Arid Bioactive & Building a Viv/Tub Hybrid Enclosure | Dr. Connor Long

[@TeaCupSimmer]

I clicked on this immediately, ive watched the leopard gecko build multiple times just for arid inspiration and for how awesome it is to see someone try to replicate a natural environment in such a creative way. can’t wait to watch the episode

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Hope you enjoy the episode! Thank you so much for watching 🙂

[@dantan1249]

So true about landscaping and masonry companies. I searched high and low for a decorative rock for my enclosure. Aquarium store was charging like 70$ but I found one at a masonry company for $3

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Yeah landscaping Companies are definitely the way to go!

[@NathanButh]

The landscaping supplies bit is funny to me, mostly because I'm surprised it doesnt come up more often. When I was a kid I was setting up a large Uromastyx enclosure with my parents. They had me do a lot of research before getting any animal, and trusted me to direct them on needs, but they figured out where to source a lot of our supplies. As such, when we needed a lot of slate and coarse sand, we went to a rockyard of some sort. To get the substrate and rocks from a pet shop, we would have had to spend a fortune, but not at the rockyard. 😅

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Haha yeah it’s definitely the smart thing to do! 😂

[@melissaleandro5409]

I’ve listened to this episode a few times now since it first came out and it seems like each time I get more information from his experiences with bioactive. Thanks for having in your podcast!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

I love to hear that! 😁

[@SnakeCakeExotics]

Great episode, The only hour+ reptile videos I can truly enjoy and pay attention to!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Haha that’s great! Thank you for watching. 🙂

[@SnakeCakeExotics]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast what you do is really excellent. All of us should be sharing knowledge. Loved the part bout wood from the pet store lol.

[@rickcroney1286]

Very interesting episode. Nice to have a veterinarian speak on husbandry and set ups. Soon I'll be doing a bioactive for our leopard gecko, so I was very interested in many of the points presented. I'll have to check out his actual videos. Great episode!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching, Rick! Yes, you’ll definitely have to go check out his videos, he goes into much greater detail! Definitely stay away from super worm beetles 😂

[@rickcroney1286]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast I definitely try to not lose super worms in the enclosures and I know why...lol😂

[@tinksmith4964]

Ahhh this was super helpful - thanks for sharing your successes and mistakes for us all to learn from ♡

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@YochevedDesigns]

This is a MASTER CLASS in husbandry and conservation ethics. I am so inspired and impressed. I live in Israel, and we have native chameleons, even though it can be extremely dry here depending on the season. I think that you have to be very aware of the species of chameleon, and their native environment. Our local zoo is very successful at keeping them happy and healthy, and they are also very hand tame, so lots of tourist interactions. I had a Mediterranean house gecko once, and I killed it by keeping it on reptisoil and too much humidity. 😞

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you very much for watching the episode, glad you enjoyed it!

[@bobmosh4970]

I love the naturally sourced bioactive route. My vivaria are all temperate and look like a slice of canadian forest floor. All my decor, leaf litter, bark hides, branches and even my clean up crew of a.vulgares, p.scaber and little millipedes are all wild collected. I personally disagree with putting anything wild collected or even store bought in my vivs without sterilization first because I've had to tear down two early enclosures because of bark mites one time and globular springtails another... both harmless, but they were everywhere and possibly stressful to my snakes and definitely stressful to me, so they had to go! I make cultures of my clean up crew and quarantine them for six months before use. I wash all dirt from the roots of plants and dip them in mild bleach solution before they go in the vivs. I bake and or boil all substrate and decor. I know it seems a bit obsessive, but since I started being careful, my tanks have been going strong for years now with only partial soil changes to avoid ammonia buildup. Also having a pet toad is a perfect way to control populations of isopods. I knock the excess isopods off the bark hides into his tank and he gets a more nutritious food source for free! I love the hybrid tub/bioactive enclosure idea for pythons and boas! That truly seems like the best life for those guys as far as security and enriching space to explore. Amazing! Great video, and very interesting guest. Thanks Dillon!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thanks for watching, Bob! Glad you enjoyed the episode. And yeah... you probably only need one bad experience with introducing a pest to become very diligent about sterilizing. At the end of the day, sterilizing can't hurt!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

*Thank you for watching this week's episode! Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to the channel so you don't miss the next episode!*

[@moetthepoet]

Excellent episode. I really liked this guy. I might be bias here as he kept saying stuff I find myself telling people, like that reptile branded products aren't safer, or to shop at landscape supply stores or garden centers. He also has an excellent artistic sensibility. I liked his enclosures. The only place I disagreed was on darkling beetles. I really find them great as CUC and I have never seen them harm any of my plants, even when I had way too many. Also they only make noise as worms so give it a few weeks and they hatch

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Glad you enjoyed the episode! Yes, I agree, his enclosures are beautiful. Thanks for watching!

[@SamGlife]

Brilliant episode! loved the clean up crew section and the hybrid enclosure seems very interesting.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Happy to hear you liked the episode! Thank you for watching!

[@speedymadr6]

Great episode and some great tips on creating an arid set up. I’ve always been paranoid about using super worms and now I know why! For our Leopard gecko I’ve used Arcadia earth mix arid plus habistat leopard gecko substrate which is more sand/rock based. Combination works well.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching, Dave! And yes… This is a great warning to stay away from super worms 🤣

[@royaldesignpythonsorionjon720]

Mist with fish tank water from a established/cycled aquarium it contains aerobic bacterias and fish amino acids that will gently feed your plants fungus and bacterias

[@sjsmith9637]

The A. Vulgare have a few fun color varieties.St. Lucia variety has tons of variety and apparently they come from an island. Pennypack comes from a specific park in Pennsylvania and are bright gold. The "zebra" isopod is another Armidilitium species and they don't overpopulate as well. All to say there are fun colorful isopods that don't go out of control like the powders.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Awesome, thank you for adding this into the comments!

[@margiewalker1808]

Loved this, very informative.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching, Margie!

[@Hamburglar009]

Lol the landscaping supplies bit. I bought $40 worth of “irregular” slate. So just slate chunks, not pavers. I can’t pick up the container that it’s in. I have to separate it to move the tub. It’s way more than I can use for my massive collection of 1 ball python, 1 leopard gecko, and my future carpet python

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Haha exactly! It’s the best way to go… If you went to the pet store to buy the same thing it probably would’ve cost $1000 😂

[@Hamburglar009]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast if they ever even carried any of it!

[@nataliaprado2337]

Great episode! So nice to hear of a 25 year old royal python still getting husbandry updates and enclosure upgrades as the keeper progresses, it's what our hobby should be about progress! Really liked the brief discussion on the carnivorous plants, such a good alternative to chemicals. But what do you do when you run out of fungus gnats bcs they did such an awesome job? Do you have to catch flies now or can supplement with something else? I feel a nerd out session coming on, lol.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thanks for listening, Natalia! I completely agree, so nice to hear an older animal being treated properly. That’s a good question regarding the carnivorous plants… Provided they have adequate light, then I think the flies are just a bonus. In other words, they don’t absolutely require them to stay alive. And I suspect there will always be at least one or two flies per month that pop up anyhow! I’m definitely going to try it as well!

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Carnivorous plants can survive without much in the way of food - I don't supplement their "diet" and they seem to grow just fine off of whatever they catch (fungus gnats, isopods, springtails). You can get special fertilizer to put into Nepenthes pitchers.

[@Me-ei8yd]

Thank you!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thanks for watching!

[@janawild4582]

Really interesting about the springtails, because I have tons that showed up in my turtle enclosure. I got some out and put them on charcoal and they just really don’t seem to be doing that great. I did not know that some don’t propagate on charcoal, so that’s interesting I’ve been trying to research what I’ve been doing wrong.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Yeah interesting hey? So maybe you’ll have to change up the substrate to something a little drier!

[@samuellamont3533]

I have a madrean alagator lizard I read so much information about them but i don't know alot of information

[@samf8894]

Interesting that with chameleons you've found guides are written for humid local conditions and really don't work for drier areas. I've noticed the converse problems with advice on tropical reptiles and amphibians (I keep mourning geckos and dart frogs) where they recommend almost constant misting. Here in the UK I find in my bioactive vivs, even though they're Exo Terra with full airflow, I never need to mist at all. The substrate and plants maintain appropriate humidity just fine. Very confusing at first. I'd love to see local conditions considered much more in herp guides and when giving advice.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

That’s really interesting! And yes, I completely agree, the location of a keeper really ought to be considered as a caveat on all care advice!

[@mattquinn2427]

Nice one 👍👍

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching, Matt!

[@Amzer84]

Really interesting topic. I enjoyed the topic about carnivorous plant, as we have a rainforest habitat for our cresties. We have been bombarded with these small, annoying-as hell flies. I highly suspect it’s these fungus gnats. They’re everywhere and are also laying eggs in our cricket egg boxes. So the question stuck in my head is: does anyone know how these Butterworth plants would work in a rainforest habitat and how would it be working with our cresties who climbs all over. Would their feet get stuck in the sticky substance the plant is secreting?

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the episode! Yep, those would be fungus gnats… I dealing with an outbreak as we speak. Very annoying! As far as your question goes- to be honest, I’m not exactly sure, since I’ve not worked with that plant species before. If you have Instagram, I would shoot Connor a message and ask!

[@Amzer84]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast I’ve grown very fond of your podcast- sooo much interesting information. I will definitely shoot him a question, when I figure out how to do that 🙈 (just started using insta- and I feel really old 😳 admitting it) 🤣 Thanks again

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

@@Amzer84 Haha it can be confusing at first but I think you'll figure it out! Feel free to send me a messag eon Instagram as well if you need a hand

[@clydesdale1775]

I'm late to the party on this one but he makes a great point about collecting your own discarded wood and rocks as opposed to buying them in stores. It makes me wonder about sustainability of the resources we use in herpteculture as well. Where are these companies getting all the material? Would it be better to collect from our local area, or worse... considering how disrespectful the public is when foraging or enjoying nature? Personally I collect all my resources sustainably from my local area. Many parks leave their tree trimmings in piles and I always find great stones at the beach.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

It’s a really good point… I always wonder that when I see giant containers full of branches/wood decor in pet stores. It always makes me wonder where that comes from, especially considering every single pet store essentially has the same bin full of the same type of wood. I liked to collect locally in my area as well.

[@clydesdale1775]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Yeah! It depends on the kind of wood/stone being sold. A local reptile store was selling wood titled as "mangrove root/wood" which made me pause... since mangroves are vital to ecosystems and critically endangered. I sure hope it wasn't actual mangroves being harvested, but it's what got me thinking on this. What if by providing enriching habitats for our own pet reptiles, we are participating in the habitat destruction of a wild species? I have no research to answer that, and I certainly don't want to stir up fear, but I haven't seen anyone ask. Maybe an episode on someone working in the provider/retail side of the hobby could shed some light idk 🐍 sorry for the long message!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

@@clydesdale1775 I think that would make for a very interesting episode, especially if it was coupled with a “how-to” guide for local collection

[@himsimon]

Very nice idea to do research on the spot at Mojave and take samples to recreate the soil/substrate qualities. Wish it would be possible for me to do a quick excursion to Pakistan/Afghanistan to check on the Leopard Gecko habitats there … ;-)

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Yeah no kidding! It’s a good argument for keeping native species (if possible)

[@ConnorLongDVM]

​@@AnimalsatHomePodcast I do wish I could keep native animals. What's so obnoxious is that native species are illegal in California unless wild collected (you can capture and keep a small number of common natives with a fishing license). When I was younger I kept a couple of native kingsnake species I field collected from appropriate locations covered by my DFW license, but they just never adapted to captivity very well - they were very scared of me, would hide all the time, and would bite despite my attempts to socialize them... I decided I wouldn't do wild caught again, so I'm SOL in the Cal Natives department, with the exception of the Cali Kingsnake which DFW just looks the other way on because they're so common as pets.

[@himsimon]

@@ConnorLongDVM Weird policy to not allow you to keep something local unless (!) you caught it yourself. My local legislation variant stipulates that you are under not circumstances allowed to catch or take out of their environment any reptiles or amphibians. But captive bred animals of local species can be kept and need to be registered with authorities.

[@ConnorLongDVM]

@@himsimon Yeah it is a weird policy - I believe the goal is to prevent trafficking of natives. You cannot breed, sell, buy, or trade native species. The side effect though is that if I wanted to keep desert banded geckos I could not obtain legally produced captive bred specimens from an out-of-state source, but I could collect my own from locations in the Mojave where hunting/fishing is allowed. (Which, as I stated above, I have become opposed to doing). There may be a grey area in terms of if I drove to another state to buy them myself, since I can possess them in California with the fishing license I just can't buy them... but ultimately I thought it would be more reasonable to get one of the many local leopard geckos that needed to be rehomed.

[@himsimon]

@@ConnorLongDVM Yes, you can always say that you keep an eublepharid species at least 😉

[@dantedabbicco6820]

how thick is your drainage layer in your bioactive enclosure?

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

I would head to Connors channel and make a comment on his video, that way you’ll see it. Or send him a message on Instagram. Links to both are in the description

[@lisamccullough5150]

Stone desert from exo terra is really really good it has everything in it you use

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Oh cool, thank you for letting me know!

[@lucygeorge1795]

i wanted to reach out to you and get tips on geting a python like what it needs to eat and ect...

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Your best bet would be to check out ReptiFiles! reptifiles.com/ball-python-care-guide/

[@lucygeorge1795]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast thank you

[@gasperkanoni8838]

If bigfoot can change to deer!?

[@livingoutsidethebubble]

Apparently Springtails eat the eggs of fungus gnats.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

So maybe that’s why fungus gnats tend to disappear once a viv is established

[@royaldesignpythonsorionjon720]

Keep the soil alive with bacteria and fungus and you will just see the right types of bugs arrive eventually on their own, any type of larger bug or worm is going to be destructive you need these micro organisms to be cleaning the stuff up and don’t ever add fertilizers or anything man made or you’ll kill the bacteria and fungus that are the beginning building blocks for a living set up and don’t use tap water as it contains chlorine and it kills the bacteria and fungus that will lead to life

[@lisamccullough5150]

Thank you for talking about too many animals. So many KZbinrs and people in general do it and then make every excuse why they’re the exception.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Yes, it certainly is a problem 😳

[@austincarter8210]

😢😂😢😂😢😂😢😢😢😂😢😂

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

🤔

[@sandstone8852]

ngl I thought he was sheldon

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

😂 I see the resemblance