How to create bio active substrate

[Levi the Leopard]

Lately I have read some threads about people with bio active substrate for their indoor tortoise/turtle enclosures.

Is it as simple to create as adding just a few pill bugs and earthworms?

For those of you with this type of set up, can you run through a basic "how to" create one for someone interested in trying it?
Can you list out any pros and cons you have?

I use clean plain dirt from my yard for my indoor set up. I have never seen any bugs in my enclosure and don't battle gnats but the thought of a bio active substrate sometimes crosses my mind...

Thanks

 

[Thalatte]

Well one way to create it is feed your turtle bugs that can escape out of their bowl...

Bio active substrate is great as it does all the cleanup for you, keeps mold down, aerates the soil, and naturally fertilizes any plants. Only down side I know of is it startles me when i see the the soil move it if the corner if my eye.

To create it you will need damp soil that isn't packed down too much as the bugs need to be able to move. Soil wih high clay or rocks isnt the best choice, instead look for soil or I use peat moss and sand combo.
Then you can ether dig for worms or go to a bait shop and snag a few cups of earthworms/red wigglers to dump on too of the soil. They healthy worms will dig down by them selves and the weak or sick worms will stay on top and dry out.
I don't have pill bugs in my enclosure instead I have mealworms and beetles. Other people have used springtails (a popular choice as they remain small) and the corpse beetles (they only eat dead things and will not eat your tort/turtle). All of these bugs can be found online or if you have local feeder insect breeders a lot of them use these bugs to clean the colonies.

 

[Moozillion]

Well one way to create it is feed your turtle bugs that can escape out of their bowl...

Bio active substrate is great as it does all the cleanup for you, keeps mold down, aerates the soil, and naturally fertilizes any plants. Only down side I know of is it startles me when i see the the soil move it if the corner if my eye.

To create it you will need damp soil that isn't packed down too much as the bugs need to be able to move. Soil wih high clay or rocks isnt the best choice, instead look for soil or I use peat moss and sand combo.
Then you can ether dig for worms or go to a bait shop and snag a few cups of earthworms/red wigglers to dump on too of the soil. They healthy worms will dig down by them selves and the weak or sick worms will stay on top and dry out.
I don't have pill bugs in my enclosure instead I have mealworms and beetles. Other people have used springtails (a popular choice as they remain small) and the corpse beetles (they only eat dead things and will not eat your tort/turtle). All of these bugs can be found online or if you have local feeder insect breeders a lot of them use these bugs to clean the colonies.

Do you know where to get springtails? I've heard about them but I don't even know what they look like-

 

[Edna]

An amazing array of insects are present in my enclosures having come in or spontaneously evolved (lol) in my soils/substrates. I don't worry about what they are called. The only things I have added are the pill bugs and earthworms. The only ones that really creeped me out were the centipedes, and those were only in one enclosure and easily gotten rid of. Moisture and deep substrate are the keys, I think.

 

[Yellow Turtle]

An amazing array of insects are present in my enclosures having come in or spontaneously evolved (lol) in my soils/substrates. I don't worry about what they are called. The only things I have added are the pill bugs and earthworms. The only ones that really creeped me out were the centipedes, and those were only in one enclosure and easily gotten rid of. Moisture and deep substrate are the keys, I think.

I wonder how you got the centipede in the enclosure. Do you just use soil from your garden for the substrate.

 

[Edna]

I don't use soil from my garden because our "soil" here is alkaline sand. I use plants from outside, bark from a big cottonwood tree that was cut down next door, rocks from the old rock garden here, and dry leaves in fall and winter. The centipedes came in a crevice of a rock or the bark, or tucked into the roots of a plant. They were interesting and apparently harmless, just very creepy. The dry leaves in particular carry and support tiny bugs, and the torts seem to enjoy them, too.

 

[RosieRedfoot]

I've found that my soil started moving on it's own as well. And any of Rosie's poo that I don't clean up (or can't find) get eaten up by these little insects. I think it's the springtails but not entirely certain since they're so small and only eat bits of food she doesn't (or poo). Haven't had any gnat issues either... yet. Her enclosure is always above 70% humidity (sometimes up to 90%) and over 77*F-86*F. Thought of buying pillbugs but may just wait until spring and they start coming out and add some from outside.

 

[Thalatte]

Springtails can be bought from petco.com, Josh's frogs, Azdr.com, fauna classifieds, and pretty much most dart frog or roach breeders.
A simple google search will pull up more cites. I bought mine from a roach breeder when I bought my roaches.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

are pill bugs also called rolly pollies? or is that a different bug?

if you have a Tort that doesn't eat bugs..would that still be ok in the enclosure?

 

[Millerlite]

So for a enclosure how much springtails do you put? Also worms Ect. So you just dump them into the enclosure? Mix them in or will they dig in and do everything on their own?

 

[pdrobber]

asking for springtails?! I bake my substrate periodically to get rid of them...

 

[Edna]

are pill bugs also called rolly pollies? or is that a different bug?

if you have a Tort that doesn't eat bugs..would that still be ok in the enclosure?

Yes, pill bugs and rolly pollies are the same thing.
I have Hermanns torts, and they are not generally bug eaters. I have seen them eat slugs when they find them on a leaf, and they get very excited over any earthworms they find. Having a deep substrate reduces the chances that the worms will get eaten.
Wild tortoises don't live in and didn't evolve in sterile, tightly controlled environments. The heat, moisture, and substrates we provide in our enclosures are attractive to other little critters as well. Healthy living soil is loaded with tiny life forms.

 

[Thalatte]

You can do a small cup of worms and springtails as they will reproduce on their own. And yes all you have to do us dump them in and they will dig down themselves.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

This is a really interesting thread, thanks for starting it.

I had several colonies of tortoises in Philly, when I lived there, and without my placing them in the stock tanks, I had mealworms/beetles in the tortoise enclosures. Rarely if ever near the surface during 'day time', but they would come up and clean everything at night. The enclosure that had my russians had surprize hatchlings in it, so I don't think the mealworms interfered with the eggs or the soft hatchlings. Though after the first surprise hatchlings I was more vigilant about searching for eggs.

The source for the mealworms must have been from some I kept for some leopard geckos.

An informal conversation with some people I worked with at the zoo, was full of warning about the mealworms predating on the tortoises, but no ill affect was ever found.

Other tortoises with mealworms were hinge-backs, marginated, pancakes, and flat tails.

Will

 

[Levi the Leopard]

ok, im trying it.

i lifted some rocks from the outdoor tortoise pen and decided to start with 2 pill bugs and 1 earthworm.

 

[Edna]

ok, im trying it.

i lifted some rocks from the outdoor tortoise pen and decided to start with 2 pill bugs and 1 earthworm.

If you can find a few more of each critter that would help ensure population increase. Worms each have the organs of both sexes (and I don't know the scientific term for that condition) but they still need another worm to reproduce with We don't have a bait shop in town, but the grocery store has a bait 'fridge. I have purchased nightcrawlers from them several times and they have all been healthy and active.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Edna,

what type of tort/turtle do you keep with bio active substrate?

what do you keep in there other than nightcrawlers?

thanks

 

[Millerlite]

I need to find some pill bugs. Going to start with 20 night crawlers in my tortoise enclosure and idk how many mealworms.

 

[Thalatte]

5-10 mealworms will do nicely.

 

[Millerlite]

Doesn't seem like much? My enclosure is 6 foot by 2feet but guess they would breed and double