Managing a bioactive enclosure and the pooping flower

[Fridolyn]

Hi everyone!

I have two questions about our setup with Fridolyn, our chameleon, and I’d love to hear about your experiences!

1. How active should the soil be in a bioactive setup?

We have a 60 × 60 × 40 cm planter underneath our mesh enclosure. The substrate is a mix of coco coir, herb soil and potting soil for flowers. There is also a plastic catch tray underneath to collect any excess water that drains through.

The planter contains several plants, including orchids, Ficus benjamina and Dracaena. We also have some dried grapevine branches for climbing, as well as a living grapevine that Fridolyn loves to nibble on.

Our plan was to establish a cleanup crew (CUC) in the planter to help break down waste and keep the soil healthy. We added a mix of critters, including isopods, springtails, earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) and red wigglers (Dendrobaena).

However, I have the feeling that our cleanup crew has simply disappeared! Whenever I dig around in the substrate, I can't seem to find anything alive.

I've searched the forum and came across this thread: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/bioactive-enclosure-curiosity.195163/

Unfortunately, it doesn't really answer my question about how active a bioactive substrate should be or what I should actually expect to see.

For those of you with bioactive chameleon setups:

Do you regularly see your cleanup crew on the surface or when digging around in the substrate?
Is it normal for them to be almost impossible to find, even if the system is working properly?
Could the combination of substrate, watering and the different species be unsuitable for them? Is there anything specific I should check?

I'd like to know whether our cleanup crew is actually doing its job or whether we need to change something.

2. The mystery of the pooping flower

My second question is a little more unusual: is there anything specific about chameleons and their choice of toilet spot?

The first time Fridolyn pooped, he climbed all the way to the enclosure exit, perched on the edge and then very deliberately pooped outside the enclosure. Quite impressive aim, really!

We recently rearranged things a little to make room for a new plant, and ever since then, he seems to have developed a very strong preference for pooping on one particular orchid. Unfortunately, it's a real pain to clean.

So now I'm wondering what the best approach would be.

If the bioactive setup were working properly, would the cleanup crew eventually take care of the poop that lands on the orchid or falls into the planter? Or is that asking too much of them, especially when it comes to waste sitting on the plant itself?

Should I:

A) Move the orchid somewhere else and hope Fridolyn chooses a more convenient spot?

B) Accept that this is now the designated pooping flower and keep climbing around the enclosure to clean it whenever Fridolyn is outside?

C) Try something else entirely?

I'd also be curious to hear whether your chameleons tend to have favourite spots for doing their business, or whether Fridolyn is just being Fridolyn.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Beman]

This blog might help you a bit with your bioactive set up. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/
Do you have leaf litter covering the top of your dirt? If not and you can not find any of your CUC then your cham is probably eating them. Very common with a veiled. Your isopods are the ones he is going to go after. If you do have leaf litter and are not finding any of your cuc then they could have died off if they were not given supplemental stuff to eat.

Per the pooping spot. He may change where he goes but in my experience with 3 different Male veileds they tend to find a spot and go there. Your isopods are not going to go to the top of the plant though.

 

[MissSkittles]

There are a lot of things that may be the problem. I’ve had such wonderful success with my bioactives that outside bugs have found them to make great homes and moved in. Ants! I’m currently in the process of undoing them all. I used the blog that @Beman linked above as a guide until I felt confident I knew what I was doing. Having all screen enclosures, I found that fabric root pouches work well to hold my substrate and provided I don’t over-water a crazy amount, I don’t have much worry about excess drainage. I have the drainage layer with either clay balls or lava rock and use landscape fabric to separate drainage from substrate layer. I toss in several different amendments to my base of organic garden soil…horticultural charcoal, orchid bark, cut up sphagnum moss, play sand, coco coir, crushed egg shell and mix it all up. Plants go directly in the soil and after everything is all complete, the last things I do is add my springtails, isopods, a healthy layer of leaf litter (live oak works very well), a decent sized chunk of cork bark and water it all in. I’ve tried keeping a few different types of isopods and the one which has worked amazingly well is giant canyon. They aren’t terribly pretty like some, but they reproduce very well and take good care of everything. I can find them usually beneath the cork bark during the day. However, at night they are active and everywhere! Until my enclosures got well established with my clean up crew, and even now once a week or so, I give them some veggies under their cork to nibble. I have found every single one of my chameleons hunting them. Some things to increase their chances of survival include starting with at least a dozen or more of a sturdy type, like the giant canyon - starting with adult isopods - providing plenty of hiding areas - making sure there is some moisture to the soil at all times so they can breathe. I wouldn’t have put in earth worms as they aren’t something I want my chameleon to try eating. There are usually tiny versions of earth worms which are unavoidable that come in with plants.
I have found that my chams do use a particular spot for their toilet. Try moving the flower away and keep that poop spot clear. At night though, the isopods should be climbing whatever to reach the poops. They do not eat urates, so all you should be seeing is those, which do break down over time.
Hope this helps.

 

[Fridolyn]

Thank you for the answers, I kind of followed that blog post but probably skipped the most important part: the leafs. Now as we're a few weeks into the business, there are enough leafs to cover the floor. I doubt that Fridolyn ate the isopods, I never see him close to the bottom (closest is the mentioned flower, which is still 30cm high). I will go with isopods + springtail. We have a few cork caves, probably will add some stones etc.

Thanks for all the tips, really appreciate it.

 

[ehdee6]

I can't add anything about the bioactive soil...

But, I can say, my little guy ALWAYS goes poo in the same spot... right on the floor in the back left corner. He's been using the same spot predictively for almost 2 years, no other spots!

My girl has no dedicated spot, but it's normally around her lay bin.... Perhaps because it's the most bare part of the bottom of the cage?