Bioactive enclosure for Boa— is it possible?

[Sirfryingpan]

My ball python has been bioactive for about a year now

[themotions]

I have a bit of experience with setting up bioactive setups for large bodied snakes.

There a few things to note.

You need a very diverse clean up crew isopods, springtails, night crawlers,
Mealworm beetles, and maybe even a species of feeder/pet roach or other larger detritivore

As well as large, hardy, and well established plants. These plants them need to be moved into biodegradable pots and buried In the substrate

Other good plants are varieties that are ok with being moved, trampled, and
Uprooted or even broken.

Plants like pothos that can be broken down into small clippings and still rapidly keep growth going.

(My local zoological facility keeps pothos and several large buried potted plant species with Cuban crocodiles), so I think a boa will be fine lol

Then you need to give the setup about 6months to a year to grow in, and fully establish.

The longer the better.

[coconutbutter]

Wow that’s gorgeous I think it will work pretty well

[whitneylance]

Absolutely possible. Finding balance is where it can get tricky and mastery of all said elements can be a hit/miss/learn/try it again journey. Its finding that perfect synchronicity that is the amazing and awesome. I have no doubts you'll figure it out. I just found your shorts and all that and I'm hooked. You do as a hobby what i do for my everyday life job and I have my dream job as a horticulturist. I look forward to seeing what you do next.

[bilzfcu]

I have a somewhat bio active terrarium for my ball Python and she loves it. I mostly use it for my orchids since they love humidity lol

[Avocetexotics]

I think it will work, you will probably have to replace some of the plants as they get squished. I think the best way to make sure the plants don't just get uprooted would be to let the plants root for a month or so before adding the snake.

[jojeanajaxon]

Damn...how do you learn ALL that this kinda stuff entails? Seems like so much knowlege and keeping up. How do u even keep up with all these guys? U must be dedicated 24/7!!!😮😊

[sonicballistics]

Yes it is. I have a bio active enclosure for my BP and I haven’t needed to clean it for 2 years

[FellsApprentice]

The answer is always yes, no matter the snake. What people don't like to hear is that the larger the snake, the hardier/more aggressive the plants need to be and the longer you need to grow that enclosure out to let the plants grow and really sink in their infrastructure.

[_giivnni]

I have my Ball python in a bio active viv for a year rn and tbf its holding up really well! I have 2 pothos plants and one hurricane fern in it, it works perfect!

[nathanmezick]

I think it will work but I would use smaller snakes like rosy boas as they weigh less and burrow which will keep the plants from squishing

[karyannfontaine]

My snails have bioactive enclosures and have had for years. I would like to do it for some of my snakes as well, if they would thrive.

[kristend]

My BP has been living in bioactive setups for three years now. She destroyed all but two plants- a snake plant and a pothos which has spread all over the terrarium so much that I need to trim it. The dairy cow isopod colony is doing great as well. I noticed the terrarium setup seemed healthier after moving it from a 120 to a 180. IDK whether the environment liked the extra space or it made a better temperature gradient (the pothos seems to prefer the cold side).

[janedoe]

As a plant person it’s very interesting to think about. 85-90% humidity for ball pythons would actually keep fungus present and potentially rot your plants long term- but I’d definitely still try! Looking forward to seeing how this goes for you!

[cheddardavis]

I have a green tree python she’s been in a bio active setup for a couple years now, gave the setups 3-4 months to grow in before introducing the snake. She loves hiding under the Pothos during the day

[brandimyhren]

Yes if you understand how each layer of the boom works and understand humidity. It will let you know.

[hi_tech_reptiles]

God that Paraguana is beautiful. I'd love to try small woody plants and maybe a partial clean up crew to help keep mold and other bacteria/etc away. maybe even something to eat and gnat-sized flys from moisture lol

[yeetles]

my ball python crushes her plants and my cornsnake uproots them.

[bruhmiroruelas]

Lucky bamboo has been working well for me but my ball and boa are young. Got them at a store thats similiar to ranch 99 they probably have them there too. Where i went they have buckets of them with dozens of them rooted in water so ez to clean and quarantine

[noahnk]

I've had my boa bioactive for three years, it's not nearly as impossible as people say it is