Bioactive and Enriched Desert Vivarium Part II: Leopard Gecko Setup
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video I show you how I set-up a bioactive desert vivarium for my leopard gecko. In part one I discussed substrate and lighting and provided several natural history and husbandry references. You can watch that video here: • Bioactive and Enriched...
The update video of how this vivarium is doing at five months after the initial setup can be viewed here: • Bioactive and Enriched...
The enclosure is a standard 40g breeder I picked up used. To light this vivarium I used an LED panel, a regular 5000k LED bulb, and a 60W blue incandescent reptile bulb for heat.
As a general note about impactions: sand obstructions/impactions can and do occur in geckos. These are likely either due to underlying health problems that compromise gut motility, or nutrient deficient animals that are eating a large amount of substrate in an attempt to obtain necessary minerals from the environment. My position is that a healthy, properly fed animal kept in appropriate parameters is exceedingly unlikely to get a GI obstruction from natural substrate, and I would rather take that risk than deprive my animals of the ability to perform digging behaviors. Dogs fairly frequently get GI obstructions requiring hospitalization or surgery from eating toys (probably much more frequently than reptiles getting substrate impactions), but dog owners have not adopted a mentality that no dogs should ever be able to play with toys again. I am extending this logic to my reptiles. I was considering making a video discussing this specifically, but I found one from another channel that I think is a fairly good resource and there's no reason to reinvent the wheel: • Is Sand Safe For Beard...
Sources:
1) Mojave Desert Wildflowers: A Field Guide To Wildflowers, Trees, And Shrubs Of The Mojave Desert ISBN-13 : 978-0762780334
2) Growing Joshua Trees from seed: • Growing Joshua Trees f...
3) The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos: ISBN-10: 0974297127
4) Herpetology of habitat types of Pakistan (Table 1): www.researchga...
Music: The "Spaghetti Western Collection" by Brett Van Donsel. "Amazement", "Western Spaghetti", "Cowboy Lullaby", and "Ghosts of California" are free tracks obtained from TH-cam audio library .
Disclaimer: The opinions in this presentation are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any organizations I am affiliated with. I have no affiliation with any of the sources cited, nor any products discussed.
Honestly one of the best builds I have seen. I am currently in the process of building a bioactive for a leopard gecko but this just blows away all the idea I have. Well done that is one very happy gecko.
Thanks! I appreciate the kind words. The only real difference between my setup and most of the others you will see is that my hardscape is textured with decomposed granite and I used cholla and juniper instead of the often purchased cork bark. That and a few plugs of dried grass gives a more arid feel. Fairly easy and inexpensive to do, too, if you should so choose. It just requires a bit of a scavenger hunt for supplies.
@@ConnorLongDVM and another difference is that your enclosure has the right size for a leopard gecko and is not way too small...
@@mosesp6200 Well, I mean the difference between mine and other decent sized bioactive enclosures.
@@ConnorLongDVM i know what you meant... it is just the thing that 99% of the people from the US and Canada keep their reptiles in disgustingly small enclosures; so that im just happy to see somebody keep it in a "european-normal" sized enclosure.
And the rest is pretty nice. Though in my opinion this is probably the most realistic leopard gecko enclosure:
th-cam.com/video/hij6SeTvMoc/w-d-xo.html
Hey I was curious I’m getting my own leopard gecko soon would you mind telling me or explaining what I might need I’ve already done a ton of research but it sounds better coming from a actually owner I already have a 20gallon long tank and a question I had is should the heat may be under the glass aquarium or just covered up with substrate thank you 🙏
This is truly one of the best arid bio active setups I’ve seen. Really a great looking and functional enclosure.
Glad you like it!
I was looking for ideas for a hognose snake setup and ended up here, and I am just blown away with your work and thorough research.
It looks truly amazing! The most beautiful desert setup I have seen.
Thank you!
Damn. That’s the only word that I can describe this with. As someone who sees those rock formations and the rest of the Mojave landscape every day, your setup is spot on! Now I’ve gotta make my leo a setup comparable to this one...
Thank you! If you obtain any extra desert stuff (beetles, plants, etc) hit me up and maybe we can come up with some sort of trade haha. There are plants I think would fare better in this setup than some of the ones I am using (California buckwheat, native verbena, and desert live-forevers were up there on my list, but they seem to only be sold at nurseries in SoCal).
Connor Long sounds good haha! I’ll see if I can find anything, I’d be happy to help you out!
Just found your vids after wanting to redecorate my leopard gecko's enclosure, and all I can say is wow!! I love how much research you done in this and I will definitely be using this as a reference for my lil dude's tank
Probably the nicest desert setup I have ever seen. You should sell the boulders, I would buy some! I live in Scottsdale AZ and have a common chuckwalla baby that wandered into my garage. I have a 3'x2'x2' eco terra. Right now I just have local rocks, dry cholla, and sand. Started doing my research for a bioactive setup and found yours. I have no art skills, your rocks look perfect. On my way to buy decomposed granite today. Will mix it with coco core and some mulch and maybe some dirt from my yard. I live on 2 acres in raw desert so I have a lot of raw materials with cholla everywhere. Was going it line the bottom with foam to absorb the weight, but now I may have to change that plan. You did a great job!
this is the first build ive ever seen go into such detail and effort in capturing the real natural environment of these geckos, amazing job! i just built a bioactive tank for my own leo but yours blows it out of the water. i really enjoyed watching this, you've got a knack for this kinda content, hope to see more soon dude
Yeah so uh not to hate buddy but leopard geckos live in tropical areas and the tundras and almost never in like dry dry desert saharah areas.. they typically spend most their time in the jungles in e.g. India, Pakistan, etc.
But yes this is a very beautiful build I agree.
I love this viv! I look forward to updates on it. I want to do this for my kingsnakes so keep us posted on how it goes :)
Your videos are an amazing combination of scientific knowledge, top-of-the-line husbandry and artistic vision coupled with very accessible DIY tips. Please keep it up!
Thank you! As long as it keeps being fun I will keep doing it.
Absolutely beautiful! Just incredible is all I can say. One of if not the best leopard gecko vivarium I've ever seen!
Thank you!
That was brilliant. Looks incredible. I'd love to see an update on this viv.
Thank you so much i always was looking for bioactive vivarium for leopardgeckos 🤝
Just finding your channel and I have to say I'm shocked you aren't big yet! The level of research and the conciseness of your presentation is unmatched (On par with SerpaDesign). Please, please, please, keep making videos! I know it must be hard when there aren't a ton of viewers right now, but with this quality, I'm certain you can get there! You've earned one loyal viewer here!
Thank you! Spread it around haha
This is amazing! These two videos were very informative, interesting and no longer than they should be. I love how you try to recreate their natural habitat. I'm getting my first gecko and since I have all my reptiles in vivariums I really wanted to find a way to do this for my gecko too. I love making vivariums since it's the closest thing to a natural habitat you can make for your animals and it also looks stunning. It always surprises me how few people actually do this. Especially with BPs it seems more accepted to keep them in dark tubs, but mine are thriving in their vivariums. I don't think it creates unnecessary health risks at all (given you do proper research), if anything, it creates necessary enrichment for them. I have no idea why you don't have more subscribers, but you have gained one for sure!
Very well done, Conner! I like what you've done here 👍
Hey dill what's going on!!!!
@@monsterkajiu1912 Hey hey!
This is the most gorgeous leopard gecko bioactive vivarium I've ever seen. I am planning on rescaping my leopard gecko, Tango's, enclosure soon and gosh this has helped a ton in terms of inspiration at this is exactly what I want it to look like. Thank you!!!
Absolutely breath taking setup! I can’t wait for more videos and I like that the hides are put to allow the gecko to not be seen rather then placed in-front of the glass for the owner to see but rather for the comfortability for the gecko!
Thank you! The hide is a double edged sword - better for the gecko but hard to check on them when necessary. I'm planning to build a setup from scratch where the hides are still true "hides" but are also more easily removed for wellness checks if necessary.
Beat arid enclosure by far great job
Thank you!
I just know this gecko is SO happy.
Very useful information. Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much for this video! I've been wanting to give my leopard gecko a huge ungrade for a long time and this is exactly what i needed to get started. 💞🦎
Class looking tank man im sure that lizard is incredibly pleased
this looks so good!! i’m getting a rosy boa in a few months and they’re native to the southwest us and mexico, so i’m looking to the mojave for inspiration as well. this is super helpful and looks incredible.
I'm looking at this video for a rosy boa myself, he'll be needing an enclosure upgrade this summer. Did you end up making a bioactive tank for yours?
@@dontask2421 i actually ended up getting a corn instead because there were no rosies available anywhere near me, unfortunately. i waited for months, too. however, i did have a bioactive set up for a rosy for about a month and it was going well!! my isos were established and most of my plants did decently (a few littler ones died off, but that’s expected).
@@olyvia1380 Wow that's nuts. I heard that Covid was (and might still be?) causing issues for snake breeders that affected availability and pricing for a while. Im in the US and the rosy I got was the only one in my half of the state for under $180 at a shop, and I live in California. And what species of isopods did you use by the way, I have some Porcellios laevis and dilatatus, but am unsure which to choose. I'd be interested in some plant recommendations as well if you dont mind.
How do you not have so many more views? This is amazing! For months I’ve been nervous about doing a bioactive tank for my bp, scared that he would destroy all the plants and it would be a waste of money and time. But you have given me complete confidence and I’ve started ordering all my wood/plant pieces! He has a nice 75 gal tank and I think I could really make something beautiful with it.
Thank you! BPs can trample plants, its just a matter of choosing hardy plants and having them situated in a way they're somewhat protected by hardscape. It also helps if you can let them grow in for a few weeks before adding your pet.
Connor Long I was planning on buying another enclosure to house him in for a month or two while doing this. He’s only 3 so we’ve got a long way to go together. Thanks again for the advice!
I have my BPs set up in vivariums and they're doing wonderfully! Exactly as mentioned above, get hardy plants. They'll most likely still destroy some of it but it's much better than a dark tub for sure. It may take them a while to actually start exploring if they're not used to a big enclosure, though. Months, even.
Wow this makes more sense than most bio active set ups I’ve seen as the Mojave is very rocky much like their native habitats in the Middle East. If and when I get a Leo I’ll think about this when I’m building their vivarium.
I thought my setup was good until I saw this lol. Definitely subscribing, and binge watching. I love the amount of research and time you’ve invested into your Leopard Gecko’s setup. A lot of other bioactive builds I’ve seen are more “sparse forest” looking, this is the first I’ve seen that’s fully arid, also love that it’s inspired by the desert I’ve lived in all my life. Can’t wait to apply some of this to my Leo’s setup, thank you!
Thank you! Feel free to spread it around, I think YT has buried it under several dozen videos of the "sparse forest" style haha.
Do you have photos/video of your setup anywhere? I'll check it out
@@ConnorLongDVM I’ll be sure to share it on my Instagram, you can find pictures of my geckos enclosure there too! It’s randomreptiles. Unfortunately mine has that “sparse forest” look, because I didn’t even know something like this was possible. I’m 100% redoing it now though, I’d love to have that Mojave feel, plus I live there so getting some more natural supplies shouldn’t be hard. It also finally gives me an excuse to make a 3D background haha.
I have long been contemplating something similar. More Sonoran and for a Rosy Boa, but there is so little info on desert vivariums. Thank you so much for your perspective
This inspired me to renovate my gecko's setup! It looks amazing, I hope mine gets to your level!
Thank you!
Best bioactive build I have ever seen. Great job man keep up the good work.
Thank you!
This is a great video! You explain everything so well and have those beautiful shots of your gecko for us to just enjoy :)
Thank you!
Great job! The rock formation is perfect.
Awesome video, and content - I wish this had been around in 2008! That's when I had a pair of Senegal fat-tailed geckos, until 2014 when I moved..not to worry; they became animal ambassadors w a local herpetological society! Their docile nature was a perfect trait for that. I bet they're still alive now.
Absolutely gorgeous tank and gecko! So natural and well-made, great job!
This is amazing. Awesome ideas and executed beautifully. I hope all keepers strive for the best care for their animals as you have done here. Have a great night
Thank you!
Best setup EVER!!! I love it so much!! Great job
thank you!
You have by far the best bioactive enclosures I have seen. They are all very clean and sleek looking. They look natural with the selection of plants and the variety you use. Your backgrounds and diy decor are no exception to the naturalistic look. Each tank looks very appealing and cohesive. I can’t wait to see more tanks. Would you ever do an enclosure for a crested gecko or any tropical arboreal tank for a lizard that would be a bit more destructive towards plants? Love your builds, I hope to see more soon!
Thank you! I have kept crested geckos in the past but do not currently. I will say that I think chameleons are far more destructive to plants than cresties, so really anything in my chameleon enclosure would work for a crestie and in the hypothetical situation I was setting up a created gecko I would probably use many of the the same plants.
Fantastic job,Thank You for sharing
Can you please do an update on this enclosure! Best one I have ever seen!
I love the Vivarium Connor !
This video is absolutely amazing. I hope that one day I will be able to produce content like yours. Also, this vivarium is fantastic. I really enjoy the way you based it off of the Mojave desert. I find it really interesting how you incorporated foam rocks and dead grass. I have made foam backgrounds but I generally incorporate really rocks into them. I have used twigs and wood, but I have not used grasses in that way in an enclosure before. These are things I do not necessarily plan to do, but you made it work so very well. I also have always been very against picture backgrounds, but I think this may be the first enclosure that I have seen where it works so very well. Also, I was surprised that you incorporated wild isopods as well as collected soil. I generally collect everything, but the soil from the wild. I do this because soil is hard to sanitize. I try to keep all directly wild insects and organisms out of my enclosures, so I can regulate everything this is inside my enclosures. That being said, I do have a springtail like organism that somehow inhabits all of my enclosures. I am assuming it is similar to the organism you described. Anyway, I find it interesting that you welcomed wild soil fauna into your vivarium. Overall, this is just an amazing build presented in a very well done video.
Thank you! The isopods were not actually wild, I have both species in culture. The common isopods were originally wild collected, but I have had them in culture for several years now. I did not sanitize anything though, because this is sort of experimental and I wanted wild springtails or other detritivores because I didn’t think commonly cultured species would do well in the enclosure. So far both of those assumptions seem to have been accurate. I actually did look at them under a microscope, they are springtails, and I assume they came with the desert materials.
amazing!
thank you!
I'm at this video to make a bioactive for my rescue that was kept in a 10 gallon for 3 years🥺idk where your baby came from but they are gonna love this
This is fantastic! Great explanations too!
thank you!
Lovely habitat! And excellent husbandry skills and understanding. I love the boulder theming. What did you do for lighting and heat.
Thanks! I have some details in the description. I'm using an incandescent during the day and a CHE at night for heat, though during the summer I barely need supplemental heat. I have an LED panel for light.
Great work! I love the enclosure and i'm sure the gecko does too.
Thank you! She's doing well so far.
Nice set up!
Thank you!
Super!
Amazing build. Very inspirational now I want to do something like this 😊
thank you!
this is really good, thank you for making this video
Wow, great video! Wondering if we need to wait a month or is there any standard time to wait before introducing a gecko to this environment?
Nice project. More on the hide constructions would be great!
There's not a lot to show TBH, though I can check and see if I have any footage from it. It is a piece of tupperware with a hole cut in the top, with a rock and foam hiding the plastic. Then I used the same substrate I was using in the enclosure and siliconed it to the top, so when buried it appears as a burrow.
The second hide is a length of branched black PVC pipe I hid behind the rock structure.
So awesome! Great job!
thank you!
Love this channel man plz keep it up
Thank you! Much appreciated
Wow nice work!
amazing video and so well thought out. i am going for a similar locale-specific not quite desert but more scrub like vivarium for a Western Hognose. lots of great tips that I hope I can translate well
Glad you found it helpful! Shoot me some pictures when you’ve made it if you’re so inclined, my email and IG are on the channel page
Amazing!
Amazing build!
But 2 things:
1. You should've sterilized the pieces of wood you brought in. There should've been no foreign critters you weren't aware of, because these can have parasites, harming your cleanup crew and potentially affecting the health of your leopard gecko if the parasites get to the feeders.
2. Beautiful SHTCTB gecko, but have you checked it for the enigma gene? The spotting on the back worries me.
Hi! Do you keep the plastic container for her underground hide, or was it just used it to form empty space, and once the foam hardened, peeled it away?
Hello Yrenia, thank you for watching and for your question - the plastic container IS the underground hide, it's just buried. The role of the foam is just to obscure it so it looks more natural and so it's nice and dark for the gecko so she feels secure.
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s when I was a kid breeding these geckos I would use aboveground tupperware with a hole cut in the top filled with moist vermiculite or sphagnum as a moist hide or egg laying chamber.
The current strategy is basically an updated version of that old school method - the functional chamber is just tupperware. The media inside is the same media I use in the enclosure though, just moistened. So far so good, she really likes that hide.
Great build!! Amazing aesthetic. My one concern though is the substrate. It looks really sandy to me and I know for a fact that leos shouldn't be kept on sand. Because they lick basically everything, they will ingest the sand and undigestable materials. Those materials will build up inside of them and before you even know what's happening they'll be dead. Just worried for the safety of your gecko, if I'm wrong please correct me.
Edit: I just watched the first video, and I will correct myself. I have no qualms with your setup. Good job man! Loving your work.
Something I didn't discuss a ton in the first video - there are lots of things that can decrease gut motility (how fast the GI tract pushes ingested items through). Cooler temps, GI parasites, illness, dehydration... these all decrease gut motility. Reptiles may also resort to pica (eating random non food items) if they are malnourished. My suspicion is that the majority of leo impaction cases occur because they have an underlying condition that decreases their GI motility and are also eating a ton of sand due to malnourishment, and they can't move that through the GI tract. This would also explain why expert keepers can report keeping geckos on sand for years without problems while impaction cases keep popping up anecdotally online.
@@ConnorLongDVM thank you so much for the information! I'll definitely keep this in mind when I work on my own gecko setup.
Jaxon River If you’re concerned about the loose substrate you could always make an insert out of foam and silicone substrate to it, so it appears to be natural substrate but it’s actually all fixed to the bottom. Then just cut holes in that for planters
Look into animal plastics enclosures for your next build if you do one. They're cheap but you have to wait a bit for delivery but totally worth it for maintaining humidity and have awesome insulation.
Thanks for the suggestion - My plan at the moment is to start building enclosures from scratch - the features I want do not exist in commercially available enclosures (as I am in the process of inventing them haha)
I'm a carpenter by trade and should really do the same but I know the cost of tools needed hehe. Down the line I might be getting some Kimberly rock monitors so I might dabble in creating a enclosure from scratch.
Awesome video definitely gained a new sub!
Thank you!
DO you think you'll make a follow up video to how this viv is doing? That'd be really interesting!
I will eventually - I do have one follow up available already. The TLDR is it's doing well, though the beetles ended up being a crummy CUC because they reproduce too quickly and chew on the plants.
I am going to break the whole thing down in the near future because I have plans to build a new enclosure from scratch that will be larger and have an integrated burrow.
I love the setup and soil! Amazing job could I ask what soil you are using because it looks amazing
I go over how to make it in part I
This is the best privat desert vivarium. I have exactly the same instincts doing vivariums. (The horizon with the rocks in front / mixing natural and artificial material. And I borrowed (stole) your night glowing moon idea. Love it. I am building a ball python and a bearded agama vivarium. The only thing odd: how does this not have more followers/views? 😏 cheers from Hamburg / Germany
Thank you! I don’t have more followers because I’m not really a “TH-camr”. Or if I am I am a bad one ahaha.
I work long hours and don’t regularly post, when I do post it’s often about weird niche stuff that I want to make a video about not that I think will apply to a wide audience, and I’ve only recently figured out how to mix decent sound/video (the extent of the investment I have made in my video equipment is $14 for a lav mic).
Not exactly a recipe for a ton of viewers. But that’s ok, this is a hobby.
Beautiful vivarium! Very inspiring. What are you using to provide heat?
Currently a CHE on a thermostat, and the lights put off some heat too.
How's the enclosure doing? I would like to see an update. I just adopted a leopard gecko yesterday and the current enclosure he came with was super bare minimum
Everything is doing well except my sage plant hasn't been thriving. I purchased a couple Mojave native plants from a botanical garden a week back so I think I am going to replace it. I will post an update once I know how the replacement is doing.
love your vids man! Can u do an update videos on your plants and gecko?
Thank you! Yes, I will do an update eventually. Right now there is no update - everything is almost exactly the same as you see it in the video. The verbena is growing in well, the Sage died back a little but seems to be acclimating appropriately now and is coming back. My gecko is doing well, she hides all day and climbs up on the rock when the lights go out. She does not eat the substrate.
Surprisingly, all clean up crew species are doing well, even the isopods which I had initially thought had died off. I’m going to try a ceramic heat emitter as winter rolls around. Those are all the updates, not exactly enough for a video atm.
@@ConnorLongDVM Ah i see... Anyway thanks for the great content, i certainly learned a lot from your vids! All the best to you...and your "mini desert"
does the gecko eat the beetles? nice setup, saludos desde méxico
Muchos gracias! La geco no come los escarabajos.
...I may have exhausted my Spanish. Darkling beetles aren’t very palatable to most animals, as far as I know. Many herps won’t touch them.
I promise you Dr. Long, I will succeed in making a bioactive vivarium that is greater than your own. Preferably before I turn 16.
Throwing down the gauntlet ! I dig it. Shoot me a video/pictures of it when you have it going.
Tip: If you know of someone who's a heavy herb gardener then take advantage of that in the winter. They might be ok with giving you their dead herbs, just make sure they're safe.
Any tips on the buckwheat? I’m on my second round. I think I may be overwatering. My first plant everything got yellow them brown and completely dead. Trying to err on the extreme end of dry with my second plant.
I love this channel! Keep up the great work! You are correct not a lot of quality videos about a desert dry bioactive enclosure, and I have been considering getting a leopard gecko so this is nice to watch. Quick question about my bioactive ball python enclosure, it seems some of my plants are suffering from too much direct light? Any recommendations? I have been leaving the light off more to help them heal if you will.
What kind of lights are you using? Using standard artificial lights it would be pretty hard to get too much light to your plants. If the lights heat up it is very possible the plants are getting too hot though.
I'd try to use LEDs, which don't heat up too much, and maybe buy a $10-20 lux meter to check foot candles.
What's the name of the insect that cleans up the waste?
The enclosure I've seen on TH-cam!
Thank you so much🙂
the gecko be living better then I do😭
Ive been thinking about switching my geckos to a bioactive enclosure.. i was wonderding what kind of light you use for the plants? I have found lights, but they are way too bright. What do you use?
Hi! I have a quick question, how did you work around the water bowl? Did you just make a hole in the substrate and place the bowl there? You talked about it but didn’t really show it.
Thanks and great video!
the water bowl is really just sitting on top of the substrate and there are some hardscape items positioned to minimize its profile. You could bury it if you wanted, but you do need to take it out to rinse it regularly so that would get a bit annoying.
I had an old bowl that was roughly the right color and I siliconed decomposed granite to the outside to make it match even better. The enclosure I am planning to replace this one will use a bowl made from scratch that should match perfectly.
@@ConnorLongDVM Wow okay thanks for your response! I’ll be building a leopard gecko bioactive enclosure soon, is there any way of directly contacting you in case i need some assistance, if not it’s understandable.
Anyways, thanks
@@mycoreefer The link to my IG is on my channel, I am usually fairly responsive on there. My big takeaway from this project so far is less is more with the clean up crew (I'd probably recommend one of the iso species I used in this series, springtails, and nothing else). The beetles were rough on my plants.
Everything else has worked pretty well. You may need to experiment a bit with LED panels, current commercially available LED lights intended for reptiles are made for tropical understory plants and don't really put off enough light IMO, but there are plenty of options intended for indoor plant growth or just general lighting that can be co-opted.
@@ConnorLongDVM Alright, thanks a lot! Any doubts I have I'll surely nag you with them haha jk.
Have a good one bro thanks a lot for the answer
I really want to make my Leo’s soil look as sandy as yours. When I upgrade her to a 75 gallon or bigger I could do that. I also want add more tall grass to where it looks like you’ve crouched down to see the ground of a lush semi arid grassland.
Well I have had no notable issues with this mix in terms of husbandry. I don’t think it’s as nutrient rich as some plants may need and I’m considering switching it around a bit for future projects, but it does grow grass very well. You do need very bright light for lush grass, I’d recommend an LED panel in lieu of a product specifically targeted to reptile owners.
@@ConnorLongDVM I use a 6500k T5 fluorescent lamp, would that work?
Does the Leopard gecko eat the beetles? I’m worried the cleaning crew would be eaten, could that be explained?
I have follow up videos as well - some level of predation on the clean up crew is going to happen in any bioactive setup and is important to prevent overpopulation. I actually had problems with too many not too few beetles because the adult form of the superworm isn't very palatable
I know this older, but may I ask where you bought the sage plant?
In the future I’d like to get a hog nose snake and would like to do a bio active dessert enclosure for it. Currently doing research and I love your video. How are the beetles doing. Curious on if your gecko has tried to eat the clean up crew.
I'm sure she has picked off a few. I don't think she can/would eat the superworm beetles (they're big and supposedly not palatable), but isopods and smaller beetles are probably fair game. But they breed in the enclosure and I let them acclimate for a month before adding my gecko, so they have a stable population and lots of tiny babies.
Did the isopods survive in this dry environment?
Yeah, they have. They've been reproducing too, I see juveniles ambling around from time to time. A guy who lives in the Mojave commented and said that he regularly sees isopods - including the species I used - in the wild out there too.
@@ConnorLongDVM oh wow mine didn't ! I made a bioactive setup 1 year ago with springtails and isopods, after 2 weeks all springtails died and after 3 months isopods did too... But maybe I had a wrong species... I will definitely try with the beetle! Thanks for the video man it's very useful there are not a lot of informations for bioactive arid setup on internet.
"washed decomposed granite" How much time did you spend rinsing the granite?
Not a lot, 1-2x rinsing, just to remove crud. This step may not even be necessary.
I was wondering what type of foam you used bc I have a leapord gecko and was curios if it was just normal spray or if it was special
This is normal spray foam from Home Depot. It is generally considered safe to use. These days I am using mostly shaped insulation foam panels as I feel it holds up a little better.
1yr later, how is the vivarium doing?
It’s doing pretty well - I have an update video and talked a little bit about it on Animals at Home if you’re interested. The beetles were a bad addition, they gnaw on everything including foam elements regardless of whether or not it’s coated in silicone. They killed most of my succulents and damaged my Joshua tree (the JT is still alive though). The California Buckwheat I added is doing very well and has formed a nice area for the gecko to hide on the cool end. The gecko is doing very well.
Update ❤
there are two updates available, one on my channel and one on the animalsathome podcast
@Connor Long I saw part 3 when you mentioned rescaping everything. I'll look out for your podcast. Are you still in the Bay area?
What’s your lighting setup like? And how often do you keep them on per day?
th-cam.com/video/O6vYb3_5l0I/w-d-xo.html
The main light is an LED panel. I also have a couple smaller LEDs I have used and an incandescent for use in winter when everything cools down. Cycle is about 14 hours with the main LED panel coming on an hour before and shutting off an hour earlier than the other lights.
hi! i have a leopard gecko in a 40 gallon right now and was looking for a better substrate mixture that is more natural and holds burrows better! has she dug her own burrows yet? I am using a sand and soil mix and it doesnt seem to hold shape at all
So I made a removable burrow for her out of tupperware and put moist substrate into it so she could get in and excavate that area how she likes. That is her primary hde now, she has not attempted to dig another burrow.
@@ConnorLongDVM can I ask about your calculations on possible impaction with your leo and what was your method for not having that happen? I'm curious as I know it's not a gigantic issue but one that should be thought for, please let me know as I'm building a setup for a leo right now as a new time owner actually :)
For my leopard gecko’s bioactive enclosure I imitate Islamabad, Pakistan which is a sort of semi tropical area.
Does that work well for your pet? My understanding is that most of their range is semi-arid to desert (based on published accounts and also looking at iNaturalist sightings and then reading about the climate of that area).
I admittedly do not know much about Islamabad or if leopard geckos are found within the city. I believe it is at the base of foothills/mountains, so the climate may be fairly different from the surrounding areas.
@@ConnorLongDVM Yes, my gecko has been doing great. Leopard gecko habitats can range from semi arid to forested areas. They are found in Islamabad Pakistan. I like to keep the humidity of her enclosure around 35-65% and even higher in her moist hide.
any issues with the foam off-gassing and causing health problems for the inhabitants. is there a cure time where it becomes inert so to speak
I haven’t had any problems, and I’ve been using it with all my animals for about two years. Spray foam has become fairly standard with hobbyists for building backdrops - I haven’t heard of any cases where animals have become sick from exposure to backdrops made of cured spray foam. I’m not sure when exactly it can be considered completely “cured.” I don’t think I’ve ever put an animal into an enclosure within a month of foaming it. In this enclosure the foam parts probably sat outside in my shed for at least a month before being added to the enclosure, and another month before the gecko was released into the enclosure.
Certainly I wouldn’t add anything into an enclosure that has a chemical smell. In general plants need about a month to acclimate before animals are added, so if you’ve given it enough time to air out and plants to acclimate I wouldn’t have any concerns.
Where did you get the armidillium vulgate isopods because I have them in m6 backyard
I got them in my backyard as well - I've had them since ~2016 in culture, so it's a clean culture now. I personally think spreading parasites from wild caught isopods is pretty unlikely, but it is conceivably possible
@@ConnorLongDVM Ok thank you!
How and what do you feed her?
Thanks for the comment! I feed a variety of insects. I like reptifiles as a husbandry guide for info like that.
Must say, i am kinda disappointed you didnt use a live prickly pear or live cholla cactus
Haha, well, as someone who has had to use needle drivers to remove a cholla segment from my arm, I feel pretty confident saying it wouldn't make a good vivarium plant. I think it would be dangerous to keep with animals.
I actually grew a spineless prickly pear for this project, but it ended up having some small fuzzy spines I thought might irritate such a small lizard, and it doesn't scale down well - a segment of prickly pear that fits inside this particular enclosure doesn't really look enough like a prickly pear to give the vibe that would make it worth using, IMO.
In the end I elected not to use it.
@@ConnorLongDVM the bio dude has some good prickly pears so I've seen. The chollas may be a stretch though lol
Which website would I obtain the Buffalograss from ?
I purchased it from a local nursery called Green Acres in Sacramento, CA. You could try googling it to see if they (or another nursery) ships it.
Can I just pay you to build me one, I'm in SoCal lol
I have a question...
If I can't get DC, a mixture of 2 bags of red australian sand, 1 bag of mixt coco fiber and 1 and some more bag of topsoil can also work?
No idea. Probably ? It’s tough, I get asked about substitutions but it’s hard to say because if it’s a mix I don’t use then by definition I don’t have any experience with it. It also depends on what you’re trying to grow and what your ambient humidity and temperature is going to be - you can grow succulents in all sorts of adverse conditions. Grasses and shrubs might be a little less tolerant. But we’re blazing a trail here, I don’t know that the specific information you’re looking for actually exists.
@@ConnorLongDVM Thanks for the answer!!
Actually I also i don't have a good idea... but i think if DC is like sand but of granite stones it should be similar, no?
I actually have a substrate of 2 bags of Red Australian Sand (I put to it water so it gets a clay-like texture for avoiding in some way the risk of impaction) and 1 bag of mixed coco fiber and i'm planning to get topsoil for the 2 plants that I actually have in the terrarium.
The plants that I'm trying to grow is a Crassula Ovata "Gollum" and a grass that idk what species is... I have them in the terrarium and they seem to do fine for now.
@@ConnorLongDVM And something interesting that I'm doing is that I'm not representing at all a rocky desert or a scrubland. I'm representing like a clay-like floor suburban area with the substrate of compacted sand and some pile of rocks that represents somewhat debris from a destroyed house instead of the rocks that can be found in the Mojave Desert. I did this because Leopard geckos in the wild are also found in rural or suburban areas.
@@webodeescorpion7037 Like I said, I don't have any experience with that mix and cannot advise safety or efficacy - you could try making it and then seeing if you can grow plants in it prior to planting a vivarium. Jade plant is easy to grow. Good luck!
@@ConnorLongDVM Thanks!
Why did you add a drainage layer when it's the desert and it's supposed to be dry for the most part or until rainy season. Also how did you get that hide by the branch I would like to see how to make one myself. Other than the drainage layer your build makes sense and is great 👍
You need a drainage layer to grow plants in a small contained setup; the build of all the hides is in the video series, thanks for the comment
@@ConnorLongDVM thank you, I'm surprised you responded since this video is so old.
What substrate is in the humid hide?
It's basically the same as in the rest of the enclosure but I mixed in slightly more coco fiber and keep it more moist
What size tank do you use? I love this look and want to do this for my leopard gecko. Right now I have a 20” long but want to go a little bigger
Do you also have uvb available?
I love this build, curious do you know where I can find those rocks if I don't live near a rocky area...also if you are using a heatpad where did you put it im super curious
Thanks for the feedback! So I discuss the rocks in part I - I gathered these from the field, if you can buy monzonite rocks specifically I am not aware. Many reptile/aquarium suppliers will sell rocks (they tend to be expensive) and many landscaping companies or rock yards sell rocks as well.
I use over tank heaters for all of my animals, this enclosure has a CHE on a thermostat.
@@ConnorLongDVM awesome thank you....im just looking at how to do when I get my Leo and I definitely love how your enclosure came out...and you are correct companies are expensive
@@ConnorLongDVM I also wanted to thank you for replying
@@ConnorLongDVM just a recommendation: I’d switch to a halogen flood bulb connected to a dimmer/dimming thermostat, they’re the most natural and beneficial option. They produce IRA and IRB like the sun, heat that penetrates deep into the skin tissue and heats them far more effectively than CHEs. Whereas CHEs only produce IRC, which only heats the surface of their skin.
@@nightinggale6470 hey thanks for the suggestion, I appreciate all the feedback the video is getting and the opportunity to discuss other techniques.
I have used a few different heating elements. I settled on the CHE because it allows me to most closely mimic how I have seen arid dwelling eyelid geckos heating themselves in the wild - namely, emerging after the sun has set on the horizon and warming themselves on rocks and the road when they are still emitting heat. My gecko does not emerge until after the lights are off, so relying on a light emitting heater would mean that she does not have heat when she is actually active in her enclosure.
As for all the talk about specialized heating methods and light wavelengths and whatnot solely for heating purposes, I personally believe that it is marketing jargon designed to sell specialized reptile bulbs, especially when it comes to animals that are primarily or entirely nocturnal. My animals are healthy and my husbandry and assessment of their health is based on 24 years of experience keeping reptiles, and bachelors degree in biology, and a doctorate in veterinary medicine. There’s a lot of claims and acronyms thrown around in the reptile groups on social media, in my experience so far almost all of them are based on marketing materials for light manufacturers with spiffy pamphlets and non-measurable claims of superiority. That said, if you have one or more peer reviewed studies, or professional experience to the contrary (like you’ve seen some species do badly without some certain wavelength in a large breeding operation or zoo setting or something) please share it - publishing is expensive and I know not everything gets into the journals. Not trying to shut down the conversation if there’s something I’ve missed, but I get sent a fair amount of unsourced claims and I don’t want to perpetuate internet myths. I do appreciate the comment, but I’m jaded and basically automatically assume everything on the internet is BS unless the sources are clear.
Quick question, surely the humidity requirements for the plants and snake don’t match in your bio active ball python enclosure? ( which is beautiful by the way )
They mostly do, I discuss that all in the videos about that enclosure if you're interested. Most of the plants I grow are houseplants that can grow outside of a vivarium, so they have a very wide range of conditions they grow fine in.