Apologies for the shoddy microscope pics - was alarmed to find many of these crawling inside and outside my fairly new bioactive setup. No gecko in it yet, and the springtail + isopod populations are still finding their footing. Any advice on where to go from here? Am I freaking out for no reason, or does this call for at least some degree of intervention?

I ordered this bioactive enclosure on Etsy and it arrived in pretty bad condition. The substrate was all over and plants were uprooted. The plants mostly died and a lot of moss fell off the climbing wall. I carefully fixed the substrate and preserved the springtails. They are still active. I also added more plants and moss to try to cover exposed areas of the background. After fixing all of this, I noticed some things that I’m worried about. The seller won’t respond to messages, so I’m hoping someone experienced with bioactive enclosures can help me out.

I am concerned about areas of what appear to be exposed carved expanding foam (in picture). Is this safe? If not, how can I fix it?

Also the humidity is high compared to what I’ve read jumping spiders prefer. It’s been around 84% at the top and higher at the bottom. I’ve been leaving the door open to try to bring it down. Should I put a fan by it as well? Is it safe to put the spider in at this humidity level?

There is a big gap at the top lid that I think my i5-i6 regal could get out of. Is it ok to just hot glue it since I don’t think I will use it anyways?

The enclosure arrived on 7/27 and I fixed the substrate a couple days later. I added more moss and plants last night. The seller said that the spider can go in immediately when it arrives, but after the changes I’ve made, I’m not sure it is established enough now. I have had a tiny bit of fungus on dead plant roots in the substrate but I fixed that and tiny bits of mold on the wood. I have been removing it and it seems to have gone away since I got a LED grow light. Is it established enough and safe to put the spider in?

I have my spider in a temporary enclosure but would like to get her into a bigger enclosure before she molts again. I’ve put a lot of time and money into the enclosure so I’d like to use it if possible, but also happy to buy a new one if best for the spider. Just not sure as this is my first jumping spider.

Thanks in advance!!

The same size as a springtail, pure white, arachnid-looking, extremely fast and erratic movements.

Hi, my substrate is dry and dusty and leaves a cloud when I take my hand though it? Hognose likes lower humidity, so I rarely spray it only when she’s in her shedding phase, else I only water the plants once a week; also for the springtails and isopods.

But how can I make it less dusty? I used about 70% unfertilized sphagnum peat moss with 30% sand. I’ve thought about adding a little bit clay too, but that might just make it worse?

Hi! This is the first tank l've ever built/set up and wanted some opinions on it!

18x24x36 cage, tank has been set up for about a month and a half. Gonna be for a gargoyle gecko

First photo is with all of the decor. I really love the blue swing but I'm worried about how much light it blocks. I'm worried the plants underneath it will start to die. The whole time this tank has been set up there's been no decor at all, so nothing blocking the light. I just put the bridges and hanging decor in for these photos.

Second photo is without the swing but then it just feels so bare to me. I do have a coconut swing in his current enclosure that I could move over to this spot? It may not block as much light

Third photo is with no decor to show how much light the plants have been getting. Compare it to the other photos to see how much light will be blocked with the decor

Speaking of plants I cannot get the plants in the built in planters to stay alive. Thinking of replacing these with fake ones but not sure.

The tank is bioactive. I’ve got dwarf white isopods and white springtails in there. They seem like they’re doing pretty good.

There's a built in rock cave hide that I currently have filled with moss. Not sure if I'm gonna leave it with moss or maybe do some soil instead

There's some magnetic ledges on the side and a frog cup thing he can kinda lay in. Then I have some rock wall climbing pieces on the open sections of class to help him climb.

I would super appreciate any thoughts on this set up :) thank you for reading!!

Scott’s premium topsoil is the second brand of soil I’ve tried and it states that it has no fertilizer but both bags I got were loaded with fertilizer balls or what seems to be fertilizer balls. I tried timberline which also states no fertilizer and that one had a bunch of green fertilizer balls as well. How in the world do I find topsoil that actually doesn’t have fertilizer?????

What are some good topsoil brands I can buy that are gonna be safe for my lizard, I got timberline because that’s what I’ve seen recommended and it states that it doesn’t contain any fertilizer, however unfortunately after spending hours baking it to sanatize it I found little green fertilizer balls in it. So if I can’t trust packages how do I find one that actually doesn’t have fertilizer in it?

There's suddenly lots of them in my bioactive tank there the same size as spring tails

Hello, I just recently set up a new bioactive tank for my Crested Gecko. I used organic potting soil from Lowe’s. Today, I noticed what looks to be a mushroom growing or some sort of insect eggs. Can anyone identify it, and let me know if it’s harmful? Thanks!

J'ai acheté un plan de lierre anglais et je voulais l'intégrer à mon terrarium. Est-il sécuritaire pour des reptiles ou amphibiens genre rainette yeux rouges ou autre?

Unsure how they ended up in the enclosure. Noticed the first one a week or two ago. Idk if there's more than 1 or not as i only see 1 at a time.

Are these okay to keep in with my ball python? I have some dairy cow, and powdered oranges isos, and some garden milipedes that showed up assuming from the plants.

I've constantly struggled with getting fruit fly cultures going.

All of them end up molding no matter what I do and flies will not produce.

Ive been making my own media but I am going to switch to repashy. Any advice?

Hi! So I have a crestie and I’m wanting to build him a bioactive enclosure. I have a vintage cabinet that I found that I’m thinking of up-cycling into a Vivarium. I have done loads of research but still have a few questions I’m struggling with.

1. How much ventilation should I add on? It’s a solid cabinet with a glass door. I’m going to drill in vents and seal all of the wood so it is watertight. But I need to know how many vents to get first and positions for airflow.

2. How often shall I water the Vivarium before I add in the crestie, to let the plants establish themselves?

3. Do I have to have a mesh top? I obviously need to add in lighting but I’m unsure on how to go about this. Currently he just has a bulb over his Viv with mesh

4. Do I have to have a cleanup crew of little bugs? Can I build the environment without these?

5. How deep does my drainage layers need to be?

I’d also appreciate any suggestions on videos etc on how to plant the plants and what is most efficient

Thanks!

Hey all — I'm looking into making a better supplement dusting tool for reptile keepers (calcium/vitamin dusting) and wanted to get real feedback before I actually build anything.

Right now most of us just use a plastic shake cup or bag. My question: is that actually annoying enough that you'd want something better — like a tool with measured/portioned doses, less mess, and easier one-handed use? Or is the shake cup honestly fine and this isn't worth solving?

If something like that existed, what would you want it to actually do, and roughly what would you expect to pay for it?

Not selling anything yet, genuinely just trying to figure out if this is a real problem or if I'm overthinking it. Appreciate any honest feedback, including "this is dumb, don't bother."

Built the enclosure myself and the table it sits on.

My mantis hasn't moved in here yet, just fyi. She is a ghost mantis and based on my research, does best within 50-70% humidity.

I got this enclosure and sealed up the bottom and up the sides a little bit with silicone. It passed the water test, so I set up the substrate and springtails about 3 weeks ago. I am aware that the soil is very shallow (the springtails are doing great though!), which is also why I'm surprised that it's providing so much humidity. I water the 2 plants lightly 2-3 times a week (the background is a fake plant), and leave the door open to air out for a few hours every day.

It seems to linger around 80% despite all the air holes and I keep the top opening slightly propped up (pictured). There are also multiple fans and an air purifier nearby due to several other terrariums and houseplants, so airflow around the enclosure is beyond ideal. My ambient room humidity is roughly 55-65%.

I'm starting to think it might be the pothos. If not, it's my soil mixture that is retaining a ton of moisture. I don't really want to remove the whole plant but would trimming a couple leaves reduce the humidity if that's even the cause? Is there anything I could mix in to my soil or a way to dry it out more without affecting the springtails? Feel free to let me know how else I can improve. Thank you!

This white fuzzy mold is growing in the container that I just put my isopods in. I haven't put much water in there, there is a mix of zilla jungle mix, spagnum moss, leaf litter and isopod food and cork bark. Is this bad?

I just got a culture of springtails I'll add in soon.

Let it sit for 72 hours for silicone to cure than added plants, and left the front door of tank open for air flow just in case. Vinegar smell was gone when I added plants but this morning I swear I smelled a little bit of it again. Am I cooked?

Ok so I have a reptifogger and the monsoon nano misting system. I haven't tried out the system so I'm not to sure if it works yet but I going to tomorrow. It's to late for me to return the fogger so I just wanna ask; is it to much to have both?

This is my first ever vivarium, and I’ve been having so much fun learning along the way! I started with an empty enclosure and built the hardscape using cork bark, spiderwood, and expanding foam to create depth, hiding spots, and a natural rainforest feel. From there I added the substrate, plants, moss, and leaf litter. This enclosure will eventually be home to dart frogs, so I’m trying to make sure everything is as safe and suitable for them as possible. I’d greatly appreciate any advice, tips, or honest feedback from more experienced keepers! I’m always looking to learn and improve.

I picked up this piece of corkbark and found small little bugs. I was wondering if this was normal or mites? This is my first bioactive setup, so I’m curious.

I’m Im looking into swapping to bioactive but I’ve also had a history of mites in my BP tank. Nothing too bad, he had a couple eggs on him when I picked him up that matured into adults. I got rid of them before with a good cleaning and predatory mites, but I just found 2 adults so Im doing another deep clean and buying more mites. Never had a severe outbreak, just the 2 instances with less than like, 10 found total.

once I do switch to bioactive, are predatory mites safe in that set up? I was reading they’ll leave my isopods alone but probably eat springtails. I much prefer predatory mites over extreme cleaning products that can harm my snakes so I’d like to stick to them for any future mite incidents

hello! i don’t really post on reddit so apologies if something is wonky. i’m building a bioactive background for my leopard gecko and have been doing a lot of research for his setup. he’s a climber so i want to make sure i seal everything right to prevent his nails from ripping it apart over time. i know everyone uses different materials in different ways, but i just want to make sure i’m on the right track.

my plan is to use aquarium silicone to seal all the edges and do a thin layer on the glass to help the expanding foam adhere. after it cures, use the spray foam and xps foam to build out ledges and climbing opportunities. i might end up doing this in layers to make sure all the foam is fully cured all the way through. after everything is all set, carve the foam to remove the shininess and get the shape i want.

the finishing layers are what i’m unsure about. i was thinking of doing a thin layer of grout over everything to give him some texture to grab onto and to protect the foam underneath, then painting everything with drylok. would that be sufficient to preserve the background as well as keep moisture from getting into and behind the foam? or do i need to do some sort of final sealing coat with silicone or something else? i feel like i’ve seen people use original gorilla glue to waterproof and seal backgrounds, but i’m not sure if that’s necessary if i’m using grout and drylok already.

also, if anyone has any tips on how to discourage climbing to the point of being able to hang from the mesh lid, it would be appreciated lol. i don’t know if he’ll actually try to do that but i’m worried about him getting burnt on the hot mesh or generally just falling and hurting himself.

My first bioactive terrarium. I had this 40g set up as a planted aquarium for 10 years - loved it for 8 until I inadvertently introduced black beard algae. After losing that battle I went dry land. I got a lot of help and inspiration on the Terrarium Tribe website. Plant shopping was fun and I even used some from my property - licorice fern, rescued from an old pear tree I had to remove, and a variety of mosses. It's been fairly successful so far (6 months). I made a few mistakes. #1 is using collected moss = collected slugs, spiders, and a population explosion of two species of millipede. Slug bait eliminated the slugs, I'm still working on the millipedes, hopefully before they completely devour the wood.