plastic tubs (RUBs) with substrate or wooden vivs with substrate would be my preference. Plus things to climb etc.. I used to have all vivs, then switched to all RUBs a few years ago. Am now about to venture back to vivs (so that I can see my snakes better), but my hatchlings will continue to be in RUBs.

With the holes in the right place it is easy to get an airflow in a RUB. Also a wooden viv with vents in the right place can also achieve a cool to warm air flow.

A fish tank has a bit hole at the top, warm air rises ... just not sure how cooler air can get in or how this achieves an air flow?

PS - snakebreeder has an ad running with some of the bugs you'd need for bioactive.

 

A fish tank has a bit hole at the top, warm air rises ... just not sure how cooler air can get in or how this achieves an air flow?

Looking at other threads on here, it seems the primary issue with fish tanks isn't cooler air getting in, but rather warm air getting out. I think for starters I'll get a nice lid for the top (not screen) anddrill some holes in the glass for better airflow. Once the snake is bigger, I'll make a proper large vivarium ^_^

 

Regarding the use of an aquarium for keeping snakes, they can be modified depending on their manufacture.

If the tank is made from normal float glass then it can be drilled and mesh can be installed for ventilation. Diamond hole cutters are available from most tool outlets or e-bay for around £8 - £20 depending on size. You then slowly cut a couple of holes an inch or so above substrate line, making sure that the cutter is washed with water as you go (you can make a small dam around the hole using Plasticine and fill it with water, or have a friend spray water from a bottle) - Let the cutter cut at its own pace, don't rush it. Once cut, use aquarium grade silicone and make a ring around the hole on the inside of the tank and apply a fine grade plastic or nylon mesh. This will allow air to enter the tank low down, replacing warm air escaping through the top.

The only exception to this is if the tank is made from toughened glass. Have a close look in the corners, or on the base. If you see a kitemark or similar stamp with 6206, then you can't drill the tank as it will shatter into lots of small cubes...

Personally, if I was considering a bio-active set up, I would make a glass liner to fit inside a traditional wooden vivarium. This will give you the best of both worlds as a wooden viv will maintain heat and ventilation better, provides a better platform for fixing heaters, probes and branches etc, and the glass liner will retain moisture in the soil without damaging the wood.

 

Ooooo, good to know!

We're pretty crafty, so while not officially in the trade, we do lots of building projects, including cutting glass That said, I definitely plan on the aquarium becoming a temporary grow out tank at this point (the glass is not tempered though, so that should work!) and will definitely have the bottom of the future-viv be glass

Thank you!!!!

 

My only 'concern' with true bioactive substrate would be that for the bugs to survive they need some form of moisture in their soil and I regard humidity as the devil ... can lead to RI, can lead to scale rot, 'damp' substrate isn't the same as air humidity. I'm planning to experiment a bit with this and will probably settle on naturalistic with a small area that I can use to have bugs while the majority of the viv will have dry substrate in it. My plans are to have an enclosed bioactive zone at the cool end of one large vivarium but I will have the luxury of setting this up as an alternative vivarium to see which species gel with this idea and which don't while they are cycled from there regular drier vivarium.[/QUOTE]

WRONG... you should only be really concerned about Humidity and RI's when your snake is in a "Sterile" Vivarium. When you combine sterile enclosures with stagnant air, this created fungal and bacterial blooms. In a bioactive setup, natural substrates used generally counteract fungal and blooms, creating a balance. With proper ventilation, these are completely avoidable. In a bioactive setup the use of macro organisms and good bacteria battle against the bad bacteria, creating a balance. just like in the wild (where snakes come from) Due to the "Dry" nature of a sterile setup, these fungi and bacteria become airborne, and this is why humidity is bad because your snake is basically breathing in all this bad bacteria, which doesn't exist in the wild due to nature balancing it out.

Please stop spreading false information on the internet!

 

Dcap is wrong about humidity

Dcap is WRONG... you should only be really concerned about Humidity and RI's when your snake is in a "Sterile" Vivarium. When you combine sterile enclosures with stagnant air, this created fungal and bacterial blooms. In a bioactive setup, natural substrates used generally counteract fungal and blooms, creating a balance. With proper ventilation, these are completely avoidable. In a bioactive setup the use of macro organisms and good bacteria battle against the bad bacteria, creating a balance. just like in the wild (where snakes come from) Due to the "Dry" nature of a sterile setup, these fungi and bacteria become airborne, and this is why humidity is bad because your snake is basically breathing in all this bad bacteria, which doesn't exist in the wild due to nature balancing it out.

Please stop spreading false information on the internet!