Bioactive Ball Python Vivarium: Construction, Lighting, Plants, and MORE! 

Thank you! Time is always the limiting factor, but I will do my best.

its only been 7 months and to say I'm confused would be an understatement

That's high praise, thanks Maggie! My understanding is there's a decent amount of fairly advanced reptile and vivarium keepers in Germany who have been doing bioactive setups for longer than we have in the US. If you come across anything cool on your end, please let me know.

@@ConnorLongDVM Thank you so much for your answer! Of cause, I will let you know if I come across anything cool. I follow you on Instagram and am able to show you my end result, if you are interested :D My journey officially started today, because my new custom made enclosure finally arrived. I am super happy and I am looking forward to my future building process.

I wholeheartedly agree with you Maggie. Isn't he wonderful. And this is the best vivarium setup I've ever seenxxx

Thank you, that’s good to hear. If I was doing this again I would embed small self watering planters in the backdrop where I was putting plants so they do not need to be watered as frequently - with regular plants they need to be watered at least every other day to prevent them drying out. Alternatively, vining plants, particularly creeping ficus and small aroids (pothos, some monstera, or philodendron, with pothos working the best) can be planted directly into the bottom and will cover the backdrop without an elevated planter. I went a bit crazy with variety in order to test what would work - the climbing ficus (pumila and radicans), pothos, and Nepenthes were the standouts. They are very hardy at the temps and humidity levels required by ball pythons, as well as tolerating occasional damage from the snake climbing on them, and staying a reasonable size. Everything else I showed will work but requires extra maintenance

@@ConnorLongDVM Thank you!!!

Thank you!

No coronavirus just yet, fortunately.

Thank you! Right now it is the only designated heat source, but the LEDs do put off some heat and so ambient temps are higher when the lights are on. In the past I had a heat strip under the water element so could warm it, but I have since disconnected it as it seemed unnecessary

I think so - fake plants are maybe a little harder to keep clean, but as long as you clean up after a bowel movement I think it should be fine. The snake probably doesn't know live plants from fake plants. They like the ability to climb and hide in various locations, and the plants provide hiding opportunities. The only advantages of live plants other than appearance is they grow to fit the cage, help keep the cage clean, and help keep humidity up. With husbandry tweaks you can do all of that with fake plants.

Thank you! The pool is part of a pond liner from Lowes (used to make waterfalls) that I cut the lip off of. It's flush with the substrate but is not a part of anything, I can just take it out. I refill as needed and will clean it with a little bit of bleach diluted in water 1-2x per week. It's basically the same as any water dish, it's just low profile.

The primary reason is to let the plants establish, if you rush they might get trampled and not come back, there is usually some die off prior to them getting established. It also lets you monitor the environment to ensure all parameters are met over a period of time. You could conceivably skip the acclimation but you may lose some plants.

It's nothing particularly complicated - it's essentially a glorified water dish. I bought a small pond liner from Lowes that's intended to be used as one part of a waterfall structure. Then I cut the lip off and stuck it flush with the substrate before planting any plants, so all the roots would grow around it. Now the space it sits is well defined and holds its shape, and I just pull it out and wash it 2-3 times per week and then fill it up with a jug of tap water.

Thanks! Are you concerned for the plants or the animals? Because The Snake definitely wins against a Nepenthes

@@ConnorLongDVM certainly not for the animals. I grow some pretty expensive nepenthese. I may try a set up down the road with some geckos and a ventrata or 2.

TV MX Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, this was a 6 dollar tiny dying Nepenthes reject in a plastic tube at Lowe’s that I bought a couple years ago and grew up to this size. For what it’s worth, if I can keep it in a ball python enclosure I’m reasonably certain it could survive with most commonly kept tropical reptiles.

The bulb is a ceramic heat emitter, and the guard that encloses it is commercially made for that purpose. Both are sold commercially on Amazon and eBay, as well as reptile specific sites. I believe the CHE I am currently using is 60W.

@@ConnorLongDVM thank you!

Hello Darren, I have been choosing LEDs based on their CRI (color rendering index) which is the measure of how accurate the colors appear under the fixtures. Fixtures that are not white tend to have low CRI, and I personally feel they tend to look bad, which is why I use 5000-6500k daylight elements. I have not had any trouble growing plants under these conditions, and I have orchids in my chameleon enclosure that have been flowering for months on end. I personally believe this spectrum is best to provide a day and night cycle for animals as well (as other colors of light will not be what they would experience in the wild) but that is my opinion and I have not seen studies testing different colors of lighting - and how our artificial lights are perceived by animals is a subject we don't really know much about. I would recommend a ceramic heat emitter with a thermostat. For a bioactive enclosure, it will be challenging to use a heat mat when you have a substrate layer deep enough to grow plants. I have used heat mats in the past, but only for quarantine or laboratory style setups where the substrate is newspaper or paper towels.

Thanks for the feedback - 1) The pitcher plant is not a risk for the python, but he would not and could not drink from the pitchers. They are too small and he has no interest in them at all. 2) I used the spray foam, silicone, coco fiber/orchid bark method. I will be releasing a video soon that shows how to do it, but there are many YT videos by other vivarium channels. 3) I do use springtails and isopods.

@@ConnorLongDVM thanks for the reply! The part about the pitcher plant is good to know, since they’re one of my favorites and I have a couple I could use for my own build. I’ve also seen a lot of videos that show how to do backgrounds using that method, but yours looks so three dimensional and dynamic, and I’ve never seen one with a hide at the top like yours. Honestly, I’m blown away by your amazing build.

Yes I did - Thank you for reminding me; I should have mentioned that in the video. The drainage layer is made from leca clay balls covered in fiberglass screen. You can see it in one of the photos that come up in the beginning.

I think low level UVB can't hurt, and might help. I wouldn't say it's necessary. My understanding is that there is only one study directly addressing this question and it found that UVB did not impact vitD3 levels in ball pythons, though it was admittedly small study with a couple design problems. Ball pythons are mostly nocturnal and do not seem to require UVB exposure even if there might be some small hidden benefit. I will say most people do not use UVB with ball pythons and this does not lead to any known maladies. I am not using UVB - I bought the equipment to install it in my enclosure and ended up not installing it because my python never comes out when the lights are on.

I think it's a cool idea. I have seen aquarists and (to a lesser extent) herpetoculturists refer to those setups as biotopes - though the degree to which people use all native plants is somewhat mixed - some will just use plants native to the type of environment (eg, all rainforest vs all savannah, regardless of where the plant is native to). In practice it gets challenging, because most species of plants available commercially are not from the habitats of pet herp species. My leopard gecko enclosure almost IS a biotope - except it's a biotope from the Mojave, which is not where leopard geckos live (though they do live in some arid and desert scrubland habitats). This was doable because I regularly visit the Mojave, but even buying the plants I wanted that are native to my state took several months. Additionally, tropical houseplants are easier to grow in vivaria than desert or savannah species, which is why you'll see them used in more herp enclosures. You can grow desert species (and I currently am) but it requires lights with much higher output. So yeah, I think it's a cool idea and it could probably be done if you're willing to put in the research to talk to people who have been to these habitats (or visit them yourself) to determine what species of plants dominate the landscape, and then figure out how to source them. But it's not something I've been able to do so far. I don't think it likely makes a huge difference to the animals themselves - I think they appreciate the cover of plants, and provided they grow in a way that enables the animals to hide in/on them they will benefit from them. If you do try it, my IG and email are on my channel page, send me pictures of the progress, I'm definitely interested.

@@ConnorLongDVM Yes i have noticed that while I have been conducting my own research on this subject. I have found that most of the conventionally used as house plants and those used within gardening and landscaping are normally native to regions such as the Americas, Africa, and South East Asia as well as a few from Europe. Very few from the middle east and australasia, which is a shame as some of the more popular species of reptile are from those exact regions. I find it esspesally challenging when trying to find somthing for both my Leos and my Beardie, more so for the Beardie as I'm not only limited by the information given but also if the plant is non toxic.

I have used coco-fiber liner and silicone that I pressed fine orchid bark and loose coco-fiber into. I would recommend the latter method, the coco liner was ultimately peeled away from the wall by my python. I think it is tough to get it adhered enough. Plants will adhere to either. The back left wall of this enclosure is currently just corkboard because I needed a replacement for the coco-fiber liner that The Snake destroyed. It would look better if I did the silicone/bark/coco fiber method, though.

I don't put anything in the pots. If you have a big hole in the bottom you could use some extra fiberglass screen from your drainage layer. I do drill a hole into the bottom to drain water.

@@ConnorLongDVM Great information! Thank you!!!

Hello Bridget thank you for the comment - I did make a bioactive substrate. It's a base of the SerpaDesign mix, I believe I linked to the substrate in the description. I then added isopods and springtails (For isopods I have Porcellionides pruinosus and Armadillidium vulgare, springtails are the Folsomia candida). These organisms prevent fungal blooms and help cycle the vivarium and aid in the breakdown of biological waste and convert them into fertilizer for the plants (mostly leaf litter in my enclosure, as I do try to remove bowel movements). I don't know much about Children's pythons unfortunately. I imagine this type of setup could be used for many/most snakes provided you are still hitting the humidity/temperature gradient requirements of your target species. As for height vs. length, with how my hides are set up I basically made a two story enclosure, so I'm not sure how much it really makes a difference. Part of my choice was logistical - I bought and old frame and retrofitted it, so it was a size that was available and would fit in the space that I had. The Snake does use his climbing branch and spends most of his time in his 2nd story hide, but I suppose to really figure out what is best I'd need a huge wide and tall enclosure and to see where he spends most of his time. I think if you have the space, a wider enclosure would probably be an equal to slightly better option for a terrestrial snake, though you would sacrifice the climbing opportunities. As for sterilizing substrates... realistically, I think the odds that your snake would be exposed to a pathogen are fairly low provided the substrate wasn't used by another snake (you should avoid cross contamination with other snakes, particularly other pythons and boas). People let their dogs and cats outside and just treat them if something makes them sick, so it's always been a little odd to me that herp keepers are so hesitant to let their animals even touch anything from the outdoors. A non-health issue you can run into is that hitchhiking detritivores in your substrate can screw your system up a bit. I've been somewhat cavalier about plant processing, and now have greenhouse millipedes and orchid snails in my setups, with the snails somewhat limiting what plants I can use (eg orchid snails kill jewel orchids), and the millipedes eating my chameleon's climbing branches when they get wet. It's not the end of the world and I just deal with the excess bugs, but the sterilization is usually more to prevent unwanted resident species than to directly protect your pet. Hope this was helpful!

It's all plywood with screen on one side and glass in the door. Pretty standard old-school reptile enclosure. I did not build the frame from scratch, I found an old enclosure from the 90's on Craigslist and retrofitted it for my purposes (waterproofing, wiring, landscaping, etc). I'm hoping to do some from-scratch builds in the future, I'll be moving to a house with a workshop in June.

Good question; happy to answer- in hindsight I should have filmed it probably. I made a wood shelf that is two beams (I don’t remember the exact dimensions, probably sections of 2x4) screwed into the cage, and then supported with L brackets. A thin layer of plywood was screwed in to those beams. So it’s basically a shelf like you’d hang on your wall. I had pre-cut the shelf to fit a large Pangea hide, and then I foamed it all to give it the right texture. The plants don’t grow on it as well as they could, unfortunately, I should have used a larger planter. The plants in it currently (not in the video) are vines that have grown up from the bottom, so it did get coverage like I wanted eventually but it took almost a year of growing in

@@ConnorLongDVM Thank you for answering the question. I only have glass tank, so I probably need to find another way to have a second floor... 😂😂

Some plants do get flattened, but pothos and pilea grow back so quickly that it doesn't matter. Otherwise, it's a matter of providing enough space that he doesn't have to climb over the plants to navigate the cage, and also using your hardscape elements to take stress off of your plants. It's not really possible for him to kill vines rooted into the backdrop, though he can knock off individual leaves. And he won't crush the monstera because it is supported by his climbing branch.

​@@ConnorLongDVM Thanks dude! I had my first go at bioactive setups a few months back and I'm about to redo everything so seeing all of yours has been super inspiring. I wish I had friends this cool. I've also never thought about using primary literature for my husbandry research before... thanks for the eye-openers!

Oh, and your humor was hilarious! We are in lockdown too, and appreciate any humor to make this more bearable.

I'll be doing my internship year at a large local emergency hospital that is all dogs/cats. I do plan to see start seeing exotics the year after. Unfortunately at this time we're legally limited as to how much telemedicine we can use, though that could conceivably change in the future.

Connor Long keep me posted when/if you do. I like the idea of a vet that has a lot of experience with their own BP.

@@Chris-so1tn Will do

It's a good question - I currently do not use UVB with my nocturnal animals and have never had any health problems stemming from lack of UV lighting. That said, I am actively building custom enclosures that will enable me to start using UVB. The position espoused in Mader's Reptile Medicine and Surgery is something along the lines of "In general, UVB use is recommended for all reptiles", though the book then lists several species where benefit is unclear, including ball pythons and multiple species of nocturnal geckos. I am aware of only one study that looked at UVB for ball pythons and it found no benefit. I consider appropriately metered UVB use for wild-type nocturnal animals to be a "can't hurt might help" sort of intervention. I do believe there have been a few studies that have found benefits for colubrid snakes, but I have not read into them much because I do not keep colubrids. My cynical editorial is that importance of UVB for nocturnal species has been overstated on social media due to a certain for-profit UVB manufacturer that wants to sell equipment to owners of ball pythons and leopard geckos. These species are two of the most popular reptile pets and thus represent an important demographic to target from a business perspective, despite the fact that clinical benefit of UVB provision has never been demonstrated. Might there be a benefit? Yes. But if for-profit entities actually cared about this yet-uncovered benefit, they'd fund studies to demonstrate it, not just claim it's been demonstrated already and publish books and trade publications without in-line citations claiming without evidence these are "cathemeral" animals that need to bask and benefit greatly from UVB lighting. I consider that approach a transparent marketing ploy. Also, folks obsessed with reptile lighting frequently cite human data about the importance of full spectrum lighting and UVB exposure (despite questionable relevance) while omitting the obvious concern raised by data from humans: animals can get cancer from UVB exposure, and lots of reptile pets are bred to be hypomelanistic, or straight up albino. So TLDR? Based on my experience and reading I think wild-type nocturnal animals probably do benefit slightly from optional exposure to full spectrum lighting, including UVB. I suspect this benefit is marginal and probably hard to document conclusively, and is likely less important than other husbandry parameters like providing a larger cage with items like branches to interact with. Colubrid snakes that are heavily active during the day during appropriate weather probably do benefit from UVB even if they do not need it to survive. I think asserting - without evidence - that UVB is beneficial to hypomelanistic morphs of primarily nocturnal species is intuitively sort of stupid. And I think the social media discussion has been substantially and inappropriately influenced by for-profit entities looking to sell more units and expand market share. That said, I do intend to start using UVB with my python - he is wild type, and I have a closet full of old UVB bulbs from my chameleon that are too worn out for him but are probably perfect for the python. I'll post an update video with my UVB meter when I get everything set up.

@@ConnorLongDVM Interesting, thank you for the in-depth response. I had a similar takeaway as you with the idea that it can’t hurt, might help. It is probably best reserved for more advanced keepers who already have a high level of care for their animals. Like you said providing a large, naturalistic enclosure with plenty of stimuli. I hadn’t much considered the effect of manufacturer’s claims for the use of UVB for snakes but, that’s a great point: Something to keep in mind until there is more conclusive data. I’m applying to UC Davis for veterinary school next year and hopefully I can follow in your footsteps of caring and helping animals!

@@Rawrxdlol79 Good luck! And I feel compelled to reiterate I am not opposed to using UVB lighting, I just am jaded and think the marketing around it has spiralled. I wrote/heavily edited a few herp wikipedia articles as a home project to try and stay occupied when on COVID quarantine and discovered that basically all nocturnal geckos kept in captivity had their pages altered to say (without evidence) they are crepuscular or cathemeral, usually while leaving the citations saying they are nocturnal in place so it would look like this info was cited. Then third party websites pull that information from wikipedia and a google search starts displaying assertions the animals aren't nocturnal, and folks on social media claim that means they need UVB. This happened for the page on leopard geckos, fat tailed geckos, mourning geckos, gargoyle geckos, crested geckos, and leachies. ....And I know that must sound too stupid and paranoid to be true, and I can't say if these edits were malicious or intended to function as disinformation, but in at least one edit on the leopard gecko page a for-profit business attempted to link to a website selling Arcadia products, and another user making changes to the leopard gecko page to try and assert they are cathemeral had a user name suggesting they were affiliated with a leopard gecko facebook group that extensively uses Arcadia promotional material in their husbandry guides. So intentional or not, it is happening. Wiki is just a good example because there are edit logs of all these changes.

I did in the chameleon enclosure and not in the python enclosure - based on the horticultural reading I did prior to setting up the vivariums whether or not the charcoal does anything is sort of contested. I haven't seen any drawbacks to skipping it.

I should maybe clarify I do have charcoal in my substrate, just not as its own layer. It presumably does help provide a carbon source for the plants, I'm just not sure having a distinct layer really helps with filtration or anything - the touted ability of charcoal to absorb "toxins" is real, at least for medical grade activated charcoal, I am not sure about lumpwood charcoal. And even if it were, the benefit is probably nullified by having a separate drainage layer and a plumbed enclosure. There's probably not much need to absorb anything if I'm basically diluting out and then draining any solute buildup anyway.

@@ConnorLongDVM Thanks Conner. I did pick some up and create a pseudo layer of charcoal. I put the substrate directly on top. I didn’t place it below it’s own screen, so I can mix it in if I want later. I’m fairly excited that I now just have to add the plants! It turned out decent. I’ll send pictures. Figuring out how to attach air plants is my next learning step.

About 130 gallons

I meant to say in inches, sorry about that but still useful.

@@monsterkajiu1912 3’ T x 3’ W X 2’ D,

Hello

Can’t have dirty bullets mid-pandemic

Hey, I can't make everyone happy. If you at some point find yourself with the time and ability to make a free resource that hundreds of people like, feel free to do so in whatever tone you feel is most appropriate! If that happens and the information you present is accurate, I will commend you regardless of stylistic choices you may make to keep yourself entertained while making it. Cheers.

@@ConnorLongDVM ok...basically....please don't make anymore videos again regarding royal pythons? The rest is up to you.😑

​@@simon5856 I'm a practicing veterinarian and have had my pet ball python for nearly 25 years. Lots of folks seem interested in what I have to say, so request denied! As for silliness, if you didn't like this one, you're almost definitely not going to like the follow-up which is a musical without any spoken dialogue featuring a muppet sidekick I named after you.

@@ConnorLongDVM I legitimately want to see this.