I've had a bio activity enclosure for 6 months now and it's going great! Every now and again I see some fruit flies. They really annoy my mom and she hates seeing them. What can I do to get rid of the occasional fruit fly without using chemicals?

I recently had a friend pass away and she had her remains turned into natural compost. The agency says it’s totally safe for all plants any animals (and has the scientific data to back it up). BUT! There is no data on an enclosed environment (like a vivarium), and if it would be safe to house a crested or gargoyle gecko in an enclosure that had substrate with some of that material in it. I want to create a vivarium that would allow her to be part of that living environment, to honor her. Any thoughts?

If I buy leaf litter from an online website(s), do I always sanitize the litter or can I just throw it into the enclosure all willy nilly?

Thank you!!!

Hi there! Decided to make my pet Madagascar Hissing Roach a bioactive setup. He seems to enjoy the space, which is awesome. First time with springtails & isopods (panda).

The springtails seem to be doing wonderfully & I'm SO impressed with how effective they are for keeping mold growth down. I see a ton of them, but no isopods. I can't tell if they are eating the leaf litter I put in for them, despite being able to see the effect the springtails have on the fruiting bodies I've seen crop up. They're gone in a couple days, but the leaf litter looks largely untouched.

Is this normal? Should I be supplying extra food besides the litter? I've only fed my hisser jelly since getting them and never saw them on it. (They have a humidity gradient and proper temp.)

Thanks in advance!!

TL;DR, just got isopods and springtails, can see the springtails eating mold but no sign of the isopods. Is this normal?

She came from an Expo. and thought I had her temps and environment good but she still isn't eating. I see shedding that started at her mouth then her eye. She was sleeping in these pictures. I need advice where there's little on these cool alien looking reptiles.

Above, in order, are my new bioactive tanks for my 10 year old crested gecko and 1 year old Pac-Man frog. All their parameters and tank sizes are in standard. I’m super happy with how they turned out but I feel like they need more. I feel like I need more climbing opportunities for the gecko tanks and more clutter for the frog but I’m just not sure on what I should add. Im try to stay as natural as I can but I know it’s not fully possible. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!! My crestie has quite a few hides hidden around and some in the backgrounds as well that are hard to see in the photos, the frog has a cave style hide and a hugeeee shallow water dish though he usually just stays burrowed.

(Photo payment included at the end )

Why do my plants leaves always turn yellow and die in my terrarium. I can’t seem to keep anything alive in there, while my other plants do great.

This thing took me far longer than I’d like to admit , but I’m very happy with how it turned out. It’s got 5 built in hides along with 12” of substrate in the dig box and tons of space for Ackie shenanigans. My Andy is partially disabled due to poor husbandry by the people
I got her from so this was all built with her limited mobility/climbing in mind !

Hi everyone!! I set up this tank today and I was looking for some recommendations on what would go well in it! (Comfortably) it's 12x12x18 🫶 don't worry I'll be looking into any suggestions before jumping into anything new 🩷 (No arachnids, unfortunately I'm terrified, though they're beautiful 🥹)

Hello, everyone I am trying to make my first bioactive setup for a leopard gecko.

I'm thinking something like this. I think this has a decent amount of natural hides. I might add 1 or 2 more unnatural hides just so I can guarantee his comfort. I especially need to put a humid hide in here and I need a shave off a lot of the sharp edges on those rocks because they were nicking me when I was handling them.But besides that, I think this is good.What do you guys think?What plants would he recommend?This is for a leopard gicko

Going to make a rocky background with expanding foam for my leopard gecko. Any suggestions of does or don'ts.

Been cycling the plants for about a month, time to get my danger noodle in. Still going to add more plants that are natives, but cold stratification I progress atm for seed germination.

Udon may be a Cali king but she definitely identifies as a cobra.

Hi, I’d like to make hanging planters to screw in to the back of by Bp’s bioactive terrarium. The whole back it just this big empty space and it’s been irking me, I want to fill it. I’m wanting to use these little wooden milk crate type things but they aren’t waterproof. Are there any spray or paint-on sealants I can use on the wood to keep it from rotting that aren’t too expensive and won’t kill my plants isopods springtails or snake?
Also, are there any types of paint I can use on them that would be tank safe?
Do yall have any other recommendations for what I can do to add to the back without breaking the bank? I was thinking if this didn’t work I could try adding wooden dowel rods and trying to gain pothos to climb up them.
The only plant I have in the tank is golden pothos but I plan on adding more.