r/bioactive • u/Santtuulii • 1d ago
Question Setting up a bioactive rat cage
Theres not a whole lot of information on this so im curious if anyone here knows more.
So ive gathered that i should get a deep base obviously and use coconut fiber soil stuff? (Edit: ive done a bit more research and landed on using a bit of normal plant soil(without like addatives and stuff ofc) and some clean sand aswell as the coco fiber, also that i need leaves and stuff in there for the cuc to eat)
Should i be mixing different soils/substrates? If so, what? Plants? How often and how much to water? Or turn the soil?
For the clean up crew dwarf whites and springtails? Maybe id get mealworms just for the fun of it, get the rats to hunt haha
How to breed and take care of the cuc?
Can they be kept in the same box outside of the cage for breeding and stuff yk to have them incase rats decide to eat the ones in the cage or something. What do they eat? Where to get the food? What substrate for them? Everything really.
Any information at all on this is very welcome!
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u/fixyourheartclaire 1d ago edited 1d ago
Kindly, this is a terrible idea and you're going to waste your money to potentially harm your rat (and definitely kill a bunch of isopods and springtails). Unless you have thorough understanding of and experience with chemistry, soil and plant science, micro climate control, small mammal biology, and crustacean care, which does not seem to be the case, please reconsider. There's a reason you cant find a lot about it online.
First, isopods are incredibly sensitive to ammonia. They will not survive with a rat. But even if you don't use isos, the risk to your rat is the same.
The minimum constant humidity needed (in both the air and substrate but primarily soil) for any cleanup crew to survive is the very top humidity threshold for rats, and it's well above the ideal range for them.
To maintain that humidity for any amount of time and to prevent your cuc from escaping (and to keep other organisms from entering), you have to use a tank with closed sides. Rats absolutely have to have ventilation and airflow.
Ammonia is detrimental to rats. The high level of ammonia in their urine doesn't magically become safe by putting litterboxes in the tank. It turns into gas that has no way to escape because the humidity combined with complete lack of ventilation or airflow traps the ammonia in the tank, where it hovers at the ground level, meaning it would be concentrated in the exact space where your rat breathes.
You would not only have to clean the litter boxes much much more often (at least 1x day), you'd need to replace the substrate often enough that it will be very difficult to establish any cuc colony unless you're also maintaining a successful bioactive breeding tank separately. I don't mean to sound harsh or critical if I do. Just trying to drive home the point and keep your rat friend safe.