- Messages
- 216
- Location
- Southeast Louisiana
I posted this in another thread and thought maybe it should have its own.
I dont think plants themselves are necessary, (but in a proper system they can and will thrive) but they need to be part of a biological ecosystem to thrive or they will die off. By that I mean other living organisms.
What I do is start with a base of topsoil - topsoil is important because its highly bioactive and even the microscopic organisms are important and come into play.
I mix in about a 20% ratio of play sand for drainage and consistency.
I mix in very small sifted lava stone.
This helps again with drainage, aeration, and provides a suitable medium for (friendly) bacteria propagation.
I line the bottom of the enclosure, tank, vivaria - whatever with small fine gravel about 2in and put the substrate on top I run a piece of pvc pipe from the top layer of substrate down to the gravel (you have to put this in first and then put in the substrate) so then you can water from the bottom up instead of saturating the top portion.
To make it bioactive I put leaf litter on top, there s lots of useful little guys in that. Then I put in earthworms (these are key) and not red wrigglers - reg. earth worms, springtails, alot of roly polys or pill millipedes (depending on where youre from) and small milipedes are good but not essential. From there you can add whatever you want or see fit just obviously not to many predator species like mantis or lady bugs ( they eat eggs) all of the organisms will eventually strike a balance and you will have a living substrate. You can even plant plants in it if you want, of course this doesnt really work well for tegus but is possible with a large enough encloser and the right plant.
The only maintenance is to occasionally check the soil ph and adjust if needed and this is done easily. Just add chelated iron or lime or a number f other things.
The benefits are many.
You have a natural and psychologically appealing habitat.
It holds a burrow like nothing else.
You dont have to worry about your pets eating it - they wont
Done right the risk of bacterial or fungal infection is almost eliminated because they cannot proliferate to a dangerous/contagious level due to the friendly flora.
In a large enough enclosure you can actually stir in or bury the poop as it is readily absorbed and taken into the ecosystem - this is perfectly health and natural
Even the occasional mold or fungus will get reabsorbed into the system and not flourish (thats where the roly polys and springtails come in)
Best of all you dont have to change it for years at a time!
(when initiated and maintained properly)
I have some habitats going on 3 yrs!
If it starts to stink or your insect die off or you see a lot of mold of fungi - something is wrong and needs to be corrected and soon.
Its a really great method and I recommend it to everyone
Its super convenient for me as a keeper and great for the physical and mental health f your captive.
IF anyone would like help with this (as it can be tricky to initiate) feel free to post or pm me.
Read more: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=11951#ixzz20ktVrPKL
And I would love to hear from anyone else using this method.
I dont think plants themselves are necessary, (but in a proper system they can and will thrive) but they need to be part of a biological ecosystem to thrive or they will die off. By that I mean other living organisms.
What I do is start with a base of topsoil - topsoil is important because its highly bioactive and even the microscopic organisms are important and come into play.
I mix in about a 20% ratio of play sand for drainage and consistency.
I mix in very small sifted lava stone.
This helps again with drainage, aeration, and provides a suitable medium for (friendly) bacteria propagation.
I line the bottom of the enclosure, tank, vivaria - whatever with small fine gravel about 2in and put the substrate on top I run a piece of pvc pipe from the top layer of substrate down to the gravel (you have to put this in first and then put in the substrate) so then you can water from the bottom up instead of saturating the top portion.
To make it bioactive I put leaf litter on top, there s lots of useful little guys in that. Then I put in earthworms (these are key) and not red wrigglers - reg. earth worms, springtails, alot of roly polys or pill millipedes (depending on where youre from) and small milipedes are good but not essential. From there you can add whatever you want or see fit just obviously not to many predator species like mantis or lady bugs ( they eat eggs) all of the organisms will eventually strike a balance and you will have a living substrate. You can even plant plants in it if you want, of course this doesnt really work well for tegus but is possible with a large enough encloser and the right plant.
The only maintenance is to occasionally check the soil ph and adjust if needed and this is done easily. Just add chelated iron or lime or a number f other things.
The benefits are many.
You have a natural and psychologically appealing habitat.
It holds a burrow like nothing else.
You dont have to worry about your pets eating it - they wont
Done right the risk of bacterial or fungal infection is almost eliminated because they cannot proliferate to a dangerous/contagious level due to the friendly flora.
In a large enough enclosure you can actually stir in or bury the poop as it is readily absorbed and taken into the ecosystem - this is perfectly health and natural
Even the occasional mold or fungus will get reabsorbed into the system and not flourish (thats where the roly polys and springtails come in)
Best of all you dont have to change it for years at a time!
(when initiated and maintained properly)
I have some habitats going on 3 yrs!
If it starts to stink or your insect die off or you see a lot of mold of fungi - something is wrong and needs to be corrected and soon.
Its a really great method and I recommend it to everyone
Its super convenient for me as a keeper and great for the physical and mental health f your captive.
IF anyone would like help with this (as it can be tricky to initiate) feel free to post or pm me.
Read more: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=11951#ixzz20ktVrPKL
And I would love to hear from anyone else using this method.