so you set up your first bioactive… Now What? | How to Clean a Bioactive and Bioactive Maintenance!

[@Jess-vk6mp]

I love how when you were adding the substrate in at the 1:45 mark your skink came out and looked like he was thinking “whatcha doin?” Lol

[@adamzocchi]

4:06 that caught me so off fucking guard. Holy hell was that hilarious. Well done and nice vid

[@skymayfield7104]

Same lmfaooo

[@Hamburglar009]

To answer your question: I think bioactive is not cheaper, not easier to setup, not easier to maintain than any traditional or sterile enclosure…BUT I do think it is a better way to keep captive reptiles and amphibians.

[@colecampbell1906]

Idc what anyone says they're definitely easier to maintain lol. They may not be completely task free, but overall you might spend single digit hours dealing with it throughout an entire year while with normal tanks you're going to spend more time than that in the first month or so.

[@Polimathe]

@@colecampbell1906 I feel like having to take everything out and clean the whole enclosure to get rid of pet waste is enough to go this route. Trimming plants seem like a way better task than cleaning poop.

[@colecampbell1906]

@@Polimathe exactly. It's technically got some things to do here and there, but it's so small that it's basically free of maintenance.

[@marzipanmango]

It's definitely not cheaper (though that may be because I keep many types of rare plants in my enclosures lol), but in my experience a bioactive vivarium is much more fun to set up. It's also more fun and less time consuming to maintain: I prefer trimming plants and occasionally wiping poop off a leaf to taking everything out, cleaning poop, sanitizing plastic plants, etc. I'm interested in both animals AND plants so a vivarium is perfect. And if someone isn't interested in plants, something like pothos is pretty and very easy to grow in a bioactive setup! Just chuck a piece of it on damp soil and it'll grow effortlessly. My vivarium is so beautiful, like a cube of tropical paradise in the middle of my cold Canadian home :P

[@senorreichel]

The guy who just got done sweating like crazy taking heavy bags of coco fiber to the trash and wiping his tank with veterinary disinfectants disagrees.

[@karenschmaltz649]

Hello! I am starting a bioactive enclosure for my boy and I have done a lot of research, but your video has new information that I am so happy to have. I feel like I may not have run across this info otherwise, so thank you!!

[@zp944]

I'm also about to do the same. Since your comment is a year old, might I ask how well your son is doing? Have you had any pushback from family?

[@Bear_Cannons]

Great Video! It's pretty cool to have a living ecosystem that you can watch change as all the little critters eat and dig around and plants start to spread and fill out the space.

[@Amandalovesdisney1]

Thank you for this video! We bought my son a dumpy tree frog about a year ago, and we set up a bioactive enclosure, after much research. The up front cost was high-ish, but it has been amazing! It’s thrived well, but now a year in, I’m seeing less and less cleanup crew, and I was wondering about what extra maintenance we should be doing. This video was very helpful! Thank you! And I think, especially for a new frog owner, after the initial setup, bioactive is way easier!!

[@megsmith4330]

This was so helpful! Getting my first reptile soon, and I'm sure I'll keep coming back to this vid as a reference!

[@DinoGirl-jx5nf]

Hi. I realize that I'm a bit late to the conversation, but what do you do for your extra clean up members after a boom?

[@TatianasTinyZoo]

Great question! You can take some out to start a new colony, or move them to a different tank. You can sell them if you want the hassle of shipping - there's a good market for them. Or you can even use them as feeder insects occasionally, but I wouldn't feed too many.

[@cringesh1t427]

If you have any pet stores near by that you notice are short on spring tails or isopods honestly see if they’ll be willing to buy small tubs of of you

[@Maja-se3hf]

​@@sammstudios6534 please don't, they can be invasive specie and we don't want that

[@SCREEVER333]

Helpful and honest. Thanks. 🙏🏻

[@Me-ei8yd]

Thank you. Probably equivalent timewise. But nicer to look at and far more diversity of life☺️

[@dananewsom5483]

I'm only about a month in setting up my bioactive for an A. geniculata. I'm still tweaking it here and there, just set up a separate little enclosure for a new colony of dwarf isopods because I'm not sure if the first bit i bought is even still there. So far the plants in there seem ok and tarantula isn't hovering around her water bowl anymore so I'm assuming the humidity is a little more to her liking. But other than that she did not seem to be thrilled about the changes - doesn't like walking on the spagnum moss, is trying to web everything up after more than 3 years of having her and she hasn't been much of a webber at all before now. Not sure if it's going to work but, we'll see. It looks lovely and i know she isn't hanging right around or on the water bowl (there's no other signs of any other issue with her and this behavior had been a years long thing) so hopefully it's just an adjustment period in a new environment

[@TatianasTinyZoo]

Try adding a thicker layer of leaf litter to the ground? I have a very dramatic T who also doesn't like moss touching her and covering the substrate with leaves helped.

[@dananewsom5483]

@@TatianasTinyZoo thanks! I'll try that

[@annewinslow7500]

Hello Tatiana 😁 So good to see you!

[@lizzielehnhoff574]

Thank you thank you thank you!!!! This is the most comprehensive easy to understand and implement video I have seen about this topic. Great content

[@tristanbartolome2840]

just found out your channel, this is awesome, subscribed

[@ornithowlogist]

i’m looking to setup my first bioactive viv for my crested gecko. i’m curious, how do you clean possible pesticides or other chemicals off of store-bought plants? and, if an infestation of some foreign insects were to occur, how would i go about dealing with that?

[@TatianasTinyZoo]

I would recommend repotting your plants into fresh soil as soon as you bring them home as well as washing the leaves. If you leave the plants to grow outside of an enclosure for a few weeks, this should be safe enough for your animals! If you don't have time, rinsing the leaves and roots really well before planting into a viv might be good enough, but I would still give the plants a few weeks to grow BEFORE introducing any animals into the enclosure.

[@ornithowlogist]

@@TatianasTinyZoo thanks for responding! i’ll be sure to do that

[@arianamarengo3289]

replanting any plant as soon as you get it can actually kill the plant so please give the plant a few day to settle in into the house

[@ellechub7626]

Love your vids. I’ve owned leopard geckos for 5+ years and I really want to set up a bio active tank. Your channel is really helping me plan this!! Thank u🖤

[@MorroWolf]

You have some decorations in there like little hobbit holes do they mold or need to br cleaned regularly? I'm interested in doing something like this for the first time but would like to include something cute like a little house or some stones to break up the terrain however I don't see people use them often or talk about them. I know certain woods and materials are favored for their anti fungal properties

[@Jess-vk6mp]

I have a probably dumb question but as far as fertilizing the enclosures plants do you think it would be effective or safe to use aquarium water? I have a fully planted aquarium and when I do water changes I use that water sometimes as a natural fertilizer for my house plants and they seem to benefit from it. Would it be ok to use that water to water the plants in a bioactive setup?

[@TatianasTinyZoo]

It's probably safe to use as long as it's fresh water and your critters don't drink it.

[@wishywashy1153]

Wow that was very helpful. I've had my terrarium for about 9 months now. I added isopods and millipedes from my garden and the springtails and slug came in with the moss, How do I change out some of the plants and moss without disturbing the insects?

[@Mon22king]

Question how do you move springtail booms?

[@Isaidit247]

Definitely more expensive to start but it’s worth it

[@wishywashy1153]

Not really. I took all my plants from outside. I have ebony spleenwort, marsh marigold, wintergreen, partridge berry, and a bunch of moss. And all the critters came from outside as well. Just have to buy a glass jug/bowl/tank. Try it! Nothing to lose!

[@DD-sq9rx]

Another great video. We really enjoyed it.

[@TatianasTinyZoo]

Thanks for your support ☺️

[@annalysenicole5290]

Question? Do you have to still shift and move around the soil? & clean ?

[@kromodos7477]

i found this very informative

[@OanGames312]

how many isopods and springtails per gallon of substrate?

[@jainamssj]

Hi, where do you get that cleanup crew, isopods, etc from?

[@theConcernedWyvern]

You can often get them from reptile shows or online ^-^

[@readylucas]

I have a ball python and a bioactive enclosure for her. It has about 2-3in of terra firma (premade soil from the bio dude) 2 golden pothos, and a dwarf umbrella tree. All of which are alive and well after 2-3 months. For the clean up crew i have dwarf white isopods, Armadillidium peraccae isopods, collembola white springtails, and a couple different soil mites that snuck in. My only issues are the springtails going straight to the water bowl and breeding inside it (making the water bowl a pain to clean because i know im throwing away hundreds or i have to find a way to get them back into the soil without just dumping the 3 day old water in

[@dhall5661]

"Because who wants to eat sh*t all day right? " 😂 😆 😂

[@michellemcfarland80]

Thank U!!! 👍👍💗

[@SwissFrogGuy]

Nice explanation!

[@NoClueHonestly]

Hi Tatiana! I'm looking to start my first bioactive enclosures and these videos are definitely helpful. I'm a bit worried because I keep reading horror stories about ant infestations. In your experience, how common is this?

[@itsfreddy7184]

Im thinking about getting a northern bluey but I have a few questions before I get one, which is not soon at all (maybe a few more years of research) question one, can I avoid feeding them live insects? question two, would a 80 gallon enclosure work for them question three what is a good secondary source of heat for them, my house gets kinda cold at night so im wondering how I am able to fix that problem for my bluely if I get one

[@TatianasTinyZoo]

You can absolutely avoid feeding live insects to a blue tongue! There are canned or freeze dried insects that you can feed instead, or they can get their protein from canned dog food or ground raw meat. 80 gallons might be a bit small for an adult northern. It would be fine for a juvenile but a 4 foot by 2 foot enclosure or larger is recommended for adults. Blue tongue skinks need high temps for their basking spots (90-100+ depending on the sub species) but can tolerate colder temps at night. Unless your house gets colder than 68-65, I wouldn't worry about it. If it does, maybe a ceramic heat emitter for night times would work! I do have several care videos for blue tongue skinks up on my channel in case you have more questions!

[@itsfreddy7184]

@@TatianasTinyZoo this clears things up, thank you! I found out about zen habitats and there enclosures are very affordable, so the price is not a problem anymore. I also found out you can attach it with other enclosures making upgrading far more easy and affordable!

[@tripleaofficial8562]

How do you keep isopods and springtails population under control?? I’m worried they will multiply fast and I’ll have nothing to do with them.

[@hookoffthejab1]

Based on what other people are saying in the comments, just take them out of the tank and do whatever with them. Sell them, throw them in your garden, etc.

[@goldenpoppyexotics]

I’ve personally never had an issue with my isopod or springtail colonies taking over in my 4x2x2 foot enclosure. They’ll clean up basically anything biodegradable like poop, shed skin, leaf litter, mosses etc. I’ve observed waves in the population, sometimes there’s a lot of adults and then they’ll die out as the babies grow and eventually take their place. But as stated in other comments, you can remove some to start another colony or sell off. Or perform some extra maintenance like cleaning up the excess skins or poops if you see them, so there’s less food to go around.

[@Christian-zj3ul]

how do you control isopodes populations?

[@zeller514]

Hi, I know I really late but I was hoping i could get some more answers about clean up crew, like for instance what else could you feed them and do they just drink from the soil, just some more tips of how to care for them really😅 I’m asking because I’m setting up a bioactive terrarium for my leopard gecko and wanna make sure everything is good, also I can’t seem to find to many things on this subject

[@lilybethbibby28]

I cant find the right information online. Can you have live plants growing in the substrate without a CUC. I dont really want to be taking care of bugs in his enclosure as well as ones i breed for food.

[@TatianasTinyZoo]

You need the bugs to break down your pets' waste. Without them you'll still have to go in and pick up after him, and you'll probably need to fertilize your plants every once in a while. But it can be done!

[@johnreeves6854]

I typically wait about a month before I add my reptiles so that it can be up and running before they go in

[@BabyTooth05]

I wanted to order the hobbit hole long ago but I’m not sure if my Florida king snake can fit in the large one :(

[@mdifaazhari9591]

Do i need to always clean my reptile excess on bioactive terrarium?

[@faythelybarger]

if it true that you shouldn’t have a bio active enclosure for juvenile snakes? lots of exotic vets say u shouldn’t but will never explain why

[@ItsMrDon]

im not sure if my btw just hates plants but he has always made sure none survived lol

[@eileensmyth4125]

set up videos?

[@scoutcrook4680]

having a real ecosystem with real plants is so much better for your pet. I hate seeing fake plastic plants in pet shops. our world is filled with beautiful plants that will not only make your pet happier but healthier. yes they might not be neon pink rainbow colours but who tf wants that in their enclosior. extremely harmful for the environment too. awesome video :)

[@marzipanmango]

I agree that fake plastic plants are usually pretty ugly, and that a bioactive enclosure with real plants is worth it for many species! However I don't think it's wrong to use articifial plants to give your animals some extra enrichment, like if your vivarium plants haven't grown in yet. And sometimes keeping a sick or new animal in quarantine, and setting up a bin with paper towels and some fake plants is necessary (ie. you want a relatively sterile environment to prevent your animal from getting their recently injured foot infected). Additionally, it's difficult to set up a bioactive vivarium for certain species, for example bearded dragons. They live in deserts, so isopods and springtails won't be as abundant and will probably only be able to live in and around any wet areas (like a humid hide or near the water dish). Which means there's a very small "cleanup crew" that has to deal with a lot of poop from a pretty big lizard. And since bearded dragons are pretty big and they climb on everything, they can easily destroy smaller plants. Desert plants take a lot longer to heal and grow compared to rainforest plants, so a lot of keepers use fake succulents and grasses for enrichment (and to make the tank more beautiful).

[@Zilliguy]

If you’re worried about plants dying just get pothos and they’ll probably outlive you

[@Pigayyy]

bro thought the dirt was food