Josh, I'm a bio teacher who loves leopard geckos. We just started a club at our HS. Thank you for posting such informative and thoughtful videos talking through your setups. This is excellent educational content for both me, switching from plain paper towels to shelf liner, to an actual bioactive substrate over the years... and also for my enthusiastic students. We'll take what we learned from you to make our classroom terrariums better for the little ones!
I know its not a comment directed at me but this is really awesome! The one thing I wished I had growing up was classroom pets that we could learn about. It was only 2 years ago I finished up school but we never had any little classroom friends since I come from a pretty low budget area. The fact you not only bring critters like these to your students attention, but also help them learn about it while taking care of them well is really awesome to me, and im super happy for your students that they get that chance! Hope you all do well, same for the little friends too!
Just ordered my kit and use this video to set it up. Thank you guys so much a Bio dude ! You all have been greatly appreciate it through this process of giving my little guy the best home ever.!
I just purchased this and some accessories and plants from you for my Leo and set it up last night! I upgraded her to a 30x12x12. I hope I did everything right and sustain the environment correctly. I’m kinda nervous to introduce her, she’s only ever been on tile cause there’s so much contradictory information about substrates on the internet lol. I’m glad I discovered you and thank you for being so educational AND transparent!
Hey Trisha! That is awesome! We do recommend a quarantine period of at least 2 weeks. During that time you will want to monitor their behavior to ensure they are eating, gaining weight, basking appropriately and showing signs of thriving before switching their environment. It's always good practice to have a vet visit with a fecal screening done to be on the safe side. Once you know your little dude is healthy and thriving it will be safe for you to put them in a bioactive enclosure. Moving them from tile to bioactive will not cause any harm so long as the temperatures are regulated to where the animal can thermoregulate so it can pass food properly. i will link a great blog on impaction here, hope this helps! Let us know if you have any further questions! The Dude Abides- www.thebiodude.com/blogs/bio-activity-with-your-pets-how-does-it-work-with-mine/does-substrates-cause-impaction-in-reptiles
@@TheBioDudeJoshHalter thank you for the advice! I’ve been reading all your posts about leopard geckos and it’s been really helpful! I am still kinda confused on heating/lighting/humidity. Right now, I have a heating pad, basking light, and uvb bulb. I noticed that it gets too hot with the basking light sometimes so I alternate between that and a daylight bulb. Is that ok to do? Do I turn the heating pad off when I’m using the basking light? Sorry for so many random specific questions lol.
This video is absolutely amazing. I just got a leopard gecko and I am upgrading her into a bio active enclosure. This is very helpful and has me super excited! Unfortunately, with her previous owner she lost her nails and was quite neglected, im looking forward to giving her a better life where she can thrive!! Thank you for sharing and for being so descriptive and open :)
How did they neglect them? Like, was the humidity a little too high, like 41% or there was only two hides, or was it something more serious like not scheduled or enough feeding?
@kaseycarlin8835 the lizard has missing body parts due to habitiat neglect probably (im hoping nothing worse like straight up torture by pulling the nails off, some people are just sadistic towards animals) but thats my guess. My babies have all their appendages and are well fed but could definitely use a better environment.
It's refreshing to get all this useful information without trying to hard sell everything from your shop. I'm not going to shop with you because I live far away on a different continent, but I would trust your shop were I live in TX. I wish you can keep your spirits alive and enjoy working with animals and won't get ground down in the race of focusing on profit margins.
For anyone who's getting a Leopard Gecko as a first reptile be very careful with the UVB lights. If you do choose to use one, make sure you're setting it up correctly, at an appropriate distance from the soil and please make sure it's the correct amount of UVB. Leopard Gecko's skin is more sensitive than for example a Bearded Dragon's skin and their skin can suffer burns from the UVB light IF not setup correctly. Other than that, great video, love all the plants and cleanup crew. Amazing job.
@@vcoffeeshop5813see thats your problem you want THE BEST CARE not the minimum care. Quick question why would you get a reptile just for it to be in a bare minimum setup? Please research and figure out the reasons why every reptile needs uvb.
@@jwcob1239 I know we'll about leopardgeckos don't need ur uneducated opinion. UVB Light burns the gecko ... But ppl like u want to do more for the gecko as needed and end up doing more harm then good. I'm in contact with a lot of breeders and they are all the same opinion.
Always make time for the things you love! Especially during stressful times ❤️ I’m sure you’ll get in a good balance between business management and doing what you enjoy most. Excited for you guys!
Damn way to go man! Not only awesome content and very informative! With that said it's great to see the younger kids ( I say that as a 45 year old) in the game and spreading good vibes and knowledge. Keep it up and best of luck to you and your business!!
@@TheBioDudeJoshHalter just bought a 25 gallon tank I’m boutta but some terra Sahara from you and the same plants in this video! I’ve got my girl in 20 gallon rn w excavator clay, cork bark and fake plants but I’m thinking bioactive is the next level.
61 here!!! My years of raising a family and now having young grandkids has taken time that I would have otherwise put on my animals. Now my love for animals is blooming big again and I'm even kinda giddy!
thank you cant wait to watch, looking into getting one (really want to like 90% sure) but making sure i know what i’m doing and give him the best tank ever.
Thank you so much for such an informative video!!! We’re getting a blizzard leopard gecko for my classroom, and I was looking up information on their care and I have to say I love love love this bio active set-up. The baby is about 3mo old, so I’ll be keeping him in the 10g he comes in until 4-5mo, then I’ll transfer him to the 20g once it’s cycled. Thank you again! Appreciate all your efforts to educate us on proper care!
One last question, do you have a link for this terrarium? Ive been searching my butt off for this exact one and all that pops up is repti zoo and other brands!
I just ordered the bioactive kit for a 20 gal tank for my school's media center. I cannot wait to introduce the tank and the new little guy (once it's set up) to the kids. I am especially very excited to set up the tank once everything comes!
You helped me so much Josh! I got the kit today that includes the:!Sphagnum Moss, bio shot, terra Sahara, cacao leaf litter and banana leaves! I did not know one thing of how to set it up and I watched this vid and it guided me and now my leopard gecko loves her new setup tank! Her tank is like arm length so pretty small and I can’t remember how long it is but it’s definitely homey for her! ❤❤
Just bought the exact kit about a month ago. Can not recommend enough. Some items were not it my kit customer service was excellent and they shipped my missing items very fast. 10/10
Just finished my leopard gecko enclosure, it's a 4x2x2 prolly over kill but it has a thin layer of drainage, then a thicker layer of a topsoil, sand mix for the clean up crew. On top I put a mix of top soil, sand, and excavator clay. Wetted it and molded it in the enclosure. It's hard but my Leo can easy dig it up! She loving it so far!
Yes, I am about to be 61 and my obsession with critters is ramping up! I know I can only have one animal that I will be responsible for due to chronic pain issues. After much research, I have decided that a leopard gecko is the one for me! I've had corn snakes and bearded dragons over 30 years ago, and I think the feeding situation will just be toned down some from veggies and f/t pinky mice! I'm taking it slow and will not have my gecko until Texas is on the other side of Winter next year. So many places I've looked at to purchase from are in areas that it gets cold and stays cold past March. One day at a time, but I am thoroughly researching so I can give my little leopard gecko the best life possible!
My gecko’s gonna love this! Thank you. He’s three. He used to have sand in his cage when I was a beginner with him and his stomach got. Blocked so we got him carpet and now I might do this so thank you!
You are phenomenal!!! A literal gem, thank you so much for the detailed video and I will be using these products to make a terrarium for our class pet. The kids will absolutely love having this amazing setup.
Does the clean up crew tend to escape the tank or do they stay in the soil? I have a similar tank, but I think a bit smaller. With the same style front opening doors.
Planning to get my very 1st leopard gecko soon. Great video, learned lots on how to setup it's enclosure. Can't help but think that you sound like Jay Baruchel from how to train your dragon 😅 plus you're also talking about reptiles = dragons 😅 love the content man!
This is a recent comment to an old video. How smart are leopard geckos? I got my Tremper supergiant albino gecko at the 2021 Schaumburg reptile show. The seller said they feed him 100 meal worms every Wednesday. That didn’t work for me. For the first three months I couldn’t get Sir to eat meal worms. I wa worried sick but he continued to look healthier, his tail looked to be getting bigger. I finally realized he must be eating the isopods. I started adding isopods to maintain the bio active enclosure. About the same time he started to eat giant meal worms and super worms from the tongs, continued to eat from tongs, but not from a bowl or ground, for about a year. He then started biting the tongs and decided he didn’t really like the tongs. He stopped eating worms and must have gone to eating Beatles. A couple weeks ago, while I tried to get Sir (short for Sherryasoarus Rex after my wife that had passed a few months before the show) to eat. I noticed that he had dug a pit and covered it with leaf litter. He only will drink water that drips in his cork-bark hide. After he had his fill, he did something I’ve never seen before. He stuck his head under the leaf litter covered pit and pulled out a beetle and proceeded to eat it. In the nearly two years I’ve had him, this is a behavior I had not prior witnessed. I think it is very smart that he had created a hide that made it easy for him to feed. What do you think? Intelligence or fortunate coincidence. Have you ever heard of this before. I had previously fed him dubia roaches but they are seriously good excape artists.
I absoluty enjoyed your video and will help me lot. In the past I had a bearded dragon, but I want to get a leopard gecko at the end of this year I hope. I am wondering: how often do you clean the entire terrarium besides the regular cleaning of poops and stuff? And do I understand correctly that the insects you added to the bioactive terrarium is to keep the enclosure healthy?
personally, if you have a cleanup crew, i’d say about once a month will be good. ofc this varies depending on poop and dead bugs. spot cleaning daily helps you change it less
Very exciting! Feel free to reach out to my customer care team if you have any questions or concerns, they would be happy to help! (customercare@thebiodude.com)
I just got one and I saw this vid and now I’m doing exactly that but I might need to get a bigger terrarium for it but the self sustaining fiasco is AWESOME
Hey man so I'm blown away with this I keep and breed leos and I recently upgraded all my big guys to 40g and my one female I put in a enclosure I built it's just under 5 foot long and 12 inches high and 18inches wide it's 2 smaller enclosures that I connected together I have to say I already knew that they climb way more than I ever knew or have been told but I didn't realize they wud love the extra space my one rescue his name is Savage I have found him out Baskin now of course the heat bulb isn't a light it's a ceramic bulb however he still was Baskin right on top of his hide out in the open for me to see just chillen I'm so excited to see these new behaviors and this is deff the next step I'm interested in ty
Really nice video! The enclosure looks amazing. I use the same stuff for my tank. The only thing I would say is recommend a dimming thermostat instead of the one used in the video for the deep heat projector. It is such a nice heater! It will prolong the life of the heater if you use that thermostat mentioned before.
Josh, this first time watching one of our videos, but it wont be the last. I love how forthright and authentic you are in your video regarding how hard you've been working, some of the challenges of the industry, the extra mile you go to be as accurate as possible for your customers i.e Moss origins etc. I love supporting hard working small businesses and If I lived in Houston I'd visit your store personally, but since I live in OK I'll support via online sales. Keep up the infectious energy, the knowledge sharing etc and it wont be long others be doing most of the hard for you. Great job and thanks for the info, great products etc.. Take care.. Joe M.
I found some really cool isopods in my backyeard here in Norway! They were black with yellow spots. I'm gonna make a bioactive closed terrarium for them:)
A halogen flood bulb connected to a dimmer or dimming thermostat would be even more natural and beneficial than a DHP! The levels of infrared A and B they produce more closely mimic the sun (DHPs produce barely any IRA, the most beneficial wavelength).
im glad i found your channel! i have 2 leopard geckos and wasnt sure how to do a bioactive for them. You are very informative and will be soon ordering a couple of your kits.
Do you have detailed written kit instructions with the steps of setting it up from the kit I bought? And how much water to add and where? I have medium low tank.
Jessica's Animal Friends is a really great youtube channel to learn about the Leopard Gecko diet! She teaches about gut loading, variety and possible alternatives if the specific Leo isn't eating certain foods.
Beautiful! Just wandering if you don´t think covering the back and the sides is neccessary? Couldn´t it make them too exposed and stressed? Any suggestions what to use? I´m thinking about black self-adhesive window film, but not sure if it would make everything too dark (I will have led lights). Any thoughts?
Trees, Shrubs and anything they can eat as they will. Stay away from plants high in Oxalates such as Schlefflera and Pothos. Your end goal should be to keep them outside by the end of the 2nd year.
@@robertocoboc1588 I should have clarified, my bad. I’d have a personal goal that if they can be realistically kept outside you are able to accommodate with the plants as well :)
I'm very new to the reptile world and bioactive enclosures - I have a question regarding this set up. I have been seeing bioactive enclosures include a layer at the bottom of either clay balls or another sort of small pebbles or rocks, and then a screen above that so that the substrate doesn't mix. My understanding is that this is so the substrate doesn't sit in excess water as this can cause problems in the enclosure. I'm curious, why did you not do that for this enclosure? Is it because leopard geckos require less humidity? Much appreciated!
Hello Aaron! Thank you so much for reaching out to the Dude! Yes you are correct for both statements there! , stagnant water can cause harmful bacteria to grow and leopard geckos do require a lower humidity so they will not have the excess water inside the soil to need a drainage layer. :) Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions! The Dude Abides!
Question, online you are sold out of the clean up crews for Leos. What kind of Isopods should I get for my bioactive enclosure? Also how many should I get?
Hey there! I was wondering if you need anything else besides the lights and misting the plants to make the bioactive enclosure continue to thrive and not die Do you need to feed the isopods and springtails? I was told to give atleast two pieces of cucumber on the soil so the isopods could also eat something else but i wasnt sure about springtails.
When utilizing our Terra Sahara substrate, a drainage layer is not necessary. It is meant for enclosures that requires higher humidity levels so there is a place for the excess moisture to go.
We believe that every question is valuable, and we are here to provide assistance. One common practice is to simulate the day/night cycle by turning off all lighting for 12 hours and then turning it back on for the next 12 hours. In situations where the temperatures are colder inside the house or during the winter season, you can make use of a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE). Unlike lighting, a CHE does not emit any light but provides heat to maintain the desired temperatures during the nighttime.
Amazing set up. I’m about to purchase the terra Sahara 40 gal breeder kit so Thank you! A question about your grow light. You said you place it “on top of my LED props”. What do you mean by that?
My leopard gecko, Cheetah, died today after only 4 years and I feel horrible I should’ve done better Eventually, I’m going to make a new terrarium with her exact same tank and it’s going to have sand and plants and bioactiveness So thanks for making this video it’s been great inspiration
Hi Josh I'm new to the reptile family, I just got a fancy leopard gecko she was way under fed most of her tail was skinny and in the 2 weeks I've had her to make sure I didn't shock her body I've uped her feeding to every other night and morning when she wakes up at night and when she goes to bed that morning she wants to eat more than what I give her at a time that's why every other day I split it from waking up to right before she goes to bed cause she was only being fed a couple warms once every week and a half on average, her tail is now fat all the way to almost the tip, she never had anything but super worms in her 2&1/2 yrs I do feed about 4 to her night and morning every other day now and I do have crickets in her cage which she hunts a lot I can barely keep them in the cage she just constantly eats them and loves them and I do have green horned worms but she doesn't know they are food so I have been unlucky on feeding her those but if you have any advice for me I'm all ears and I am trying to mimic this video making her a bioactive tank and I'll have the duby roaches and all that in the soil that she can hunt as well as crickets but any advice you can give me I would really appreciate because she had a cage with only a regular light bulb for heat a rock coconut shell a plastic water bowl a calcium rock bowl on paper towels and that was her cage nothing of any sort of where she was from how she survived I have no idea but I considered that serious reptile abuse so she was basically a rescue now I'm trying to figure out if she is healthy and I don't know how except a nice fat tail
Maybe this is a stupid question, but… how do you clean poop and stuff?? Or do the bugs take care of it? I am really interested in jumping into keeping a gecko but I want to research as much as I can and have a realistic vision of feeding and manteinance schedules before going for it!
Once established with your Bioshot and clean up crew, the enclosure will clean and take care of all the waste for you. In the beginning, you may have to spot clean here and there or help by burying it, just until there is a strong enough population to do it all for you.
In general with bioactive enclosures, maintenance is pretty minimal because you shouldn't have to replace the substrate. You do have to maintain the plants and add moss or bioshot/biovive (soil enrichment) occasionally. Make sure you mist your leopard gecko's enclosure once a day. Here's our page about leopard gecko care & maintenance: www.thebiodude.com/blogs/reptile-and-amphibian-caresheets-with-cited-veterinary-and-herpetology-sources/the-care-and-maintenance-of-the-leopard-gecko
I was going to use a layer of clay balls and fabric layer then use a feeder for water. Is that unnecessary for the arid environment? I'm going to put some aloe, and a couple other succulents in it. Also some isopods
You should, they are just too fun and cute! We would love to help you get that done! Please reach out to our customercare@thebiodude.com team so we can get you set up! The Dude Abides!
Josh, I'm a bio teacher who loves leopard geckos. We just started a club at our HS. Thank you for posting such informative and thoughtful videos talking through your setups. This is excellent educational content for both me, switching from plain paper towels to shelf liner, to an actual bioactive substrate over the years... and also for my enthusiastic students. We'll take what we learned from you to make our classroom terrariums better for the little ones!
Glad it was helpful, That is amazing to hear!! We are happy to hear the students love it also! :)
This is to long to be a comment it’s a whole essay
Watch the plant dude or whatever his name is. He has a palumdarium tutorial that has an entire rainforest ecosystem
@@nightstepstation7189 SerpaDesign?
I know its not a comment directed at me but this is really awesome! The one thing I wished I had growing up was classroom pets that we could learn about. It was only 2 years ago I finished up school but we never had any little classroom friends since I come from a pretty low budget area. The fact you not only bring critters like these to your students attention, but also help them learn about it while taking care of them well is really awesome to me, and im super happy for your students that they get that chance! Hope you all do well, same for the little friends too!
The bio dude, always there for me when I get a new pet. He has a video on everything
I wish my parents cared about me this much. lol
Wdym?
I care about you this much ❤️
I would put you in a cage but make it look nice! ❤ do you want me to add a Lego movie theater or a Lego Olympic pool?
You sound like my daughter 😂 she said the same thing😊
Just ordered my kit and use this video to set it up. Thank you guys so much a Bio dude !
You all have been greatly appreciate it through this process of giving my little guy the best home ever.!
Great to hear it, thank you for the support!
I just purchased this and some accessories and plants from you for my Leo and set it up last night! I upgraded her to a 30x12x12. I hope I did everything right and sustain the environment correctly. I’m kinda nervous to introduce her, she’s only ever been on tile cause there’s so much contradictory information about substrates on the internet lol. I’m glad I discovered you and thank you for being so educational AND transparent!
Hey Trisha! That is awesome! We do recommend a quarantine period of at least 2 weeks. During that time you will want to monitor their behavior to ensure they are eating, gaining weight, basking appropriately and showing signs of thriving before switching their environment. It's always good practice to have a vet visit with a fecal screening done to be on the safe side. Once you know your little dude is healthy and thriving it will be safe for you to put them in a bioactive enclosure. Moving them from tile to bioactive will not cause any harm so long as the temperatures are regulated to where the animal can thermoregulate so it can pass food properly. i will link a great blog on impaction here, hope this helps! Let us know if you have any further questions! The Dude Abides- www.thebiodude.com/blogs/bio-activity-with-your-pets-how-does-it-work-with-mine/does-substrates-cause-impaction-in-reptiles
@@TheBioDudeJoshHalter thank you for the advice! I’ve been reading all your posts about leopard geckos and it’s been really helpful! I am still kinda confused on heating/lighting/humidity. Right now, I have a heating pad, basking light, and uvb bulb. I noticed that it gets too hot with the basking light sometimes so I alternate between that and a daylight bulb. Is that ok to do? Do I turn the heating pad off when I’m using the basking light? Sorry for so many random specific questions lol.
@@trishaveach3655 the heat mat isn’t necessary. Connect the heat lamp to a dimmer or dimming thermostat to regulate the temperature.
I also recommend upgrading to a 40 gallon (36x18x18”) at some point if possible.
This video is absolutely amazing. I just got a leopard gecko and I am upgrading her into a bio active enclosure. This is very helpful and has me super excited! Unfortunately, with her previous owner she lost her nails and was quite neglected, im looking forward to giving her a better life where she can thrive!! Thank you for sharing and for being so descriptive and open :)
Glad it was helpful! I appreciate your business and support.
Me too !! I’m about to order the Sahara kit from the Dude!!
@@amycourt9082 me to lmk how it goes
How did they neglect them?
Like, was the humidity a little too high, like 41% or there was only two hides, or was it something more serious like not scheduled or enough feeding?
@kaseycarlin8835 the lizard has missing body parts due to habitiat neglect probably (im hoping nothing worse like straight up torture by pulling the nails off, some people are just sadistic towards animals) but thats my guess. My babies have all their appendages and are well fed but could definitely use a better environment.
It's refreshing to get all this useful information without trying to hard sell everything from your shop. I'm not going to shop with you because I live far away on a different continent, but I would trust your shop were I live in TX. I wish you can keep your spirits alive and enjoy working with animals and won't get ground down in the race of focusing on profit margins.
For anyone who's getting a Leopard Gecko as a first reptile be very careful with the UVB lights. If you do choose to use one, make sure you're setting it up correctly, at an appropriate distance from the soil and please make sure it's the correct amount of UVB. Leopard Gecko's skin is more sensitive than for example a Bearded Dragon's skin and their skin can suffer burns from the UVB light IF not setup correctly. Other than that, great video, love all the plants and cleanup crew. Amazing job.
To be honest just don't use a UVB Light it's absolutely not recommended to use
@@vcoffeeshop5813 UVB lighting is very beneficial for all reptiles, including leopard geckos.
@@vcoffeeshop5813see thats your problem you want THE BEST CARE not the minimum care. Quick question why would you get a reptile just for it to be in a bare minimum setup? Please research and figure out the reasons why every reptile needs uvb.
@@jwcob1239 I know we'll about leopardgeckos don't need ur uneducated opinion.
UVB Light burns the gecko ... But ppl like u want to do more for the gecko as needed and end up doing more harm then good. I'm in contact with a lot of breeders and they are all the same opinion.
What UVB lights do you recommend
Never knew bio dude was such a goober, i love it
Great video !!! I love the way Josh explains everything how he does what he does and why thank u josh I've learned so much just by watching ur video
I appreciate that! - The dude abides
Always make time for the things you love! Especially during stressful times ❤️ I’m sure you’ll get in a good balance between business management and doing what you enjoy most. Excited for you guys!
Yes! Thank you!
Damn way to go man! Not only awesome content and very informative! With that said it's great to see the younger kids ( I say that as a 45 year old) in the game and spreading good vibes and knowledge. Keep it up and best of luck to you and your business!!
Thank you John ! that is very much appreciated! :) The Dude Abides!
@@TheBioDudeJoshHalter just bought a 25 gallon tank I’m boutta but some terra Sahara from you and the same plants in this video!
I’ve got my girl in 20 gallon rn w excavator clay, cork bark and fake plants but I’m thinking bioactive is the next level.
61 here!!! My years of raising a family and now having young grandkids has taken time that I would have otherwise put on my animals. Now my love for animals is blooming big again and I'm even kinda giddy!
thank you cant wait to watch, looking into getting one (really want to like 90% sure) but making sure i know what i’m doing and give him the best tank ever.
Thank you so much for such an informative video!!! We’re getting a blizzard leopard gecko for my classroom, and I was looking up information on their care and I
have to say I love love love this bio active set-up. The baby is about 3mo old, so I’ll be keeping him in the 10g he comes in until 4-5mo, then I’ll transfer him to the 20g once it’s cycled. Thank you again! Appreciate all your efforts to educate us on proper care!
I just bought a leo the other day and this video explains everything i need to the T!!! I appreciate this so much♥️♥️
You are so welcome
One last question, do you have a link for this terrarium? Ive been searching my butt off for this exact one and all that pops up is repti zoo and other brands!
literally THE best leopard gecko setup i have seen
Very glad to hear that! Thank you for the support! 👍🏻
About once a week I will give the cool side a thorough misting and my gecko LOVES it. He always immediately comes out and starts licking up the water.
I just ordered the bioactive kit for a 20 gal tank for my school's media center. I cannot wait to introduce the tank and the new little guy (once it's set up) to the kids. I am especially very excited to set up the tank once everything comes!
Let us know how the set up goes, we hope you enjoy the products once received!
You helped me so much Josh! I got the kit today that includes the:!Sphagnum Moss, bio shot, terra Sahara, cacao leaf litter and banana leaves! I did not know one thing of how to set it up and I watched this vid and it guided me and now my leopard gecko loves her new setup tank! Her tank is like arm length so pretty small and I can’t remember how long it is but it’s definitely homey for her! ❤❤
Just saw this from start to finish. You can see the passion you have 💯
Just bought the exact kit about a month ago. Can not recommend enough. Some items were not it my kit customer service was excellent and they shipped my missing items very fast. 10/10
Great to hear!
absolutely beautiful set up man, everyone wanting any sort of pet should put in all of their effort like u have here
I literally lost my leopard gecko for two year and she’s absolutely fine. Have a Peruvian rainbow rainbow boa. Glad you are gettin it for UA-cam
you lost your gecko for two years? yikes. please take care of your pets and secure their tanks properly. thats super not okay
Just finished my leopard gecko enclosure, it's a 4x2x2 prolly over kill but it has a thin layer of drainage, then a thicker layer of a topsoil, sand mix for the clean up crew. On top I put a mix of top soil, sand, and excavator clay. Wetted it and molded it in the enclosure. It's hard but my Leo can easy dig it up! She loving it so far!
That is awesome !
I have a leopard sir.and i want to sale it . ..do u interested?
Yes, I am about to be 61 and my obsession with critters is ramping up! I know I can only have one animal that I will be responsible for due to chronic pain issues. After much research, I have decided that a leopard gecko is the one for me! I've had corn snakes and bearded dragons over 30 years ago, and I think the feeding situation will just be toned down some from veggies and f/t pinky mice! I'm taking it slow and will not have my gecko until Texas is on the other side of Winter next year. So many places I've looked at to purchase from are in areas that it gets cold and stays cold past March. One day at a time, but I am thoroughly researching so I can give my little leopard gecko the best life possible!
I could just imagine the biodude standing around trees outside of a dentist office trying collect as much bark as possible before he gets yelled at
How do you think I got started! LOL!
I'm so glad you did this video. Exact tank I've got, just waiting for your kits to arrive in Canada 🇨🇦
I'm looking to order a kit, how long did yours take to come in? :) (I'm also in Canada)
My gecko’s gonna love this! Thank you. He’s three. He used to have sand in his cage when I was a beginner with him and his stomach got. Blocked so we got him carpet and now I might do this so thank you!
I think this would be much better! Reptile carpet is really bad for geckos because it can rip off there toes and or nails.
Awesome, Bioactive is so much fun to build and get established! We're excited for your journey!
Thanks Josh! I also needed to ask, how much is a 40 breeder cage?
You are phenomenal!!! A literal gem, thank you so much for the detailed video and I will be using these products to make a terrarium for our class pet. The kids will absolutely love having this amazing setup.
Does the clean up crew tend to escape the tank or do they stay in the soil? I have a similar tank, but I think a bit smaller. With the same style front opening doors.
REALLY great set up!
Thank you!!! :)
Truly great video and answered all my questions. Big thanks to Elle's Reptiles for mention you.
Glad to be of help! Let us know if you have any further questions!
Planning to get my very 1st leopard gecko soon. Great video, learned lots on how to setup it's enclosure. Can't help but think that you sound like Jay Baruchel from how to train your dragon 😅 plus you're also talking about reptiles = dragons 😅 love the content man!
This is a recent comment to an old video. How smart are leopard geckos?
I got my Tremper supergiant albino gecko at the 2021 Schaumburg reptile show. The seller said they feed him 100 meal worms every Wednesday. That didn’t work for me. For the first three months I couldn’t get Sir to eat meal worms. I wa worried sick but he continued to look healthier, his tail looked to be getting bigger. I finally realized he must be eating the isopods. I started adding isopods to maintain the bio active enclosure. About the same time he started to eat giant meal worms and super worms from the tongs, continued to eat from tongs, but not from a bowl or ground, for about a year. He then started biting the tongs and decided he didn’t really like the tongs. He stopped eating worms and must have gone to eating Beatles.
A couple weeks ago, while I tried to get Sir (short for Sherryasoarus Rex after my wife that had passed a few months before the show) to eat. I noticed that he had dug a pit and covered it with leaf litter. He only will drink water that drips in his cork-bark hide. After he had his fill, he did something I’ve never seen before. He stuck his head under the leaf litter covered pit and pulled out a beetle and proceeded to eat it.
In the nearly two years I’ve had him, this is a behavior I had not prior witnessed. I think it is very smart that he had created a hide that made it easy for him to feed.
What do you think? Intelligence or fortunate coincidence. Have you ever heard of this before.
I had previously fed him dubia roaches but they are seriously good excape artists.
that sounds awesome. I hope you have some videos of em. =)
Mine is dumb 😭
Missed the videos, glad to see you back and looking more relaxed at that!
Thank you! welcome back!
Amazing. Terrarium
The Leopard Gecko must be happy and comfortable for sure
They are, thank you!
Awesome video. Looking to get a leopard gecko for my sons 5th Bday. Definitely have to stop by the shop as I am local.
Come on in! We're open M-F 9am-4pm, and Saturday 9am-5pm.
So excited to order from you guys and set up bio active enclosures for my three leopard geckos at the end of the month. 😁 This is great inspiration!
Awesome! glad its helped!!
This is now my favorite leopard gecko setup video ❤😅 keep up with the awesome information 😊
Wow Josh you are amazing. God Bless
My first time coming across and discovering a love for this channel. keep it up dude!
Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying it!
I absoluty enjoyed your video and will help me lot.
In the past I had a bearded dragon, but I want to get a leopard gecko at the end of this year I hope.
I am wondering: how often do you clean the entire terrarium besides the regular cleaning of poops and stuff?
And do I understand correctly that the insects you added to the bioactive terrarium is to keep the enclosure healthy?
personally, if you have a cleanup crew, i’d say about once a month will be good. ofc this varies depending on poop and dead bugs. spot cleaning daily helps you change it less
Good job young man. Bravo.
Thank you! The Dude Abides!
This video gave me nostalgia when i was younger all i watched were these animal videos
Dude this is so cool and you’ve inspired me big time. I can’t wait to set this up
Glad to hear it!
i wish i could give my gecko something as good as this bro deserves better
He makes it look so easy he’s just going off vibes Fr, I hope I can recreate this somewhat
I just got my first ever reptile, I got me a little leopard gecko. I love her already and I’m going to make sure I get her a kick ass setup
Very exciting! Feel free to reach out to my customer care team if you have any questions or concerns, they would be happy to help! (customercare@thebiodude.com)
Thanks for the information 😊
No problem 👍
I LOVED watching this. You're amazing
I just got one and I saw this vid and now I’m doing exactly that but I might need to get a bigger terrarium for it but the self sustaining fiasco is AWESOME
I’ve missed these videos. Keep ‘em coming 😁
Glad you like them! will do !
Hey man so I'm blown away with this I keep and breed leos and I recently upgraded all my big guys to 40g and my one female I put in a enclosure I built it's just under 5 foot long and 12 inches high and 18inches wide it's 2 smaller enclosures that I connected together I have to say I already knew that they climb way more than I ever knew or have been told but I didn't realize they wud love the extra space my one rescue his name is Savage I have found him out Baskin now of course the heat bulb isn't a light it's a ceramic bulb however he still was Baskin right on top of his hide out in the open for me to see just chillen I'm so excited to see these new behaviors and this is deff the next step I'm interested in ty
Exciting Dude, I dig it!
Woah man didn’t realize you were in Houston that’s so cool! I’m here In SA Texas love your videos and the information you provide man. You’re great 👍
Really nice video! The enclosure looks amazing. I use the same stuff for my tank.
The only thing I would say is recommend a dimming thermostat instead of the one used in the video for the deep heat projector. It is such a nice heater! It will prolong the life of the heater if you use that thermostat mentioned before.
This. Thank you for sharing!
Love this man got the kit excited for what mine will look like
Thanks for all the ideas. I have 5 Leos
You’re welcome, glad it was helpful!
Josh, this first time watching one of our videos, but it wont be the last. I love how forthright and authentic you are in your video regarding how hard you've been working, some of the challenges of the industry, the extra mile you go to be as accurate as possible for your customers i.e Moss origins etc. I love supporting hard working small businesses and If I lived in Houston I'd visit your store personally, but since I live in OK I'll support via online sales. Keep up the infectious energy, the knowledge sharing etc and it wont be long others be doing most of the hard for you. Great job and thanks for the info, great products etc.. Take care.. Joe M.
Hey Joe! thank you so much! those kind words are very appreciated! The Dude Abides!
your content is very helpful and informative as recently got a Leopard gecko :D keep up the great work!!
Thank you for watcing!! Glad it is helpful!! :) If you have any questions, let us know!!
I found some really cool isopods in my backyeard here in Norway! They were black with yellow spots. I'm gonna make a bioactive closed terrarium for them:)
Ayyy I remember your last one !!! Awesome
AYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Placed a fairly large order yesterday on your site. Very excited to get my shipment to revamp my leo's enclosure.
Awesome thank you we would love to see it!
So cool 😎
Thank you!
best video i’ve watched by far
Great video. The deep heat projector took my leopard gecko from surviving to thriving. Great recommendation 👍
Hey there, how wonderful! Glad it helped! The Dude Abides!!
A halogen flood bulb connected to a dimmer or dimming thermostat would be even more natural and beneficial than a DHP! The levels of infrared A and B they produce more closely mimic the sun (DHPs produce barely any IRA, the most beneficial wavelength).
im glad i found your channel! i have 2 leopard geckos and wasnt sure how to do a bioactive for them. You are very informative and will be soon ordering a couple of your kits.
Glad I could help!
i love watching these , my bearded dragon has been thriving in his bioactive tank
Love it!!!
What do you think of pvc terrriums like the sort that custom reptile habitats sells? I hear that pvc leaches chemicals that can hrm the animal.
Holy shit this was a beautifully done setup. Absolutely 💯
Thanks dude, I appreciate it!
Looks wonderful. Nice plants choice.
Do you have detailed written kit instructions with the steps of setting it up from the kit I bought? And how much water to add and where? I have medium low tank.
I love your video content! But i have a question what is the regulation you feed your geckos and what insects you use to feed them
Jessica's Animal Friends is a really great youtube channel to learn about the Leopard Gecko diet! She teaches about gut loading, variety and possible alternatives if the specific Leo isn't eating certain foods.
Thank you so much for this video! Getting prepared to order this setup for my kid. What’s the recommended time to have the all lights on
Try having a 12-14 hour lighting schedule for your gecko, so maybe try like 7AM to 7PM could work.
Beautiful! Just wandering if you don´t think covering the back and the sides is neccessary? Couldn´t it make them too exposed and stressed? Any suggestions what to use? I´m thinking about black self-adhesive window film, but not sure if it would make everything too dark (I will have led lights). Any thoughts?
I absolutely love this set up. I hope I can replicate it when I do my own
Thank you, I'm sure yours will be great too!
I got a package from them and it was signed by him as having packed it. I can't prove it was him but it was really cool.
Just found you! Ordered a kit for my Leo Toast!
Love it! Thank you for the support!
how often should you water a terrarium like this one?
Great video
first off I love your videos. I'm currently building a green iguana enclosure what would you suggest for plants
Trees, Shrubs and anything they can eat as they will. Stay away from plants high in Oxalates such as Schlefflera and Pothos. Your end goal should be to keep them outside by the end of the 2nd year.
@@TheBioDudeJoshHalter what do you mean by keeping them outside by the end of two years ? The plants or the iguana.
@@robertocoboc1588 I should have clarified, my bad.
I’d have a personal goal that if they can be realistically kept outside you are able to accommodate with the plants as well :)
I'm very new to the reptile world and bioactive enclosures - I have a question regarding this set up. I have been seeing bioactive enclosures include a layer at the bottom of either clay balls or another sort of small pebbles or rocks, and then a screen above that so that the substrate doesn't mix. My understanding is that this is so the substrate doesn't sit in excess water as this can cause problems in the enclosure.
I'm curious, why did you not do that for this enclosure? Is it because leopard geckos require less humidity? Much appreciated!
Hello Aaron! Thank you so much for reaching out to the Dude! Yes you are correct for both statements there! , stagnant water can cause harmful bacteria to grow and leopard geckos do require a lower humidity so they will not have the excess water inside the soil to need a drainage layer. :) Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions! The Dude Abides!
Question, online you are sold out of the clean up crews for Leos. What kind of Isopods should I get for my bioactive enclosure? Also how many should I get?
Hey there! I was wondering if you need anything else besides the lights and misting the plants to make the bioactive enclosure continue to thrive and not die
Do you need to feed the isopods and springtails? I was told to give atleast two pieces of cucumber on the soil so the isopods could also eat something else but i wasnt sure about springtails.
Do I need a drainage system for gecko habitat? I see you didn't line the bottom with rocks so now I'm not sure.
When utilizing our Terra Sahara substrate, a drainage layer is not necessary. It is meant for enclosures that requires higher humidity levels so there is a place for the excess moisture to go.
33:46 dumb question, but you said you run those during the day. What do you run during the night?
We believe that every question is valuable, and we are here to provide assistance. One common practice is to simulate the day/night cycle by turning off all lighting for 12 hours and then turning it back on for the next 12 hours. In situations where the temperatures are colder inside the house or during the winter season, you can make use of a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE). Unlike lighting, a CHE does not emit any light but provides heat to maintain the desired temperatures during the nighttime.
Amazing set up. I’m about to purchase the terra Sahara 40 gal breeder kit so Thank you!
A question about your grow light. You said you place it “on top of my LED props”. What do you mean by that?
My leopard gecko, Cheetah, died today after only 4 years and I feel horrible I should’ve done better
Eventually, I’m going to make a new terrarium with her exact same tank and it’s going to have sand and plants and bioactiveness
So thanks for making this video it’s been great inspiration
I am sorry to hear about your Leopard Gecko! Our Terra Sahara Substrate is a great option to begin your Bioactive journey and get that process going.
Love you set up videos and your substrate products! Hope to see a bioactive set up for a cave gecko from you one day in the future...
Just a quick question, don’t you need a drainage layer?
Hi Josh I'm new to the reptile family, I just got a fancy leopard gecko she was way under fed most of her tail was skinny and in the 2 weeks I've had her to make sure I didn't shock her body I've uped her feeding to every other night and morning when she wakes up at night and when she goes to bed that morning she wants to eat more than what I give her at a time that's why every other day I split it from waking up to right before she goes to bed cause she was only being fed a couple warms once every week and a half on average, her tail is now fat all the way to almost the tip, she never had anything but super worms in her 2&1/2 yrs I do feed about 4 to her night and morning every other day now and I do have crickets in her cage which she hunts a lot I can barely keep them in the cage she just constantly eats them and loves them and I do have green horned worms but she doesn't know they are food so I have been unlucky on feeding her those but if you have any advice for me I'm all ears and I am trying to mimic this video making her a bioactive tank and I'll have the duby roaches and all that in the soil that she can hunt as well as crickets but any advice you can give me I would really appreciate because she had a cage with only a regular light bulb for heat a rock coconut shell a plastic water bowl a calcium rock bowl on paper towels and that was her cage nothing of any sort of where she was from how she survived I have no idea but I considered that serious reptile abuse so she was basically a rescue now I'm trying to figure out if she is healthy and I don't know how except a nice fat tail
Maybe this is a stupid question, but… how do you clean poop and stuff?? Or do the bugs take care of it? I am really interested in jumping into keeping a gecko but I want to research as much as I can and have a realistic vision of feeding and manteinance schedules before going for it!
Once established with your Bioshot and clean up crew, the enclosure will clean and take care of all the waste for you. In the beginning, you may have to spot clean here and there or help by burying it, just until there is a strong enough population to do it all for you.
When you clean the enclosure do you remove the plants and replant them each tine?
no, you only need to spot clean. When it is bioactive you do not need to clean the substrate, plants, etc.
Great video. Do you have one regarding the maintenance of an enclosure like this?
In general with bioactive enclosures, maintenance is pretty minimal because you shouldn't have to replace the substrate. You do have to maintain the plants and add moss or bioshot/biovive (soil enrichment) occasionally. Make sure you mist your leopard gecko's enclosure once a day. Here's our page about leopard gecko care & maintenance: www.thebiodude.com/blogs/reptile-and-amphibian-caresheets-with-cited-veterinary-and-herpetology-sources/the-care-and-maintenance-of-the-leopard-gecko
Hey I was wondering how do you keep the soil moist enough for the plants but , not to humid for the gecko?? Just a lot of airflow?
I was going to use a layer of clay balls and fabric layer then use a feeder for water. Is that unnecessary for the arid environment? I'm going to put some aloe, and a couple other succulents in it. Also some isopods
Sooo… how did you move it after building it or was that its forever spot???
thank you so much for this!
Thank YOU for watching!!!
Nice video. I would like to set up a Leopard gecko enclosure sometime.
You should, they are just too fun and cute! We would love to help you get that done! Please reach out to our customercare@thebiodude.com team so we can get you set up! The Dude Abides!
Another great vid!
Thank you!!!
love your stuff dude!!
Thank you!!!!