Bioactive Substrates

Bioactive substrate systems harnesses the decomposing power of natural soil microbes and microfauna to break down the waste of any animals or plants placed in a vivarium. It runs along the same lines as having beneficial bacteria in an aquarium to have healthy nitrogen cycle. This type of substrate consists of soil and leaf litter found in a natural pesticide free area, sand, peat, bark, moss, rotting wood and water in variable proportions. The variable is determined by the type of habitat your herp requires. For example if u have a desert herp use more sand than everything else where as if you have a rainforest species use more of everything else. There are no set equation it all comes down to what you are trying to grow or raise in the tank. DO NOT STERILIZE THE SUBSTRATE as you want to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria and microfauna which act as your cleaning crew this includes non-predatory beetles, small mealworms, isopods, springtails and ( for the less squeamish ) roaches can be added to the mix to aid in the breakdown of waste swell as be a possible food source for your herps as they hide in the substrate and reproduce.

Whiptails as well as other herps will burrow and forage for mealworms and other prey in the substrate. Natural activities such as this take place in setups with bioactive substrates.

Ferns and other plants grow well on bioactive substrate systems.

Meet G. Hainanensis

Not quite a mixed species setup but I love these guys anyway. The yellow-orange stripes, the purple- brown undertones with black spots and blood red eyes. They are related to the more popular leopard geckos but a million times better looking. Also known as Chinese Cave Geckos they hail from the cool wet mountain forest on the island of Hainan, China. They are generally found near moving bodies of water so moisture is a must with keeping this species of Eublepharine gecko.

Trip to Trinidad

Here are a couple photos of the herps I saw while visiting family in Trinidad. They consist of various species of anole some baby tarantulas and one giant land snail. If anyone can ID any of these species let me know. Thanks and Enjoy! >

Cool Photo Blog

So I was attempting to find some information on some Chinese cave geckos I recently purchased when I found a blog (written in Japanese) with some really good photos of some of the cave geckos native to that area. The blog can be found by clicking on the pic below, and even though the words are in japanese it's worth a look for the photographs alone.

Small, Tropical Reptile Vivariums

Small, Tropical Reptile Vivariums

Time to Hatch

Its been awhile since I wrote anything on here I had allot going on during the past few weeks. It has been 57 days since Feather laid her last egg. the egg has been incubating and getting larger for 54 days. It takes anywhere between 60 and 70 days to hatch these eggs.

Before and after the picture to the right was taken at the beginning 

of incubation on day 3 and the picture to the left was taken on day 57.

I incubated the egg on damp pearlite substrate to keep the humidity above 90% but keep mold from growing on the egg. The temperature in the incubator varied from 75 to 82 degrees F.

I'm very excited to see this egg hatch as well as see what color morph the new born will be.

Asian Acrobats

Species
Skunk gecko Gekko vitatus
Flying gecko Ptychozoon kuhli

This combination is for display only. They should be around the same size so one cannot eat the other (DON’T MIX BABIES WITH ADULTS). They should be housed in a vertically oriented vivarium at least 20 gallons (the bigger the better) as both species are aboreal. The temperature should be kept between 85 and 70 degrees F. The humidity level should be between 65%-70%. This can be achieved by misting the vivarium twice daily and having a partially covered screen top. The vivarium should be well planted with a variety of climbing opportunities. Visible barriers such as hollow logs should be placed in the enclosure to give them privacy.

 

Flying gecko Ptychozoon kuhli

Both species eat crickets and will lap up small amounts of fruit or honey. All food items should be dusted with calcium. Clean fresh water should be provided in a bowl daily this will also help with the humidity. There should be only one male of either species as males will fight to the death. Both of these animals should not be handled often as this can lead to stress.

 Skunk gecko Gekko vitatus

These are two beautiful lizards and if given the right setup and plants it can make for a beautiful and exotic tropical display vivarium.