09/23/2023
CW: mention of medical procedures
Hey!!! I haven't checked on this project in a few days, (or I think posted about it AT ALL haha) and OMG!!
I planted some seeds in the bioactive vivarium I'm setting up for one of my retired (super early) breeders, Drusilla; she is from my first ever clutch, SO she is super special to me. She pr*****ed during her first time laying, and ended up needing surgery to put her reproductive tract back in. Some of the tissue had died, so it is not safe for her to ever breed again. Only one of her eggs survived, and her son, William, is ALSO very special for that reason.
I decided to plant some greens in her viv for the beardies. In true ADHD fashion, I did it late one night and thought, "I'll get the grow light set up for this tomorrow."
WELL, I don't remember exactly when that was, BUT the seeds have come up haha! And are obviously seeking their grow light!
They now have a grow light, and I put the heat pad underneath, but I'm thinking she may end up needing an actual heat lamp in the winter (even though that will screw with her humidity) whether that's a UVA (which gives off light) OR a CHE (ceramic heat emitter that doesn't give off light, just heat).
Right now, the viv is reading at around 68°F, so that is DEFINITELY too cold for her to digest. Me closing windows and turning in the heat will help as will the heating pad, BUT it being under 2" of dirt may not give her enough heat unless she burrows (which I AM honestly expecting her to do, but if she wants to be up and out, I'm okay with that too.)
AND yes, this viv IS small for a full sized corn that is six years old and almost 500g. She has been living in a rack her entire life and I'm honestly not sure how she will transition to a viv, SO I'm starting with this, and if she does well, I have a 40g breeder she can go into later on, probably in the spring, or maybe next fall?
A rack system kinda mimics a burrow/den that a snake may have. In the wild, they tend to spend 80-90% of their lives in whatever hole they can find, only leaving that hiding spot to find food. This viv will obviously be very much more open, so where she has spent the first six years of her life "hiding," I'm expecting this change to stress her out a bit.
She's NOT in here yet, because I want to let the plants get a bit more established before she lays on them and destroys them 🤣😂 OR burrows into their delicate root system haha. BUT we have Kale, peas (which may grow too big and I'm not sure how they'll get pollinated, may do that with a q-tip?) Mustard greens, Collard Greens, and Swiss Chard. All things the beardies love to munch.
I will place a hide in here before I move her in, BUT I also want the plants to be bushier and fuller to give her more security, and hopefully she won't stop eating during this transition.
I also haven't decided if I will a.) Keep hibernating her now that she isn't breeding and b.) Leave her in her viv to hibernate, OR move her. I need to do more research, because bioactive enclosures are still relatively new for me.
I MAY thin some of these out, and put them either in the beardies' vivs to munch, OR maybe in the leopard geckos', so that some more survive the beardie destruction 😂🤣😂. The beardies don't seem to let anything live in their enclosures for very long... they were the first ones I tried bioactive with BUT they ate their clean up crew as well as their live plants, SO we're trying again haha... but first, I am colonizing their clean up crew, so I can replace any they may eat 😂🤣
I'm hoping in a few weeks, I'll be ready to put Dru in here, and she'll be happy with her new digs!
And yes, the grow light gives it a weird, purple glow. Just another reason I may put a UVA bulb, to give it a more natural whitish/yellowish lighting.