How to Set Up a Bioactive Royal Python Vivarium: Tips & Tricks from a Snake Keeper

The term bioactive is one that has been thrown around a lot amongst the reptile groups and forums over the past few years, even though its methods have been around for much longer (many of the various frog keepers can tell you this!). So, curious about how to set up a bioactive royal python vivarium? If you’re aiming for a bioactive setup, think of the vivarium as a living ecosystem - plants, microfauna, and the snake all working together to keep conditions stable with minimal intervention.

In a nut-shell, by using a suitably sized vivarium for your Royal, you create a natural living space, from substrate, to foliage. The use of various organisms (clean-up crew), such as, woodlice, earthworms, and European and tropical springtails, will proceed to help maintain the vivarium by breaking down any organic matter that occur (faecal). Also, they will prevent any forms of mould or fungal growth within the space, so it's a double win! Done well, a bioactive enclosure reduces spot-cleaning and keeps humidity steadier for your Royal.

More so, the movement of the clean-up crew inside your vivarium will keep the substrate breathing, alive, and full of nutrients. Which in-turn, aids plant growth, along with the natural growth of these organisms in population numbers. The populations will maintain themselves, of course, but if there is not enough food for them, some will die off, leaving only the amounts that are able to be sustained.

You can often find booms in clean-up crew populations, and the odd low too. But it’s all relative to the ecosystem you have created.

What’s Needed?

Assuming you already have the appropriate sized royal python setup. You will also need:

• Aquarium sealant
• Pond liner
• Play sand
• Sterilised Topsoil
• Coco fibre, or orchid bark
• leaf litter
• Natural bark and wood
• and of course, the clean-up crew (woodlice, earthworms, & springtails etc.)

Add a sturdy water bowl large enough for the snake to soak if desired. In bioactive builds it also serves as a reliable humidity anchor. The drainage layer used in wetter setups (like my chameleon's) are not needed, due to the Royal’s natural environment being dryer than other species. You will find with the leaf-litter and substrate mix, along with the odd spray, humidity is easily achieved to the correct levels anyway.

The Setup

First off, you're going to want to seal the vivarium’s internal joins. This will not only protect from any moisture damage, but also any escaping bugs. Once the Aquarium sealant is dry (I usually leave for 24 hours), you can move onto the pond liner.

You are going to want to cut the pond liner a good 4 or 5 inches bigger than your actual vivarium floor space. Reason being, this will provide a protective barrier between the wooden vivarium surface, and substrate, which will obviously be a few inches in depth.

 What I did, was actually use the sealant to secure the pond-liner around the top, to the walls of the vivarium. This will stop any substrate being pushed down between the liner and vivarium walls. If you ever decide for some reason you want to remove it all, it will not ruin your vivarium as removal is luckily quite simple. Again, you will need to allow this to dry out for 24 hours.

Once dry, check for any gaps between liner and walls. If any, seal them up. Once you're happy, onto the substrate mix.

Mixing the Substrate

You can do this directly inside the vivarium if you wish, or use a bucket. I found the vivarium method far easier. I have no exact ratio levels to speak of regarding this part.

Initially I just mixed the sand and topsoil. But it was definitely more topsoil heavy, and I stuck with that. At a guess, I’d say a 60/40 ratio. Then I added the coco fibre, and a little orchard bark for added texture. Again, I just added until it felt and looked natural. Once all that is in, and you're happy, it’s time to add the leaf-litter and clean-up crew.

I added the leaf litter first, although I don’t believe the order matters at all. I made sure it was a nice even spread, just enough to cover the surface as it’s going to get moved around anyway when your Royal is out for a wander!

Then I roughly spread out what clean-up crew I have. Once you get hides, and a water bowl etc. inside the vivarium, your clean-up crew will find areas to shelter and congregate, as well as venture about where needed. Once that is done., its a case of strategically placing your natural woods and branches, for maximum stimulation for your Royal.

Ready mixed substrate is available in the form of ProRep Bio Life forest substrate.

Wrapping Up

It will take time for the vivarium to establish itself. So it may be worth removing any snake waste produced, at least for the first few times. Leave some in for the clean-up crew to take care of (you can bury it just under the surface if you wish). But once established, it can be easily gone in hours. As well as any shed skin.

The reward for going bioctive is that you get a enclosure that is extremely aesthetically pleasing, and a bonus advantage was my Royal showed enhanced natural behaviours so he was definitely happy. Particularly compared to what he was exhibiting on just plain lignocel, aspen, etc.