Debating on switching over to bioactive after an infestation of fungus gnats. What are the most important reasons for switching other than cleaning? Is bioactive possible and easily done in a screen enclosure? I feel like I've seen mostly glass for bioactive. Does the CUC ever get out? How long does it take to establish?
Pros and Cons of going Bioactive?
- Thread starter Jerm0228
- Start date
M&M
Established Member
I'm not bioactive with my chams... yet. However I was just reading this blog post a few minutes ago which had a great list of lots of pros and cons. I've been slowly learning more and more about bioactive enclosures but haven't made the leap yet.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I love bioactive! Sometimes I hate it too. 
I like having a little slice of nature for my animals and I think they enjoy it too. Just about all of my chameleons have figured out that there are isopods and they spend some time daily ‘hunting’ for them. It’s nice enrichment and a natural behavior for them. It’s nice to be able to not have to deal with moving plant pots around to clean the poos, and of course, the clean up crew takes care of the poos. The way I have mine set up, I don’t have to worry much about managing drainage. I have all screen enclosures and have been using fabric root pouches to contain my substrate. I also have some heavy duty plastic beneath the enclosure and the ReptiBreeze substrate tray that the root pouch sits on.
The downsides is when I need to move an enclosure. They weigh a ton and the best I can do is slide it across the floor inch by inch. If I need to move an enclosure to another room, I have to take it all down. If you need to get a fecal sample for testing or even just to monitor hydration and such, good luck. Then there’s occasionally the stray isopod that gets lost and you’ll find around the house. I don’t mind that though. I think they’re cute. Lastly is if you do get soil gnats, it is a challenge to get rid of them. I hatched out mantis ooths in the enclosures, which worked great in the past. This last time all of the chams found the mantis babies immediately and ate them all. I had to eventually resort to using mosquito bits, which I think may have killed off my clean up crew.
I like having a little slice of nature for my animals and I think they enjoy it too. Just about all of my chameleons have figured out that there are isopods and they spend some time daily ‘hunting’ for them. It’s nice enrichment and a natural behavior for them. It’s nice to be able to not have to deal with moving plant pots around to clean the poos, and of course, the clean up crew takes care of the poos. The way I have mine set up, I don’t have to worry much about managing drainage. I have all screen enclosures and have been using fabric root pouches to contain my substrate. I also have some heavy duty plastic beneath the enclosure and the ReptiBreeze substrate tray that the root pouch sits on. The downsides is when I need to move an enclosure. They weigh a ton and the best I can do is slide it across the floor inch by inch. If I need to move an enclosure to another room, I have to take it all down. If you need to get a fecal sample for testing or even just to monitor hydration and such, good luck. Then there’s occasionally the stray isopod that gets lost and you’ll find around the house. I don’t mind that though. I think they’re cute. Lastly is if you do get soil gnats, it is a challenge to get rid of them. I hatched out mantis ooths in the enclosures, which worked great in the past. This last time all of the chams found the mantis babies immediately and ate them all. I had to eventually resort to using mosquito bits, which I think may have killed off my clean up crew.
