Going bioactive

[MNGuy]

I went bioactive when both of my snakes were about a year old and it's been great. Mine have not tried to eat the isopods or springtails. I use zebra isopods so they're pretty big. I don't think exoskeletons would be an issue if snakes are digesting bones on a regular basis.

I only keep young snakes on paper towel to help monitor their droppings and feeding. I think you're safe to go bioactive once you know your snake is healthy.

Good luck!

[Elisabeth83]

I went bioactive when both of my snakes were about a year old and it's been great. Mine have not tried to eat the isopods or springtails. I use zebra isopods so they're pretty big. I don't think exoskeletons would be an issue if snakes are digesting bones on a regular basis.

Oh nice! Thanks for that! Yeah I’m getting a mix of different isopods in the mail pretty soon here and some of them are Dairy Cows, nice and big. Also some powder blues and oranges too but not sure how big they are. But that’s okay, sounds like so far everyone’s saying the snakes arent interested in eating them anyway which is good enough news for me.

[MNGuy]

Oh nice! Thanks for that! Yeah I’m getting a mix of different isopods in the mail pretty soon here and some of them are Dairy Cows, nice and big. Also some powder blues and oranges too but not sure how big they are. But that’s okay, sounds like so far everyone’s saying the snakes arent interested in eating them anyway which is good enough news for me.

Cool. It might be worth doing some research on bioactive forums (I belong to a good one on Facebook -- bioactive setups for reptiles and amphibians, or something like that) about mixing different species of isopods. I know some species can "take over" a tank and out compete others, killing them off over time. It wouldn't be worth your money to mix some species. Although it seems like maybe some can mix?

I'm not an expert. I only keep one type.

Good luck.

[Elisabeth83]

Yes! I just joined that group today! So far I haven’t posted anything and just looked through it. I’ll keep that in mind with the isopods. Definitely have to do more research as I’ve only been a snake mom now for 3 months.
I know the mix of isopods I’m getting were all cultured together, no idea if that counts for anything. Haha

[NikkiSixx]

Just curious on the one you have the picture of above. Looks more like a wandering to me. and when we go out, we find them in 40ish degree weather. Sometimes colder. We also have a bioactive tank, and it seems like some species like it, and others hid out more. Like our valleys and wanderings hide more, but our plains and red sides love it and are always out exploring.

[Elisabeth83]

Yes she is a wandering. Sorry I got in the habit of calling them Western Terrestrials back when I was scouring Wikipedia trying to figure out what she was.
Right now she’s my big climber, she loves climbing all over the fake plants in our tank, I’m hoping she’ll like exploring the live plants even more, but I guess we’ll see. Do you think maybe putting in an extra dry rough basking platform would help keep her happy in a bioactive tank? Or maybe a dry sandy spot? Wanderings tend to like it a bit dry, right?