Core Elements of a Bioactive Enclosure

A key concept to understand when designing a bioactive enclosure is that there are a few core components required. The enclosure itself, the substrate, plants, clean-up crew, the reptile, lighting, branches, rocks, and other decor all come together to create a self-sustaining environment. In this section, we will go over all necessary elements to create a bioactive enclosure. The requirements we cover in this guide are basic, and the particular species you are constructing a bioactive enclosure for may have some specific needs not mentioned in this guide. We always encourage keepers to do research on their particular reptile species.

Substrate

The most important component of a bioactive enclosure is the layered substrate. Without an appropriate substrate, a bioactive enclosure would be unsuccessful as so many parameters and inhabitants depend on the substrate being ideal for their environment. There are several substrate layers necessary to support all life in a bioactive enclosure to fulfill humidity and sustenance requirements of all inhabitants. Understanding these layers will be the key to success in making a bioactive substrate.

Below, you will find a simplified breakdown of any bioactive substrate. Note that the specific makeup of each component may vary depending on the humidity requirement of your enclosure, so we intentionally kept the names of these layers vague.

Starting at the bottom, you will see the Drainage Layer. The drainage layer is simply an area where water can pool without excessively saturating other layers of the substrate. The drainage layer can be made up of river rocks or stones, or a commercial product specifically made for this purpose. The thick line between the Drainage Layer and the Base Substrate Layer represents an optional liner between the two layers to prevent too much of the base substrate layer falling into the drainage layer. The liner can be achieved by using plastic mesh such as flower pot liner. The makeup of the drainage layer will not change based on species, but how large the drainage layer might. Tropical species need a thicker drainage layer to hold more water, and some very arid species may not need a drainage layer at all. Some burrowing species may fare better without a drainage layer also, but that is personal preference and we encourage you to try out both options.

Next is the Base Substrate Layer. This is where a bulk of the substrate material will be, and its makeup is dependent on your species’ husbandry needs. The base layer hosts the clean-up crew and the plants which are largely responsible in making a bioactive enclosure successful, so getting this mixture correct is paramount. Please see Section 3 of this guide for ideas on a substrate mixture for arid vs. tropical species.

The next layer is the Leaf Litter and Moss layer. This layer may seem less important than the other two, but having leaf litter and moss is essential to keeping your clean-up crew alive by supplying food, and locking in the humidity in the base substrate layer. Sphagnum moss is a fantastic additive for humidity maintenance. Sphagnum moss absorbs and holds moisture for long periods of time, which makes it an easy way to keep humidity levels appropriate. In tropical enclosures, you will need more Sphagnum moss than in arid enclosures because you need more sustained moisture in a tropical environment. The moss should be misted regularly to keep it wet, but how wet depends on species. For the leaf litter part, simply add a small layer of dead leaves on top of the base layer and moss. These leaves provide a food source and shelter for the clean-up crew, and also act as a shield to lock in moisture in the substrate.

Plants and Other Inhabitants

Along with your reptile, two other groups of living things will be growing in your bioactive enclosure; plants and the clean-up crew.

Plants are essential to bioactive enclosures. They provide a source of shelter and enrichment for your reptile, they absorb the byproducts of animal waste (ammonia and more) from the soil, they aerate and strengthen the soil which makes burrowing much easier and more structured, and, well, they look nice! We will get much more complex with plants and their needs in a later section of this guide.

The clean-up crew are a bit more involved than plants, but just as necessary. The clean-up crew is a big part of what separates a naturalistic enclosure and a bioactive enclosure so its importance cannot be overstated. The clean-up crew are usually made up of two different types of invertebrates, which we will cover briefly here and deep dive into the Clean-Up Crew Section. Both members of the clean-up crews mentioned in this guide are detritovores - meaning they eat dead organic matter.

You may have noticed a lot of talk about water and moisture in this guide, and those are big parts of bioactive enclosure success. But when there’s standing water, there is often mold. The first member of our clean-up crew, the Springtail, is here to solve that mold problem! Springtails are small insect-looking creatures (they are technically no longer classified as insects) that live in soil and consume mold. Springtails prefer moist environments which is why we’ve been harping on substrate moisture so much in this guide! There are several different springtail species and some do better in certain environments, which will be covered in the Clean-Up Crew section. Most springtails reproduce very quickly, but will not reproduce past their needs; meaning they will slow reproduction when they sense their resources are low. This means that monitoring their populations is not entirely necessary, and they can mostly be left to their own devices. It is important to introduce springtails before any other living inhabitants in the enclosure so they can establish quickly and get a head-start on mold consumption.

The second clean-up crew are made up of another bug-looking creature, the isopod; commonly known as the ‘Pill Bug’ or ‘Roly-Poly.’ Isopods are considerably larger than springtails, but how much so depends on the isopod species as there is a lot of variety. Isopods are actually terrestrial crustaceans, so you can think of them like cute little land shrimp! Isopods eat primarily organic waste, soft wood, and leaf litter. Isopods are largely responsible for taking care of the, well, poop produced by your reptile. You will want to provide your isopod colony places to hide from your potentially hungry-for-insects reptile, which is safe for the reptile and not so much the isopods. Hiding places can be achieved with the leaf and moss layer and pieces of wood like cork bark. Isopods will always appreciate pieces of cork bark they can hide under, and cork bark takes a long time for them to eat through. We mentioned before that isopods are actually crustaceans, and believe it or not they do breathe via gills! Isopods do not need to be submerged in water to breathe, they only need some moisture on their bodies. This is another piece of the ‘Why is moisture so important?’ puzzle for bioactive enclosures. Isopods will regulate how much moisture they need themselves in order to breathe, and they will often get water from the damp sphagnum moss provided to them. The Clean-Up Crew section will have a closer look into specific isopod species, as some species do better in tropical vs. arid environments, and vice versa.

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