The white fleece layer honestly looks fine, it's as if there's another layer of substrate there and it looks kinda cool. This enclosure is ART you did so well!!
I love it so much when people upgrade their pet's enclosure. I remember when I was able to give my rabbits a full room to themselves and it was such a nice feeling.
I cannot express how awesome it is that you're using uvb and substrate. It is so, so important that more people provide a more natural set up for their leos.
Do you think if a leo has been raised for a few years in very unnatural environment and generally lost all personality, that transitioning it into a bioactive with uvb etc. will help it regain life and "happiness" so to speak?
@@brianestepa2376 I had my leo in an unnatural tank for two years before I moved her to a bioactive, and she's doing great now!! She's much more active and seems a lot happier.
Most people are better off not using uvb dedicated lamps and just sticking with incandescent with d3 supplementation. Substrate is pretty important for non babies though.
as your first leo bioactive this is really good, and i love your way of making these videos both this one and the snail one, you just make them really interesting to watch so they are quite fun
I love when famous youtubers do this change for their leopard geckos. The community really needs to learn. Thank you! It is amazing. That background really gives the touch! If you want, spider plants or golden pothos are great and dont take much space.
@@Emiology so sorry 😅 pothos is hard, but an adult spider plant is easy. You just need to water it (not spraying) when the leaves start to get the color faded. with the light and substrate you have there is no way its gonna die. Mine is always with babies and that's all I do
You can use window vinyl to cover up the front glass if the look of the drainage layer and fleece bother you. It’s easy to put on and comes off easy too
Looks great, if you ask me. I'm doing my background, in an 18x18x24, for my first reptile, a crestie, and it's not as easy as they make it look on youtube. I added some thin branches into the foam, which has made carving the foam and applying the drylock extremely difficult. The entire building a bioactive vivarium is also VERY expensive. I doubt I would've taken on the endeavor had I known just how much it would have cost. I wish I had applied only foam on all three sides, carved it all out and applied the drylock, and lastly incorporated the wood with more foam so that I only would have had to go over the portions of foam attaching the sticks to the bg. Anyway, I'm dying to plant the thing now. It would've been nice to build it during the spring. The plant selections at the garden centers are probably a little t more extensive that time of year. Some Lowes stores do have a great selection still though, most everything I was looking for. I had to mail order bromeliads and a black velvet alocasia. I didn't like the alocasia variety at the store, even though they were large with a ton of leaves. The one I ordered is puny with 3 leaves, a very young plant. That's the thing about ordering your plants from vivarium/terrarium type businesses - the plants are small. At garden centers the plants sold are usually established adult plants, 4" pots at least.
I just upgraded my leopard gecko from a 20 gallon long to a 36x18x18 (which is about 40 gallons) yesterday! I'm hoping to make a 3d background for him as well! I already have all the things to make it, I just need to actually do it. Lol
I'd just put a strip of back card or something along the front to hide the drainage layer. This looks so much better than the silicone with coco fibre sprinkled on it that most people use.
watching you craft and paint the background was true artistry! thanks for this video, it was super helpful! i'm gonna build my bioactive enclosure soon
also next time after you add the sealant maybe you can sprinkle a little coarse sand over the top of the sealant before it dries to keep your rock texture!
Omg i watched a few videos of yours about mice to learn about how to better care for “feeder” mice that came with my rescue ball python. The mice are no longer feeder mice and I’m trying to give them the best lives possible. But anyways my point with this is now I’m trying to make a bioactive for my python and need help with the background, i had no clue UA-cam would take me to your channel for that too! You’re great!! Thanks, emiology!
Nice terrarium, I just watched a video from Krystal French Geckos on youtube that was a really awesome naturalistic bio active with live plants and a cool background. I think those that enjoy this video would like that one to.
Hiya, What heat mat would you recommend for a gecko in a glass vivarium please? Do you have any videos on how to care for reptiles, for example a gecko? ☺️ Thanks!
omg I live in Colombia South America and I've been running onto the exact same problems you had: first off, there's no "grout", you just have to use cement mix. second "pound sealant" ? like what? we use sheets of plastic over here, agh I've been so frustrated over my background I decided to do a landscape instead. ph and my styrofoam keeps breaking, I have no idea.... I'm super frustrated.
The white fleece layer is covered partly by the sticker so you could just stick something else to the rest of that section on the outside if you wanted to
Beautiful! ❤ I just wonder if the drainage layer is really neccessary. I was suggested by some professional reptile keepers, that a drainage layer for leos is an overkill, since it is a dryer tank. Bio dude and Sweet Chief also don't seem to do it. Any thoughts before I begin this project myself?
Depends more on the type of plants you want to use than the reptile I think. Even arid plants like cactus can suffer from poor drainage, so it doesn’t hurt to put one in 😊
Hello! I was wondering if you could do a leopard gecko care series. I am thinking about getting one, and it would be really useful to have some more info! Love ur vids emi. ❤️❤️🐁
I probably will keep care videos to just rodents as that’s my thing but leopard gecko talk on UA-cam has hundreds of videos better than I could ever do for geckos ❤️
What light strip do you use for the lighting for the plants please? As I currently have my heat bulb for the hot section and a UVB for the calcium intake for them? I hope you can help thank you!
Yay! I am getting 2 new rats soon so have to do intros and I am not excited but what can do???😂 your videos really helped! But have 1 question. After doing both what should I start with? The bath tub or the carrier? You have done both first so what would you do now?
I do like doing the bath tub first just to see if there is going to be any issues. Only reason I stopped doing it is because they all jumped out and it kinda defeated the point 😅
Cresties have never interested me for some reason! Not sure if it's just the morphs, I do like dalmatian ones though. The jumpiness of them puts me off a bit, I don't have very quick reaction times lol
I finally upgraded my Leo from the 36x18x12 to the 36x18x18, it’s amazing how much 5 inches can make a big difference it’s so much more roomy, I’m getting ideas for what I want to do before I move him because he loves to climb, I love what you did looks so cool. 6 inches actually.
@@Gekkco Not a waste of money at all, my Leopard gecko loves to climb , the size is perfect for him like I said, the extra 5 inches really made a difference also, I bought a brand new terrarium for cheaper than what people sell their used ones for and none of my terrariums go to waste.
@@Gekkco Oh ya also, I use a soil, sand and moss mixture with my reptiles besides my snake so the extra height is awesome, and uh, keep in mind you don’t know people or their intentions, because somewhere down the line I probably am going to put him in something longer because I’m really into natural setups and have so many things I want to do for him but at the moment I’m doing what’s comfortable for him with the space I have, they live a long time there’s no need for me to rush anything. And are you thinking 36 tall or long? Cause his terrarium is 36 long by 18 height and width, just checking dude.
"kind of poop colour" 😂😂 The background turned out great though! Curious if something like plastikote that's used for small pets would work in future as an alternative sealant? 🤔
@@Emiology just a heads up i finally got the time to get it all done and upgrade my ackies enclosure. thanks for the video helped a great deal seeing what someone from the UK used. :)
I don’t own reptiles but she’s pretty cute. And since I don’t own this type of pet I may misunderstand but does the grout and other layer prevent the foam from molding?
Should do! The grout is more so for the appearance / colour to make it rock like, and the sealer will seal everything in and make it waterproof. With arid / dry enclosures like with leopard geckos you don't get much moisture in the tank so there's not much risk of mould :)
Hi I know I’m commenting this a bit late and it has nothing to do with the video but you’re very good on mice so I was wondering what can I do I have a pet mouse and a wild mouse that came in to our house and got in my pet ones Cage and we think it’s a girl
Im setting up a lwapord gecko enclosure, hoping to get one in a few months, im so excited and ive done tons of research, but im still super nervous I'm going to make a mistake, anyone got any good advice for a begginer :)
Many people (still) don't use UVB with leopard geckos, and just use supplements with and without D3 on their food and in the enclosure. Artificially providing the same thing and preventing MBD. She did however with her previous owner have no UVB and no supplements at all :\
The white fleece layer honestly looks fine, it's as if there's another layer of substrate there and it looks kinda cool. This enclosure is ART you did so well!!
I think it will squish down over time too!
@@Emiologysame thing happened with my enclosure it annoyed me soo much but its kinda squishing down
I love it so much when people upgrade their pet's enclosure. I remember when I was able to give my rabbits a full room to themselves and it was such a nice feeling.
I cannot express how awesome it is that you're using uvb and substrate. It is so, so important that more people provide a more natural set up for their leos.
Do you think if a leo has been raised for a few years in very unnatural environment and generally lost all personality, that transitioning it into a bioactive with uvb etc. will help it regain life and "happiness" so to speak?
@@brianestepa2376 I had my leo in an unnatural tank for two years before I moved her to a bioactive, and she's doing great now!! She's much more active and seems a lot happier.
D3 supplement > UVB lamp
Most people are better off not using uvb dedicated lamps and just sticking with incandescent with d3 supplementation.
Substrate is pretty important for non babies though.
That looks fab, you would think it was a professional back drop you’ve did a great job.
Thank you! That’s a nice thing to hear! Definitely know how to make it look even better next time
as your first leo bioactive this is really good, and i love your way of making these videos both this one and the snail one, you just make them really interesting to watch so they are quite fun
Thank you!
I love when famous youtubers do this change for their leopard geckos. The community really needs to learn. Thank you!
It is amazing. That background really gives the touch! If you want, spider plants or golden pothos are great and dont take much space.
I’m not good with either of those plants I’ve tried both of those in enclosures before and they didn’t last very long 😞
@@Emiology so sorry 😅 pothos is hard, but an adult spider plant is easy. You just need to water it (not spraying) when the leaves start to get the color faded. with the light and substrate you have there is no way its gonna die. Mine is always with babies and that's all I do
It came out so well 😍😍
Thank u queen, couldn't have done it without all your videos
Hi leopard gecko! Do you remember me? My leopard gecko had a 20 gallon long and now she has a 40 gallon mansion! :D
Even though I am a rat owner I love to watch all of your vids you’re such an inspiration
The music in the beginning sounds like something you’d hear on the Great British Baking Show when they show everyone baking 😂👍🏻💖
very spoiled gecko looks amazing
My gecko mango is literally your geckos twin ☺️ beautiful enclosure btw! I’d love to do a big bioactive setup!!!
Orbit is so lucky to have you! This is such a pretty enclosure and was definitely worth the wait !
This is an INSANE set-up and proves that you will go to any end to give your babies a happy life. Amazing amazing content, keep up the great work! 💛💛
You can use window vinyl to cover up the front glass if the look of the drainage layer and fleece bother you. It’s easy to put on and comes off easy too
Wowwwwwww that is one beautiful set up you did a great job on that. Wow
Looks great, if you ask me. I'm doing my background, in an 18x18x24, for my first reptile, a crestie, and it's not as easy as they make it look on youtube. I added some thin branches into the foam, which has made carving the foam and applying the drylock extremely difficult. The entire building a bioactive vivarium is also VERY expensive. I doubt I would've taken on the endeavor had I known just how much it would have cost. I wish I had applied only foam on all three sides, carved it all out and applied the drylock, and lastly incorporated the wood with more foam so that I only would have had to go over the portions of foam attaching the sticks to the bg. Anyway, I'm dying to plant the thing now. It would've been nice to build it during the spring. The plant selections at the garden centers are probably a little t more extensive that time of year. Some Lowes stores do have a great selection still though, most everything I was looking for. I had to mail order bromeliads and a black velvet alocasia. I didn't like the alocasia variety at the store, even though they were large with a ton of leaves. The one I ordered is puny with 3 leaves, a very young plant. That's the thing about ordering your plants from vivarium/terrarium type businesses - the plants are small. At garden centers the plants sold are usually established adult plants, 4" pots at least.
Such love went into this enclosure. Wonderful job!!
I just upgraded my leopard gecko from a 20 gallon long to a 36x18x18 (which is about 40 gallons) yesterday! I'm hoping to make a 3d background for him as well! I already have all the things to make it, I just need to actually do it. Lol
This is the best DIY background I've seen! Ever! Such an inspiration. Thank you for sharing this!
I'd just put a strip of back card or something along the front to hide the drainage layer. This looks so much better than the silicone with coco fibre sprinkled on it that most people use.
emi this is art 💜 please feel extremely proud of yourself 💙
Wow, it lookes amazing! You did a fantastic job. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 🥰🥰🥰
It looks really great! I bet your Leopard gecko loves it ❤
I think it looks awesome! Great job!
watching you craft and paint the background was true artistry! thanks for this video, it was super helpful! i'm gonna build my bioactive enclosure soon
also next time after you add the sealant maybe you can sprinkle a little coarse sand over the top of the sealant before it dries to keep your rock texture!
Omg i watched a few videos of yours about mice to learn about how to better care for “feeder” mice that came with my rescue ball python. The mice are no longer feeder mice and I’m trying to give them the best lives possible. But anyways my point with this is now I’m trying to make a bioactive for my python and need help with the background, i had no clue UA-cam would take me to your channel for that too! You’re great!! Thanks, emiology!
I love how this looks! It’s so amazing! Also, your dairy cow isopods are adorable ☺️
it looks so awesome, you did great and also she's so freaking cute!
Emi that looks amazing! Orbit is one very lucky lil lady! 🥰💕
planning on doing a similar background to this for my kingsnake. It looks super sick!
That looks amazing! the background looks fantastic! I’m very sorry about Humbug as well, he was a good boy..
Thank you it looks beautiful. I'm trying to do one for my nephew.
Yey! It turned out great after the poo situation 🤣 Orbit is very lucky!
This looks amazing, I’m currently watching this with my rat chilling in my hoodie :)
I love bioactive leo enclosures!
i LOVEE how you work so hard for your pets
Damn the background is awesome asf! I definitely want to try this for my next build! Fuhhhhh
Wow! Looks fab! Orbit is a cutie 💚
Hi emi I love your videos there so entertaining to watch ily x
Ahh!! I’m so excited!
Wowwww love it. You go above and beyond
Awesome build. Good job.
Hi EMI! I love your videos and you have such a pretty accent
Thank you!
Hey awesome job. Quick qyestion, im sure i missed the info but is the grout sanded or nonsanded? Thank you
This is so awesome very creative I love it
Nice terrarium, I just watched a video from Krystal French Geckos on youtube that was a really awesome naturalistic bio active with live plants and a cool background. I think those that enjoy this video would like that one to.
Got the same leopard gecko type as me!
Hiya,
What heat mat would you recommend for a gecko in a glass vivarium please?
Do you have any videos on how to care for reptiles, for example a gecko? ☺️
Thanks!
I recommend checking out Leopard gecko talk on UA-cam she has lots of videos of how to care for them ☺️
@@Emiology thank you ☺️
omg I live in Colombia South America and I've been running onto the exact same problems you had: first off, there's no "grout", you just have to use cement mix. second "pound sealant" ? like what? we use sheets of plastic over here, agh I've been so frustrated over my background I decided to do a landscape instead. ph and my styrofoam keeps breaking, I have no idea.... I'm super frustrated.
The white fleece layer is covered partly by the sticker so you could just stick something else to the rest of that section on the outside if you wanted to
I was thinking that!
Beautiful! ❤ I just wonder if the drainage layer is really neccessary. I was suggested by some professional reptile keepers, that a drainage layer for leos is an overkill, since it is a dryer tank. Bio dude and Sweet Chief also don't seem to do it. Any thoughts before I begin this project myself?
Depends more on the type of plants you want to use than the reptile I think. Even arid plants like cactus can suffer from poor drainage, so it doesn’t hurt to put one in 😊
Well done it looks incredible! 👏👏
Oo and so sorry about Humbug but he is running over the rainbow bridge now
oh my goodness,, emi you are so close to 100k!! 💛💛
So excited!!
Good job Emi! I think you deserve a lot more subs then 100k with how caring and awesome you are!
I like it
Hi Emi!
Hello! I was wondering if you could do a leopard gecko care series. I am thinking about getting one, and it would be really useful to have some more info! Love ur vids emi. ❤️❤️🐁
I probably will keep care videos to just rodents as that’s my thing but leopard gecko talk on UA-cam has hundreds of videos better than I could ever do for geckos ❤️
Come to think of it, wouldn't it be nice to put a small fan inside? So that there is some kind of air flow and the gecko is more comfortable.
looking good, well done.
Thanks! ☺️
2100 subscribers left
Keep it up 🙂🐀
900 left😃
And I’m so sorry about humbug
What light strip do you use for the lighting for the plants please? As I currently have my heat bulb for the hot section and a UVB for the calcium intake for them? I hope you can help thank you!
Where did you get your sedge grass? It looks awesome in your setup and I want something similar.
Great video, by the way!
it’s not too long though. I want to see more 😂
thx for all your help :(
Yay! I am getting 2 new rats soon so have to do intros and I am not excited but what can do???😂 your videos really helped! But have 1 question. After doing both what should I start with? The bath tub or the carrier? You have done both first so what would you do now?
I do like doing the bath tub first just to see if there is going to be any issues. Only reason I stopped doing it is because they all jumped out and it kinda defeated the point 😅
Stop being so hard on yourself it looks amazing!! Would you ever consider getting a Crested Gecko? I’m really interested in getting one 🦎
Cresties have never interested me for some reason! Not sure if it's just the morphs, I do like dalmatian ones though. The jumpiness of them puts me off a bit, I don't have very quick reaction times lol
@@Emiology yeah their morphs aren’t half as cool as leopards. Hahaha yeah should probably have a quick reaction time to get a crestie 😂
I finally upgraded my Leo from the 36x18x12 to the 36x18x18, it’s amazing how much 5 inches can make a big difference it’s so much more roomy, I’m getting ideas for what I want to do before I move him because he loves to climb, I love what you did looks so cool. 6 inches actually.
😂 what a waste of money, they aren’t crested geckos it would of made sense to upgrade longer bud hey waste your money
@@Gekkco Not a waste of money at all, my Leopard gecko loves to climb , the size is perfect for him like I said, the extra 5 inches really made a difference also, I bought a brand new terrarium for cheaper than what people sell their used ones for and none of my terrariums go to waste.
@@Gekkco Oh ya also, I use a soil, sand and moss mixture with my reptiles besides my snake so the extra height is awesome, and uh, keep in mind you don’t know people or their intentions, because somewhere down the line I probably am going to put him in something longer because I’m really into natural setups and have so many things I want to do for him but at the moment I’m doing what’s comfortable for him with the space I have, they live a long time there’s no need for me to rush anything. And are you thinking 36 tall or long? Cause his terrarium is 36 long by 18 height and width, just checking dude.
"kind of poop colour" 😂😂
The background turned out great though! Curious if something like plastikote that's used for small pets would work in future as an alternative sealant? 🤔
Maybe I’m not sure! You get so little of it in a tub I’m not sure if it would be worth it 🤔
@@Emiology ah yeah that's a fair point, you don't want to spend more money for the sake of it 😅
where did you get the polystyrene sheets, the stuff i can find are super thin so it would be so expensive?
eBay!
@@Emiology thanks, i feel us Brits get the short end of the straw for this stuff. I did buy that G4 stuff with the same assumption you had.
@@Emiology just a heads up i finally got the time to get it all done and upgrade my ackies enclosure. thanks for the video helped a great deal seeing what someone from the UK used. :)
Will the background be easy or difficult to remove if ever you want to replace it in the future?
ThrS GAGE IS SO COOL :D
So cute!😍
please do more reacting to rat cage videos!!
Does springtail and isopod can survive in arid habitat though?
Hello🥰🥰
Have you had any issues with your Leo eating your isopods?
I LOVE the label on the tank!! Can you tell me what’s on it and how you made it?
This is just my opinion, and I think your enclosure should be a tad bit taller. Other than that you enclosure is awesome. Keep of with the videos Emi
I don’t own reptiles but she’s pretty cute. And since I don’t own this type of pet I may misunderstand but does the grout and other layer prevent the foam from molding?
Should do! The grout is more so for the appearance / colour to make it rock like, and the sealer will seal everything in and make it waterproof. With arid / dry enclosures like with leopard geckos you don't get much moisture in the tank so there's not much risk of mould :)
@@Emiology Cool. Thanks for letting me know .
❤
I'm this isn't an rat intro vid but a tip for future is to put malt paste on their backs to encourage grooming
Hi I know I’m commenting this a bit late and it has nothing to do with the video but you’re very good on mice so I was wondering what can I do I have a pet mouse and a wild mouse that came in to our house and got in my pet ones Cage and we think it’s a girl
what foam did you use? :)
I’m trying to do the backround right now and the foam got EVERYWHERE!!!!!!
How do you keep the Isopods and the springtials alive don't they need way more humidity then a leopard gecko?
You can keep an area of the tank humid for them, she has a humid hide if that doesn’t work I’ll have to rethink
Awesome setup! One question, what shelving do you have the enclosure on? Thanks ~
It was from Amazon but I can’t find it to link it anymore!
What brand of foam did you use?
No nails i think
It looks great Emi. I kinda wonder if it would be possible to make a bioactive mouse enclosure?🤔
Definitely!
5:17 mmm~ anyone else thinks thinks the foam looks like some kind of food?
Do you know if mapei ultra color plus fine aggregate grout is safe?
🦎🦎🦎❤️❤️❤️
What did you use for the white layer i coukdnt hear what u said and you didnt show the label
She used hydrofleece if that’s what you’re talking about😊
stop making me want a gecko now 😩
Also you're so pretty, just hands down beautiful.
Oh thank you 😫♥️
Im setting up a lwapord gecko enclosure, hoping to get one in a few months, im so excited and ive done tons of research, but im still super nervous I'm going to make a mistake, anyone got any good advice for a begginer :)
Do you recommend leopard geckos as pets?
What size is the enclosure
Wait what? How did you never use a uvb light with her? What about metabolic bone disease? D:
Many people (still) don't use UVB with leopard geckos, and just use supplements with and without D3 on their food and in the enclosure. Artificially providing the same thing and preventing MBD. She did however with her previous owner have no UVB and no supplements at all :\
What would happen if they ate the expanding foam
They can’t they don’t have the teeth for it
Weird pitch: what if you cut apart a wire hanger and used it to tie the light to the rack rather than the zip ties.