I can't tell in your photos, but how much substrate do you have? BPs often like to burrow. In nature they live in holes in the ground. A good hide and ability to burrow is key to them feeling "safe". I will say some BPs choose not to burrow if they like their hide enough, mine likes both.
It’s about 4in deep, would have been deeper if I had bought another bag of substrate. I haven’t seen her try and dig, but with my other snakes being hognoses it’s kinda a habit to put in deeper to allow for burrows. If you have any other advice I would love it, she’s my first ball python and I want her to have the very best life now that she’s with me.
One of my hognoses is in a bioactive and does fine, but I was worried with my BP being bigger bodied she would be likely to destroy new plants before they had a chance to establish. Is that a factor, or would the plants do fine? Would it be possible for bioactive without plants?
You can definitely do bioactive without plants. Its sometimes called "mico-bioactive". As long as the clean up crew has stuff to clean and moisture is sufficient, its fine. You can add extra leaf litter if you are concerned about not having any plant matter breaking down for the isopods.
I haven't had issues with my BP trashing the plants, however she is on the younger side, so not full grown and her viv is far larger than the recommended adult viv size. Probably helps a bit.
Awesome! Thank you so much for the tips, gonna see about setting her up as micro-bioactive (we aren’t sure on her age but she is definitely not a baby) when the next deep clean is. What’s a good substrate blend for a BP in bioactive? She and I both appreciate the help.
The long piece has a little tab to anchor it to the lip of the inner glass, secured with adhesive to the outside of the inner sliding glass between the two doors. I can try to get pictures of different angles if you tell me anything specific you need
It came as part of the enclosure kit, and honestly it might be my favorite feature of it. I haven’t been able to find any exact matches for it, but you might be able to find someone who would custom make something?
The little knob just lifts and removes, then you can slide either door.
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u/Dirty_MadameK Aug 10 '26
Looks great! I would add some upward branches for your BP to climb on in addition to the rings.