Sustaining springtail population in T enclosures

[antinous]

I'm making some new enclosures and mixing some springtails into each one and was wondering, how do you 'sustain' them/keep them from crashing? Would putting a little fish food in each and them eat that help keep their numbers up while the T gets settled? And then once they are well established, do you just leave boluses in the enclosure for the most part and pick only the 'larger'/more uneaten ones?

 

[Inverts4life1]

Honestly imo as long as the substrate is nice and moist and they have something to munch on they should be fine....A few of my isopod colonies now have some springtails in there and they seem to be doing fine......of course if you have more of the dry loving T's then keeping springtails in those enclosure will be tough I think

 

[antinous]

Honestly imo as long as the substrate is nice and moist and they have something to munch on they should be fine....A few of my isopod colonies now have some springtails in there and they seem to be doing fine......of course if you have more of the dry loving T's then keeping springtails in those enclosure will be tough I think

I don’t have anything for them to feed on, so that’s why I added some fish flakes in hopes they would feed on that until the tarantula drops a bolus or two and some feces. I keep only moisture dependent species so I don’t need to worry about it drying too much.

 

[Inverts4life1]

Ah, then fish flakes will work as well as uncooked white rice

 

[antinous]

Ah, then fish flakes will work as well as uncooked white rice

I know for the rice they have to wait for it to start molding right? Do they eat straight fish flakes or do they wait for that to mold too?

 

[Inverts4life1]

They eat the mold for that as well.....I'm not certain how fast it takes for the mold to start growing (I'm assuming fast since its in a humid environment)....as long as its gone before mites get attracted to it.

 

[SonsofArachne]

mix a little brewer's yeast with rice flour. Just don't put too much of the mix in the enclosure as it can cause a mold outbreak.

You can add a little ground dried mushroom too if you want to get fancy, but it's not completely necessary.

 

[dragonfire1577]

You can always culture the springtails separately and introduce more to the T cage if they kinda crash

 

[antinous]

You can always culture the springtails separately and introduce more to the T cage if they kinda crash

I do, have three cultures going right now and looking to expand more, but I’d like for them to be established if possible.

 

[SonsofArachne]

I do, have three cultures going right now and looking to expand more, but I’d like for them to be established if possible.

I think it mostly comes down to the amount of moisture in the enclosure. My best colonies in T enclosures are with my T. stirmi, M. robustum, and various Asian burrowers - all kept damper than the average T.