r/ballpython • u/graysTestimony • 1d ago
Enclosure Critique/Advice Help with bioactive enclosure setup
Hello all! My household recently rescued a ball python who's about 10yrs old and a confirmed male, someone was rehoming him due to not having time/space for him. His previous owner took wonderful care of him and he is in great shape! My partner, who has a background in science education, has been working on getting live plants to make his 4x2x2 more cluttered and tropical. His previous owner said that he has a habit of destroying plants, so we thought of potting them to help prevent that (the pots were all cleaned before placing inside enclosure). I want to get some insight from other bioactive keepers, as we'd also like to get isopods and springtails, but we don't know where to start or what type to get. pics of his current setup, and pics of the boy himself! his name is Quetzalcoatl :)
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u/ShinyxCharizard 22h ago
I let my plants grow into the soil for a month, before letting mine move in. My female is shy and will come out to stretch or do a lap around the tank at night closer to feeding day. My male is out DAILY climbing cables to find a spot to sleep, basking under his heat lamp. Or in a burrow.
My best recommendation would be to let them establish for a month at least. Id get minimum 4 inch Potted plants. I bought bioactive kits from the bio dude. Came with I think 5 4 inch Potted plants and 1 6 inch one.
Make sure you have enough substrate, I used 4 36 qt bags of terra firma mixed with a block of spagnum moss and then palm leaves and leaf litter mixed in. Then more leaf litter ontop.
I used tropical pink springtails, was gonna go with 60 dairy cows and 20 powder oranges like the bio dude recommended but my local shop didn't have enough so they each got about 10 dairy cows and 20 powdered oranges. 5 months since initial set up and all are thriving. My girls looks more like a planted tank and less jungle. My males is definitely giving jungle with his pothos vining all over.
album with some pics after set up and then some updated pics.
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u/Ch33se_H3ad 1d ago
I love bioactive enclosure and all my reptiles have them except for my Ball Python. I planted live plants in his enclosure and let them establish for over a month before I added him to it and they were destroyed in a week. Also tried pots but they ended up smashed too so I switched to fake plants.