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FAQ

What is bio-active?

Bio-active is a way of reptile and amphibian keeping through maintaining a balanced ecosystem inside of a terrarium or vivarium. This is achieved through a combination and balance of plants and microfauna or “cleanup crew”.

Why go bio-active?

From our 30 years of experience, bio-active keeping has been the most rewarding and beneficial method of keeping reptiles and amphibians. 

 
Is bio-active good for reptiles and amphibians?

In our years of experience we have seen the best results by keeping our animals this way. Your reptiles or amphibians will love to hide in the plants, dig around in the soil, and hunt for the microfauna such as isopods and springtails.

How do I go bio-active?

It’s much easier than one would think. Follow these instructions and you’ll be bioactive in no time.

Note: If you are making a bio-active vivarium with live inhabitants, make sure all the products you use are reptile safe. If you choose to use items found outdoors such as; leaves, rocks, and wood, make sure to properly sterilize the items by processing them. (For questions about processing, see below). This information is based on both our experience, and from information passed on from trusted keepers and breeders. This is what has worked for us before, and these are the methods we prefer to use.

  • Start with a drainage layer of approximately 1”-1.5”. This drainage layer will consist solely of rocks, or Hydroton Clay Pebbles.
  • Place a barrier of some kind covering the entirety of the drainage layer (anywhere that doesn’t have a water feature). This should be made out of screen, aquarium foam, or lighting eggcrate sold from your local hardware store. We use a combination of screen and aquarium foam for most of our bio-active setups.
  • Add your soil. We prefer to use ABG Mix, a special blend developed by Atlanta Botanical Gardens that provides animal safe substrate while holding proper humidity and drainage. You can any soil of your choice, just make sure if you are keeping live animals inside that it is organic and is free of any fertilizer and other additives. It’s these reasons that we recommend using substrates deemed animal safe.
  • Plant your plants into the soil. Take your time with this part. Plan out how you want it to look 3 months from now. Take into consideration plant growth and patterns. For a thick, lush terrarium/vivarium, we recommend planting 1 smaller plant per gallon, 1 large plant per 5 gallons. Plant loss within the first 3 months is normal. Don’t beat yourself up if you lose a few plants. We all go through this with a new setup.
  • Add leaf litter to thoroughly cover the exposed floor. This is crucial for the setup. This allows microfauna of springtails and isopods to not only hide in, but also to feed on, which creates beneficial additives for the soil.
  • At this point, we prefer to add sheet moss or sphagnum moss to as many exposed spots of soil to make as much ground cover as possible. This also helps in creating and maintain humidity as well as filling out the floor with groundcover.
  • Add your cleanup crew of The Bio Life isopods and springtails. This is the most important part of keeping an enclosure bioactive as these are major part of the beneficial cycle. See why isopods and springtails are so important below.
  • Add wood or cork hides for future inhabitants as well as isopods. Isopods love to hide in cork.
  • Add any other botanical features such as monkey pods, other seed pods, branches etc.
  • Allow tank to establish for one month before introducing your pets to their new home. This will allow the plants, isopods, and springtails to establish themselves thoroughly throughout the enclosure.
  • Maintain your enclosure by watering regularly, trimming plants as necessary, and feeding all of the inhabitants.

Shipping

Shipping Policy

  1. We ship dry goods and non-perishables to the continental US.
  2. All live animals and insects are shipped to the lower 48 states, except where not permitted. It is the customer’s responsibility to know your local and state laws.
  3. We reserve the right to deem an order unsafe for delivery, based on any issues that might be encountered while in transit.
  4. Holidays permitting
    1. If there are any holidays that obstruct our delivery, we will wait until the following Monday or Wednesday.
  5. Weather permitting
    1. For perishables, we will not ship to areas where weather might affect the shipment, the animal(s), or the insect(s).
    2. If weather is a factor in delaying shipment, we will ship as soon as the conditions are favorable for delivery.
  6. While we guarantee our products, there are things that are beyond our control
    1. We do not take responsibility for undelivered packages or packages that go missing in transit.
    2. We do not take responsibility for any weather that might affect the delivery.
    3. We do not take responsibility for any delays in delivery.
    4. We do not take responsibility for any damage that occurs to the package while in transit.
    5. We do not take responsibility for any animal or insect that you have ordered not being permitted in your place of living due to local or state laws. It is the customer’s responsibility to know their local Fish and Game laws.
  7. If you have an order that never arrived, please contact us immediately so that we can contact the delivery service and get the issue resolved ASAP.
  8. If you have an order that has arrived damaged, please contact us immediately so that we can contact the delivery service and get the issue resolved ASAP.
  9. For Insects
    1. We ship Mondays and Wednesdays
    2. Any order received after 2pm on Wednesday, will be sent out the following Monday, unless ‘overnight’ is chosen as a delivery option.
    3. Live arrival guarantee
      1. All insect shipments are shipped using USPS Priority Mail, unless another delivery option is chosen by the customer.
      2. We require a signature on arrival.
      3. Insect shipments must be received and signed for by the recipient upon the first delivery attempt as a qualification for live arrival guarantee.
      4. All claims must be made within 2 hours of receiving the shipment, pictures and/or videos of DOA will be requested & necessary. We highly encourage unboxing videos for both proof of claim, but also for use on social media! 
      5. We strongly recommend having the package containing insects to be sent to and picked up from your local post office location, if possible, in order to maximize the chances of healthy arrival.  Alternately, if you choose to have the delivery sent to your home, please pay close attention to the tracking of your package, and recipient must be available to receive it during the delivery window.
      6. After you contact us about the DOA, we will email you instructions on how to follow up so that we can process your claim.
  10. For Reptiles and Amphibians
    1. We ship Monday-Friday
    2. All reptile and amphibian shipments are shipped using FedEx Priority Overnight Express service via ShipYourReptiles.com and require a signature on arrival.
    3. Live arrival guarantee
      1. We guarantee the healthy arrival of every animal we sell when the following guidelines are followed:
      2. Reptile and amphibian shipments must be received and signed for by the recipient upon the first delivery attempt as a qualification.
      3. All claims must be made within 2 hours of receiving the shipment, and pictures and/or videos of DOA will be requested & necessary. We highly encourage unboxing videos for both proof of claim, but also for use on social media! 
      4. We strongly recommend having the package containing reptiles and amphibians to be sent to and picked up from a FedEx location if possible in order to maximize the chances of healthy arrival.  Alternately, if you choose to have the delivery sent to your home, please pay close attention to the tracking of your package, and recipient must be available to receive it during the delivery window.
      5. After you contact us about the DOA, we will email you instructions on how to follow up so that we can process your claim.
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