Ball Python Bioactive Tank

Azi the Ball Python was having bad sheds and needed more humidity, so I put together this tank for him. It is a mixed substrate, mostly ABG mix and Eco Earth, topped with Live Oak leaf litter and populated by Azi, Hissing Cockroaches, Darkling Beetles, Nightcrawlers, Porcellio scaber "Lottery Mix" Isopods, and Temperate White Springtails.

It once had plants in it, but a combination of a black thumb and a fat python landing on them has made them be replaced with fake ferns (which honestly look a bit better anyways).

The tank is a Medium-Wide Exo-Terra, 24" wide x 18" deep x 18" high. Azi is a male ball python so won't get too big, maybe around 2-3' and is just getting around there now. As he is about 2 years old he is getting close to full-grown. Measuring across the front and one side gives a measurement of 3 1/2', so the tank is an appropriate size. If he were a more active ball python that liked to climb it would be a bit too small, but the only time Azi is active is when there's something bothering him, otherwise he is most content to rest in his cave with his head hanging out to watch what's going on.

The vivarium is doing very well and has been together for closing in on a year. There are a few changes I've made and would like to make, but overall it has been very successful. And best of all, Azi has had perfect sheds ever since!

Tliltocatl vagans Tarantula

'Gothic Crypt' Enclosure

This is technically not a bioactive enclosure. I didn't add plants which is the deciding feature, but it does have springtails and I'd like to add isopods once I get the appropriate type.

T. vagans tarantulas are commonly called Mexican Red Rump or Black Velvet Tarantulas because they black with red hairs on their butts. This color combination immediately made me think of Gothic, so my T's name is Gothic or Gothie for short. He needed a large cage and I wanted a tank that matched that style, so I put this together.

It's a 8" wide x 8" deep x 8" tall Exo-Terra. Not a size he can live in for his entire life, but as he's still a juvenile it will work for now.

The substrate is Eco Earth mixed with leaf litter, mounded high to allow him burrowing space and prevent damage from falls if he goes too high.

The background is a strange choice that may not be sustainable, but is working for now, it's a piece of sticky-backed velvet, like the kind used to line jewelry boxes. It will probably break down over time, but he will grow out of this tank eventually, so if it does it isn't a big deal. His water dish is toward the front, so it may last a little while.

His hide is a skull (because of course ;-), which he really likes. He immediately went inside once he started exploring and by the end of the first day he had webbed up the eye holes. Then he made a substrate barricade over the mouth hole so it looks like the skull is choking to death instead of just screaming.

Foliage is composed of fake red roses and fake ivy. It's pretty thick to make him feel more cozy.

I have video of the build and will upload it soon.

Tliltocatl albopilosus Tarantula

'Goldilocks Forest' Enclosure

This is another tarantula tank that is vaguely bioactive. It doesn't have plants, just springtails and isopods when my Dwarf Whites start reproducing. It is currently empty as I'm allowing time for the springtails to get established and my tarantula Goldilocks is currently comfortable in her storage container.

Tliltocatl albo are commonly called Curlyhair Tarantulas for the golden, curly hairs on their legs, so my T is called Goldilocks. And what fits Goldilocks more than a rustic house in a forest? T albo are commonly found in forests in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, so while Goldilocks Forest is a deciduous forest it should still be perfect for my girl Goldi.

The enclosure is a 12" wide x 12" deep x 12" high Exo-Terra, filled deeply and mounded with mixed substrate of Eco Earth and leaf litter. It was then capped by more leaf litter.

When I ordered the Exo-Terra it arrived broken, so I patched the open area and crack with silicone on the back, then the inside, before hiding the patch job with some twigs cut to look like trees. More trees were added into the substrate to create depth. The cabin is actually a hamster house, and the lid comes off to make it easier if I need to access it.

To finish it off I sprinkled everything with some crushed leaf litter, added a small water bowl, and a Red Rose Tea Wade Whimsies Figurine of the Three Bears.

I'll try to upload the video of the build soon.