Been getting into bioactive set ups lately, and upon stumbling across Button Quails I have fallen in love. From experienced quail keepers, what would be the best way to go about setting up a bioactive enclosure for quails, and which species would be best suited towards a more traditional bioactive (humidity between 50-80, temps between 65-80, live tropical plants) setup?
Okay, so I've had mice for a bit over a year now and within this time I realised they absolutely love digging around in soil, so I occasionally gave them dig boxes in various sizes, either in their enclosure or free roam area, as well as filling the whole floor of the bottom half of the cage (this is their cage atm). As I can't keep replacing the soil all the time (I can fit about 60-80 L in there the way it is now) I've been thinking about going bioactive in the bottom level instead. My plan is to close off the bottom half of the enclosure (with the group ofc being a size that is okay to be housed in just the upper level), make some adjustments and then set up and establish a bioactive setup there. Now my issue is that there's not really much information available on bioactive mouse enclosures, so I thought I'd see if there's some people here who have some experience with it.
A few questions (some also probably general bioactive beginner questions honestly):
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Do I need to create some kind of drainage underneath the soil?
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What kind of creatures can I use for a clean up crew? I've definitely been planning on adding springtails, but I'm really unsure on other insects etc, as I'm afraid the mice would just see them as a welcomed snack and eat them if they're much bigger than springtails
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Can the mice deal with the humidity? I know the soil needs to be kept rater damp, naturally creating more humidity. Currently the cage only has front ventilation, but I'm planning on adding side and maybe back ventilation too (as much as the space the cage is standing in allows) so the air doesn't get too humid, potentially causing respiratory issues etc. But I figured as they prefer sleeping in the upper level and they generally have the option to go there it would be fine?
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How long should I let it establish? Is a month or two okay, or should I rather wait for half a year or even longer?
As stated in the title, I'm also planning on giving my rats a dig box, as they absolutely love digging too. For them it just doesn't make sense to have it in their cage, so I instead want to do a huge box (about 80x130 cm with 50 cm height, filled with about 30 cm of soil) in their free roam. As that's rater gigantic, eating up a ton of soil, I'd prefer to have it bioactive too, so I don't need to exchange that amount of soil regularly, especially as I'd love to occasionally grow some plants in there (by covering it while free roam for a week
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hi,
I just saw someone on fb posting about how they're rescuing a leopard gecko from someone they know, and that it's been neglected. they also included screenshots of the enclosure and the current owners page.
the Leo looks amazing and is in a really large bioactive enclosure, and I looked at the owners instagram and it's gorgeous animals with great care. she says that it's rescuing because the gecko doesnt get held often, but she was pretty rude and the gecko doesn't need to be 'rescued'.
should I just mind my business or send a screenshot to the owner? I'd want to know if the person I was selling to was calling me an animal abuser.
genuine question, I'm autistic and not great at figuring out the appropriate thing to do sometimes lol. also, this enclosure was so cool
Sorry for dumb question, I am drunk, curious, and awaiting a cell biology exam
