How To Make A Hognose Bioactive Soil Mix
Vložit
- čas přidán 5. 08. 2024
- Hey, everybody! Today we're going to be covering what we do for our bioactive setups here at home. We will be making future videos to cover other aspects of the building (background making, isopods, etc.), but for now, this is how we make our soil mixture!
Ingredients:
Organic Top Soil - 50%
Reptibark - 10%
Play Sand - 10%
Sphagnum Moss - 30%
We do also recommend having a few extra tubs on hand because you will naturally end up with a lot of the bioactive soil! The good news is that we can use a lot of this excess with decorating the background too!
Let us know if you have any questions. It's our pleasure to help out :)
Follow us around the internet!
Merch: merch.snakefulgrace.com
MorphMarket: www.morphmarket.com/stores/ur...
Facebook: / snakefulgrace and / officialurbandinos
Instagram: @Snakefulgrace
TikTok: @Snakefulgrace
Music by Ben Sound.
I don't think there's any better recommendation than seein a hognose go hog wild on the substrate the second she's put in!
Bioactives always seemed kinda intimidating as a newcomer to the hobby, but these step by step breakdowns help demystify it a lot
That's definitely the goal! I plan on making a few other videos to help with the process, but I know the substrate was one of the biggest things that held me back from getting started. I'm so glad that it helped!
Great vid, Jordin! Very helpful and shows me what I have to improve for my hognoses! Lots more to learn!
Thank you so much for the comment! I'm always learning myself and love sharing what I learn along the way :)
I'm going to try this for my sand boa. Great video!
Our sandboas really love the mixture too! It's important to keep one side hydrated and allow the other side to remain a bit dry. :)
Great video
Thank you for watching!
Omg you should have seen me watching your video pausing and playing as I took notes! I love bioactive set ups and the bio dude is just super expensive to do for all my snakes. It was different when I had one lol.
I would like this to happen for my more humid species as well, do I just had more spaghnum moss? If you know how, I would love to see a video on what to do for a more humid species as well ❤️
Awww, haha, I know what you mean!
As for the bioactive for a humid species, our Emerald Tree Boa is finally finished with his quarantine, so I will be putting together a tropical bioactive for him and getting that all set up, so I'll make a video on the mixture for a more humid species :)
Thank you!' 👏
It was interesting watching this video ! Love hognoses ! There is nothing cuter then these snakes ! Especially when they imitate the cobra snake 💕💕🐍🐍 💐💐God bless you & peace out ✌️💕💐🐍
So glad that you enjoyed it! Hognoses are the best and they are really awesome! Thank you so much for watching!
That's my favorite part about hognose. The funny thing is I'm not really into cobras but something about hognose imitating cobras is so cute 😍
Hognose have actually made me appreciate cobras beauty more. I used to just think of cobras as dangerous and never stopped to notice how beautiful they are. They definitely can be both beautiful and dangerous.😊
I love cobras too ! Awesome & yes dangerous but yes there beauty is awesome ! They have a lot of personality also ! I am 70 & enjoy watching snake rescuers in India ! Hognoses are my favorite then cobras ! Thanks for responding to my comment ! God bless ! 💕🐍🐍💕🙏🙏💐💐🇺🇸🇩🇪
They really are asolutely gorgeous snakes. Some can even be adorable! I personally don't think I would ever have something that large (they get very, very long), fast, and dangerous, but there are people out there who can do it responsibly and it's nice to see them in educational facilities to help educate the public. Their venom also saves tons of lives with different forms of medications, treatments, and antivenom!
I to have had to use the extra snake tub to mix bioactive ingredients at one point in time, lol.
Also: "Start mixing from corners."
Me: Looking for any sign of the snake.
Hahahahaha! I had a feeling the magic of editing would make it so it looked like Adora was still inside. We did remove her before each mixing. She just seemed to enjoy exploring in the meantime :)
Can you please show how too set up the cage after the mix and everything else you add too it I’m making a bio active one also for my hognose!!!!
I actually got the footage on how we use the bioactive mix to make a cool background and set up the cage too! We just need to finish editing :)
Hey snakeful grace your videos are always a major help luv the content 💯wanted to ask if normal reptile sand would work and if green moss would work it's like jungle moss?
Potentially. I think that as long as it is able to hold humidity when wet, it should work. I'm not super familiar with jungle moss to know if it can hold humidity even when it isn't alive. As for reptile sand, I actually think it might be a bit too light. Play Sand is very dense and that's one of the things that makes it work great for tunneling and holding its shape. :) I haven't tried though, so I can't say with 100% certainty if it works or not!
@@SnakefulGrace ok thanks..will this mix be good for a leopard gecko?and I forgot to mention I have wilderness bark idk if it's the same as repti bark but I think it should work
Yup! I've used it for leopard geckos before as well. Also, in regards to sand, just make sure you avoid the sands that have vitamins and other edible substances because they can encourage your reptile to eat the sand, which can lead to impaction. They would theoretically, only eat it if they were deficient in any of the nutrients that the sand has, but that is something that can happen and is best to be avoided. Figured I would let you know in case that's what you meant by reptile sand!
@@SnakefulGrace thanks
Is there a video setting up the rest of the enclosure?! I really want to make one for my noodle 🥰
Yes, check out part 2! We make one for an adult male :)
do you think this work work well for the cool/more humid side of a beardie enclosure?
It should work! I would maybe just use less sphagnum moss so they don't run the risk of accidentally eating it.
Hey there great video!! What brand of play sand is safe for use in this?
Thanks! We use Play Sand that is specific for kid's sand boxes, since those are quite safe, given that kids have a tendency to, well, eat a lot of things that aren't always edible, so the sand is safe and non-toxic.
Can you store leftover substrate safely? And how?
Yes, you can! Just put it in a large container and make sure it is sealed. If it isn't air-locked, you might get a few little insects, but nothing that should be harmful. To be on the safe side, you can also bake the leftover soil before using it at 200F in the oven for 2 hours and that will sterilize it. Just make sure to rehydrate it afterwards :)
So if your substrate ends up not holding tunnels well, is it a safety issue for the snake or just less convenient for it? My hognose's bioactive subatrate is very similar to your mix but on the warm/dry side of the terrarium, it doesnt hold shape at all, like sand. My hognose LOVES digging there though and will bury himself with no trace of a tunnel. I just wanna make sure he can breathe in that situation
They are totally fine, even if the tunnels don't hold. They live in a lot of different types of substrate in the wild and I've noticed a lot of them seem to enjoy constantly digging new tunnels :)
So what is the benifit of adding in the insects? I would be worried about them maybe bringing in mites or parasites.
Specifically isopods don't carry reptile mites that would be harmful to your snakes. They actually help create a balanced mini-ecosystem. They break down the snake's poop and shed, adding those nutrients back into the soil which in turn gives things for the plants in the bioactive to eat as well. I've even heard of some snakes enjoying just watching the movement.
Hello. This was a very helpful video. I prepared this substrate mix for my hognose but I have a question. Is this mix not too wet for them? Seems to add quite a bit of humidity but then again it is fresh. Just curious. Im new to the hobby. Thank you.
Heya! It does add a bit of humidity, but as long as it isn't soaked and you mix it properly so the water drains, it should be good. You want them to be able to burrow to find more humid areas (which helps rehydrate and also shed easier) or stay around the top that's more arid. I also like to keep plants on one side (cold side) so that I water on that side and then let the other side dry up and be arid. That gives them a humidity gradient so they can have options to pick from (and won't give scale rot).
@@SnakefulGrace Thank you! I have fake plants in my enclosure atm. Do you recommend I wet the cold side periodically anyway? And how often? Sorry for all the questions haha. 😅
I would wet the cold side maybe when it looks very arid and compact. :)
I cannot find top soil that does not have manure can I use that?
As long as it is organic, you should be solid! Just make sure to also add springtails, and some isopods for a clean up crew as well
What size is the big and small tubs used?
The big one was a big tote and the small ones were 6qt tubs. I was using each little tub as 1/10th, so each tub was 10% of the mix as long as the total mix had 10 little tubs worth of substrate :)
If I have a baby hog nose snake, then how long will it be until I have to use that soil
We do use it with some of our babies, but generally, we wait until they are confident enough to be in a glass enclosure and that depends on the snake. Most of the time, they are a good size and plenty confident around a year old.
What substrate would you suggest for non bio active
Depends on if you live in a place that is very dry or very humid. Generally, Aspen is great, but you can also use other substrates like reptisoil, reptibark, or coconut fiber as long as you don't make it super wet.
If Aspen gets wet, it molds very easily. If their substrate, in general, is damp, they can get scale rot on their bellies.
@@SnakefulGrace could I use the same mix as you without going bio active
Im planning to add powder orange isopods, but will the stuff in the organic soil possible kill them? should I sterilise the soil first?
I haven't had any issues with organic soil killing the isopods. In fact, organic soil is supposed to be free of pesticides, making it better for the little guys. You can bake the soil for 2 hours at 200F if you want to make sure it is sterile. It will kill any good and bad bacteria and microorganisms though.
@@SnakefulGrace I heard you should always bake the leaves and wood you get from outside. I assumed I could not take dirt from outside because of potentially harmful things in it but what is the difference between taking dirt from outside and using organic topsoil?
@@kenna3478 you want to bake anything you collect from outside to kill any harmful bacteria, but if you get the organic topsoil, it will come with beneficial microbacteria that helps keep the bioactive healthy. :)
Baking will kill good and bad bacteria and microorganisms, so you want to do it only when you get it from outside, since the bioactive should be "active".
Hope this helps!
Would this be a good mix for garter snakes? I'm guessing it would be!
Yup! You got it! Anything that doesn't need high humidity thrives in this mixture! We use it for our corn snakes, hognoses, garter snakes, and sand boas :)
@@SnakefulGrace Cool. Yeah I'm thinking that I should make my garters enclosure bioactive. It's pretty easy to clean up after the hognose in their tubs but my garters enclosure has a lot more stuff in it and it's a pain. I know I will still need to spot clean but I think bioactive would still be easier for me with them.
Our garters definitely LOVE their bioactive! They even burrow when it's time to shed :)
@@SnakefulGrace Awww that's cute 😍
What kind of isopod would I get if I have a hog nose snake
We recommend Powder Oranges/Blues/Whites (P. pruinosis), Dwarf White/Purple (T. tomentosa), and some springtails as a good mixture of a clean up crew.
Mine doesn’t keep Burrows did I do something wrong
I don't think you did anything wrong. Sometimes hoggies might not burrow themselves or make dedicated tunnels. It's okay if it doesn't hold burrows, since they seem plenty happy to just be able to dig around again.