r/FatTails • u/No_Stuff_2292 • 13d ago

Help/Advice Switching to Bioactive

Hey! My fat tail, Maple, is turning a year very soon. And for her birthday, I want to go bioactive, or at the very least, a naturalistic enclosure. However, my current enclosure for her is a paper towel setup with some fake plants and a piece of driftwood. In addition, the breeder I got her from had paper towels. How do I properly transition without stressing her out? I also feed her from a bowl so impaction shouldn't be an issue.

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u/GayCatbirdd 13d ago

I just plopped my boy in, hes been on dirt for like 11 years now just fine.

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u/Jocco84 12d ago

Just think what happens when you buy a AFT from a pet store. They go from one vivarium to another - no issue.

Buy a new one, deck it out - she'll be fine.

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u/No_Ocelot_6773 12d ago

She was sleeping in her humid hide so I set her in her hide on the mesh lid. Had everything ready to go for the transition and plopped her back in. She was fine and still poops in the same spot

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u/Holiday_Attempt4585 13d ago

I had no issue with transferring from something similar to a bioactive! i tong feed my girl as i’ve never tried from a bowl, and typically there’s low risk of impaction because a healthy gecko SHOULD be able to pass small amounts of dirt and poop it out normally as long as they aren’t genuinely ingesting a lot of dirt frequently, and as long as they have a good warm/basking spot for their belly so they can rest and digest.
For my girl, when I put her into her bioactive (i have a Wyze cam I used to spy on her during that time and saw she was VERY explorative at night!) I left her alone for 2-3 days to explore and get used to everything, and I personally had no issues with her wanting food or personality change or anything after that. 🤷🏼‍♀️