Bioactive leopard gecko enclosure! DIY grout background 

The white fleece layer honestly looks fine, it's as if there's another layer of substrate there and it looks kinda cool. This enclosure is ART you did so well!!

I love it so much when people upgrade their pet's enclosure. I remember when I was able to give my rabbits a full room to themselves and it was such a nice feeling.

I cannot express how awesome it is that you're using uvb and substrate. It is so, so important that more people provide a more natural set up for their leos.

It came out so well 😍😍

That looks fab, you would think it was a professional back drop you’ve did a great job.

I love when famous youtubers do this change for their leopard geckos. The community really needs to learn. Thank you! It is amazing. That background really gives the touch! If you want, spider plants or golden pothos are great and dont take much space.

as your first leo bioactive this is really good, and i love your way of making these videos both this one and the snail one, you just make them really interesting to watch so they are quite fun

very spoiled gecko looks amazing

The music in the beginning sounds like something you’d hear on the Great British Baking Show when they show everyone baking 😂👍🏻💖

Even though I am a rat owner I love to watch all of your vids you’re such an inspiration

Such love went into this enclosure. Wonderful job!!

I think it looks awesome! Great job!

This is an INSANE set-up and proves that you will go to any end to give your babies a happy life. Amazing amazing content, keep up the great work! 💛💛

emi this is art 💜 please feel extremely proud of yourself 💙

Orbit is so lucky to have you! This is such a pretty enclosure and was definitely worth the wait !

Well done it looks incredible! 👏👏

It looks really great! I bet your Leopard gecko loves it ❤

Awesome build. Good job.

Wowwwwwww that is one beautiful set up you did a great job on that. Wow

Wowwww love it. You go above and beyond

This is so awesome very creative I love it

Wow, it lookes amazing! You did a fantastic job. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 🥰🥰🥰

This is the best DIY background I've seen! Ever! Such an inspiration. Thank you for sharing this!

Wow! Looks fab! Orbit is a cutie 💚

Ahh!! I’m so excited!

I love bioactive leo enclosures!

i LOVEE how you work so hard for your pets

Thank you it looks beautiful. I'm trying to do one for my nephew.

planning on doing a similar background to this for my kingsnake. It looks super sick!

Emi that looks amazing! Orbit is one very lucky lil lady! 🥰💕

So cute!😍

it looks so awesome, you did great and also she's so freaking cute!

You can use window vinyl to cover up the front glass if the look of the drainage layer and fleece bother you. It’s easy to put on and comes off easy too

I finally upgraded my Leo from the 36x18x12 to the 36x18x18, it’s amazing how much 5 inches can make a big difference it’s so much more roomy, I’m getting ideas for what I want to do before I move him because he loves to climb, I love what you did looks so cool. 6 inches actually.

Hi emi I love your videos there so entertaining to watch ily x

I love how this looks! It’s so amazing! Also, your dairy cow isopods are adorable ☺️

watching you craft and paint the background was true artistry! thanks for this video, it was super helpful! i'm gonna build my bioactive enclosure soon

Yey! It turned out great after the poo situation 🤣 Orbit is very lucky!

I like it

This looks amazing, I’m currently watching this with my rat chilling in my hoodie :)

looking good, well done.

I just upgraded my leopard gecko from a 20 gallon long to a 36x18x18 (which is about 40 gallons) yesterday! I'm hoping to make a 3d background for him as well! I already have all the things to make it, I just need to actually do it. Lol

thx for all your help :(

That looks amazing! the background looks fantastic! I’m very sorry about Humbug as well, he was a good boy..

Looks great, if you ask me. I'm doing my background, in an 18x18x24, for my first reptile, a crestie, and it's not as easy as they make it look on youtube. I added some thin branches into the foam, which has made carving the foam and applying the drylock extremely difficult. The entire building a bioactive vivarium is also VERY expensive. I doubt I would've taken on the endeavor had I known just how much it would have cost. I wish I had applied only foam on all three sides, carved it all out and applied the drylock, and lastly incorporated the wood with more foam so that I only would have had to go over the portions of foam attaching the sticks to the bg. Anyway, I'm dying to plant the thing now. It would've been nice to build it during the spring. The plant selections at the garden centers are probably a little t more extensive that time of year. Some Lowes stores do have a great selection still though, most everything I was looking for. I had to mail order bromeliads and a black velvet alocasia. I didn't like the alocasia variety at the store, even though they were large with a ton of leaves. The one I ordered is puny with 3 leaves, a very young plant. That's the thing about ordering your plants from vivarium/terrarium type businesses - the plants are small. At garden centers the plants sold are usually established adult plants, 4" pots at least.

ThrS GAGE IS SO COOL :D

Damn the background is awesome asf! I definitely want to try this for my next build! Fuhhhhh

I'd just put a strip of back card or something along the front to hide the drainage layer. This looks so much better than the silicone with coco fibre sprinkled on it that most people use.

Hi EMI! I love your videos and you have such a pretty accent

Omg i watched a few videos of yours about mice to learn about how to better care for “feeder” mice that came with my rescue ball python. The mice are no longer feeder mice and I’m trying to give them the best lives possible. But anyways my point with this is now I’m trying to make a bioactive for my python and need help with the background, i had no clue RU-vid would take me to your channel for that too! You’re great!! Thanks, emiology!

Nice terrarium, I just watched a video from Krystal French Geckos on youtube that was a really awesome naturalistic bio active with live plants and a cool background. I think those that enjoy this video would like that one to.

oh my goodness,, emi you are so close to 100k!! 💛💛

🦎🦎🦎❤️❤️❤️

Come to think of it, wouldn't it be nice to put a small fan inside? So that there is some kind of air flow and the gecko is more comfortable.

The white fleece layer is covered partly by the sticker so you could just stick something else to the rest of that section on the outside if you wanted to

it’s not too long though. I want to see more 😂

Hi Emi!

2100 subscribers left Keep it up 🙂🐀 900 left😃

This is just my opinion, and I think your enclosure should be a tad bit taller. Other than that you enclosure is awesome. Keep of with the videos Emi

I LOVE the label on the tank!! Can you tell me what’s on it and how you made it?

Hello! I was wondering if you could do a leopard gecko care series. I am thinking about getting one, and it would be really useful to have some more info! Love ur vids emi. ❤️❤️🐁

Where did you get your sedge grass? It looks awesome in your setup and I want something similar. Great video, by the way!

Oo and so sorry about Humbug but he is running over the rainbow bridge now

I'm this isn't an rat intro vid but a tip for future is to put malt paste on their backs to encourage grooming

What light strip do you use for the lighting for the plants please? As I currently have my heat bulb for the hot section and a UVB for the calcium intake for them? I hope you can help thank you!

Hello🥰🥰

And I’m so sorry about humbug

Hey awesome job. Quick qyestion, im sure i missed the info but is the grout sanded or nonsanded? Thank you

omg I live in Colombia South America and I've been running onto the exact same problems you had: first off, there's no "grout", you just have to use cement mix. second "pound sealant" ? like what? we use sheets of plastic over here, agh I've been so frustrated over my background I decided to do a landscape instead. ph and my styrofoam keeps breaking, I have no idea.... I'm super frustrated.

Yay! I am getting 2 new rats soon so have to do intros and I am not excited but what can do???😂 your videos really helped! But have 1 question. After doing both what should I start with? The bath tub or the carrier? You have done both first so what would you do now?

5:17 mmm~ anyone else thinks thinks the foam looks like some kind of food?

Im setting up a lwapord gecko enclosure, hoping to get one in a few months, im so excited and ive done tons of research, but im still super nervous I'm going to make a mistake, anyone got any good advice for a begginer :)

Do you know if mapei ultra color plus fine aggregate grout is safe?

please do more reacting to rat cage videos!!

Will the background be easy or difficult to remove if ever you want to replace it in the future?

Awesome setup! One question, what shelving do you have the enclosure on? Thanks ~

Beautiful! ❤ I just wonder if the drainage layer is really neccessary. I was suggested by some professional reptile keepers, that a drainage layer for leos is an overkill, since it is a dryer tank. Bio dude and Sweet Chief also don't seem to do it. Any thoughts before I begin this project myself?

It looks great Emi. I kinda wonder if it would be possible to make a bioactive mouse enclosure?🤔

Does springtail and isopod can survive in arid habitat though?

"kind of poop colour" 😂😂 The background turned out great though! Curious if something like plastikote that's used for small pets would work in future as an alternative sealant? 🤔

I’m trying to do the backround right now and the foam got EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

Hi I know I’m commenting this a bit late and it has nothing to do with the video but you’re very good on mice so I was wondering what can I do I have a pet mouse and a wild mouse that came in to our house and got in my pet ones Cage and we think it’s a girl

Hiya, What heat mat would you recommend for a gecko in a glass vivarium please? Do you have any videos on how to care for reptiles, for example a gecko? ☺️ Thanks!

what foam did you use? :)

Do you recommend leopard geckos as pets?

Stop being so hard on yourself it looks amazing!! Would you ever consider getting a Crested Gecko? I’m really interested in getting one 🦎

How do you keep the Isopods and the springtials alive don't they need way more humidity then a leopard gecko?

I don’t own reptiles but she’s pretty cute. And since I don’t own this type of pet I may misunderstand but does the grout and other layer prevent the foam from molding?

What did you use for the white layer i coukdnt hear what u said and you didnt show the label

where did you get the polystyrene sheets, the stuff i can find are super thin so it would be so expensive?

What brand of foam did you use?

Weird pitch: what if you cut apart a wire hanger and used it to tie the light to the rack rather than the zip ties.

Nice vivy

use drylock

What would happen if they ate the expanding foam

Have you had any issues with your Leo eating your isopods?

Wait what? How did you never use a uvb light with her? What about metabolic bone disease? D:

stop making me want a gecko now 😩 Also you're so pretty, just hands down beautiful.

What are the dimensions of this tank??