Breeding/Culturing Springtails

[jrh3]

Anyone have tips on how to culture pink tropical springtails? I see people keeping them in a container with wet charcoal but not sure what the methods are and what they are feeding.

My guess would be this is something similar to fruit fly cultures you grow them out and as they over popular you split them up and start a new one.

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Hi
I dont keep pink springtails but the one I have are in a 8oz deli pot without ventilation with some moist NOT compacted organic soil(1-2cm )in them and feed pinch of cheap porridge oats as required (once they eat it add more.lol)I open the lid a little when I remember now and then(no more than twice a week) for air exchange .I keep them on my Tarantula shelf so temps vary between 20-30°C depending on whether outside.
The population is booming.If you want to propagate just split the culture once its going strong.
Its really that simple.Haha

Regards Konstantin

 

[jrh3]

@Konstantin Konstantinov any reason for no ventilation other than escaping?

 

[LadyVonChimp]

I dont keep pink springtails but the one I have are in a 8oz deli pot without ventilation with some moist NOT compacted organic soil(1-2cm )in them and feed pinch of cheap porridge oats as required (once they eat it add more.lol)I open the lid a little when I remember now and then(no more than twice a week) for air exchange .I keep them on my Tarantula shelf so temps vary between 20-30°C depending on whether outside.
The population is booming.If you want to propagate just split the culture once its going strong.
Its really that simple.Haha

I do exactly the same as this, but mine are also just normal tropical spring tails. Mist it down about once a week after I've put some really thin porridge oats (it's called Ready Brek here in the UK) to allow mould to grow on the oats and they are thriving.

I keep them in a cupboard with my Mealworm farm.

 

[smoothie4l]

I keep pink spring tails on soaked coco fibre, I just give them a pinch of breadmakers yeast ( comes in convenient little pellet shapes ) every other week or so. I find they multiply faster if you neglect them a bit lol, just make sure it's wet but the coco is tall enough for them to escape from it if need be and they are good to go!

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

@Konstantin Konstantinov any reason for no ventilation other than escaping?

No.That's the reason.
I don't add water too often(Pictured culture is 3-4 months old and added a little water once since original setup) as no ventilation helps with keeping substrate moist.If you overdo the water you may get detritus worms on botom of the culture but they are harmless anyway so no worries if that happens.
Also they dont only eat the mould they eat organics in the soil and the actual oats too
Regards Konstantin

 

[jrh3]

Here is what I got, and I added some to my isopods and will probably split these up. As they grow do you have to split so they won’t become over populated?

 

[RoachCoach]

Here is what I got, and I added some to my isopods and will probably split these up. As they grow do you have to split so they won’t become over populated?
View attachment 375328 View attachment 375331

They don't run into issues with overpopulation like other normal things. They won't get and spread mass disease. The population will rise and fall directly according to the space and food available. They are parthenogenic, so if food is not abundant they are less likely to reproduce.
Oh ya, mites are the enemy. Big time. Do everything you can to keep out mites, Especially if you have 1 large culture. 1 slip up and that could be it.

 

[Hisserdude]

In my experience, tropical pinks breed like pests in roach enclosures, and do best in that kind of a setup, lots of organics, roach frass would be great if you have some at hand. You really can't go wrong with Sinella curviseta though, it's actually rather hard to kill them.