#I got lazy towards the end and just started saying Bioactive

[ceratosaurtalks]

While I'm working on my Honduran Milks bioactive, I did wanna take the time to talk about Links Bioactive. Link is my overweight[He's working on it! <3] Male Emergency re-home Ball Python. I typically avoid this species, but he's been a fantastic little Unicorn for me. So lets talk about Link's enclosure and how it works! Link is in a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft PVC Enclosure- this is the *minimum* size this species requires to thrive. His substrate is made up of a layer of perlite sitting at the bottom of his enclosure, this layer of perlite acts as a drainage layer. This drainage layer, which catches excess water that seeps through the substrate. It also helps with catching potentially bad bacteria, and helps with your plants roots! The rest of the substrate sitting ontop of that layer of perlite is a mix of Ecogro organic topsoil, Coco fiber, and Sphagnum moss. I cannot stress this enough, but if you choose to do a bio-active enclosure PLEASE be sure to choose a organic substrate!! Fertilized substrate can be toxic to your animal, this includes manure-based fertilizers. To promote healthy growth, I choose to use Coco fiber and Sphagnum Moss. The Coco fibe[Coco peat] Is a safer way to promote healthy soil for both your plant, and your animals, while the Sphagnum Moss is fantastic at holding water and Nutrients for your plants. The arguably biggest and most important part of this enclosure is the cleanup crew. Your cleanup crew will break down decaying plant matter and your animals feces and return it to the soil, as well as cleaning bacteria growth. Bio-actives cannot function in the long-run without a cleanup crew. The cleanup crew I chose consist of Dairy Cow isopods[Porcellio laevis], and Temperate Springtails[Collembola sp.]. You can Mix-and match your Isopods and Springtails as long as its a species that can tolerate the humidity and temps your animal requires, HOWEVER! Its important to note your Isopod species. I chose not to mix Isopods in this enclosure as Dairy cows are kinda known for being aggressive. For plants, ball Pythons are incredibly Bulldozery animals and will trample much of your flora. Needing hardy plants that could survive being trampled and occasionally uprooted was a must for him, and after thought and research, I ended up settling on these: Golden Pothos, Snake plants, and Jade Pothos. Some just overall incredibly hardy plants that, since having them, I've found fantastic success with surviving Links night-time pathing and assaults. I also have a Philodendron [Monstera adansonii,] in there, providing cover and clutter around and over his hot hide. I'm proud of this plant surviving so far, to say I added it with a specific reason would be a goddamn lie lmao I just loved how cool it looked. The fact it's survived and adapted for as long as it has is a miracle in of itself, and I wish great health amongst this trooper of a plant. I deep water once a week to keep my plants healthy and the soil moist enough for my isopods to thrive, with occasional spraying staggered through the week. Overall, this is how Links Bioactive tank is settup! Is this the only way to set up a Bioactive tank? Certainly not! There's plenty of ways you can setup a Bioactive. Does your animal absolutely NEED a bioactive enclosure? For a lot of animals that answers going to be no! It doesn't. Bio-active vs Non-bio-actives have their pros and cons that, maybe Ill ramble about in a later post. And probably talk on what a Bioactive even is and go into much more detail than I did here about how it works. But I chose Bioactive personally because the long-term upkeep is less costly and labor-inducing, and I just love the looks of them. AndICanHaveAsManyGoddamnIsopodsAsIWant<3