Spacey'sMom
Member
- Aug 24, 2022
- 63
- 28
- Parrots
- 2 Budgies!
Hello all!
It has been a while since I posted here but I have a couple questions! Many people who keep reptiles will at least have hear about bio-active keeping or bio-active enclosures. I have 2 snakes currently and an working on bioactive enclosures for them including cultivated isopods and springtails. I am actually testing them in some of my house plants at the moment. The purpose is to keep a "clean up crew" in the snake enclosure to eat sheds and droppings. I'm presently giving the isopods the bird's scraps/leftovers and they are doing a good job of breaking it down.
I just redid one of the "bird stations" with a pretty large catch tray and was doing some research on bedding/substrate to put in it. I normally line the bottom with undyed paper towels and then some hay or uncolored cardboard/paper confetti for them to play with if they want to but I am out of both. I was searching to see if pine or cedar bedding was safe(I know its not) and came across suggestions of untreated soil. This has me wondering if anyone has tried bioactive in their cages or catch trays.
Any success?
Any health concerns?
Any questions about the isopods and care that might help with answering previous questions?
Isopods have fairly basic care requirements. They need a source of protein, a source of Calcium(I actually give mine cuttlebone meant for birds), hiding areas, and a moisture gradient. They eat droppings, dead plant material etc.
Springtails specifically eat fungi, mold, and mildew alongside the decaying plant material.
They would need to be supplemented with additional plant matter and depending of the depth of the catch tray they would need to be misted frequently. Given I've been keeping Isopods in the house in some of my house plants I don't think having the isopods in general should be an issue I'm just wondering if there would be anything harmful to keeping them in a closer vicinity? I'll try and post pictures soon!
It has been a while since I posted here but I have a couple questions! Many people who keep reptiles will at least have hear about bio-active keeping or bio-active enclosures. I have 2 snakes currently and an working on bioactive enclosures for them including cultivated isopods and springtails. I am actually testing them in some of my house plants at the moment. The purpose is to keep a "clean up crew" in the snake enclosure to eat sheds and droppings. I'm presently giving the isopods the bird's scraps/leftovers and they are doing a good job of breaking it down.
I just redid one of the "bird stations" with a pretty large catch tray and was doing some research on bedding/substrate to put in it. I normally line the bottom with undyed paper towels and then some hay or uncolored cardboard/paper confetti for them to play with if they want to but I am out of both. I was searching to see if pine or cedar bedding was safe(I know its not) and came across suggestions of untreated soil. This has me wondering if anyone has tried bioactive in their cages or catch trays.
Any success?
Any health concerns?
Any questions about the isopods and care that might help with answering previous questions?
Isopods have fairly basic care requirements. They need a source of protein, a source of Calcium(I actually give mine cuttlebone meant for birds), hiding areas, and a moisture gradient. They eat droppings, dead plant material etc.
Springtails specifically eat fungi, mold, and mildew alongside the decaying plant material.
They would need to be supplemented with additional plant matter and depending of the depth of the catch tray they would need to be misted frequently. Given I've been keeping Isopods in the house in some of my house plants I don't think having the isopods in general should be an issue I'm just wondering if there would be anything harmful to keeping them in a closer vicinity? I'll try and post pictures soon!
