Do Springtails Need A Permit?

[isopodgeek]

I noticed that I have a Grain mite problem in my field collected Porcello Scabber and Armidilidium vulgare cultures. Yes, I bought reptile safe dirt and baked collected leaves and wood for and hour. I read that springtails will outcompete these mites until there are very little to none left. My question: do springtails of any type need a USDA permit in order to receive them? If so, how do you get rid of Grain mites without springtails?

 

[isopodgeek]

I noticed that I have a Grain mite problem in my field collected Porcello Scabber and Armidilidium vulgare cultures. Yes, I bought reptile safe dirt and baked collected leaves and wood for and hour. I read that springtails will outcompete these mites until there are very little to none left. My question: do springtails of any type need a USDA permit in order to receive them? If so, how do you get rid of Grain mites without springtails?

To all who say that I just have springtails. The white dots are mites.

 

[Polenth]

I don't know the answer to the legal question. If it turns out you can't buy them, you can find some outside. Toss soil into water and see what floats to the surface. Then skim off any springtails.

By problem, is it simply that you can see mites in the enclosures or do you have mites spreading over all the surfaces in the room? If it's the former, you're always going to see some mites. But you can avoid big explosions by being careful with food. Don't add too much at once, so the woodlice can eat it all quickly.

I've found in Porcellio colonies, mites mysteriously disappear once the woodlice get going. I suspect they're eaten, given that I do see mites with my less protein-hungry species.

 

[ConstantSorrow]

I don't think you need a permit. I got mine on Etsy.

 

[RoachCoach]

The best mite defense is pea flour if you have other micro organisms you want to live. Can't use diatomaceous earth. Pea flour as an antifeedant is their doom food. Mites can literally be microwaved in soil for 10 minutes and live. You have to either bake them dry or freeze them for a few days. Considering you baked your sub for an hour, you should be looking into what you feed them. Dogfood can harbor grain mites even if you pulverize it. Bone dry brewers yeast should be pretty much the only thing you feed them other than an established vivarium colony with access to animal poo. Anything you introduce into it should be checked for mites. Even hisser mites can survive off them.

 

[isopodgeek]

Thanks for all of the advice. I simply will not feed the infected cultures for a week. I still want to purchase springtails and get a culture going. Do I need a permit to buy them out of state?

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Springtails ship legally anywhere in the USA.

I personally wouldn't get too worked up over grain mites. They are everywhere. If there is a food source for them, they'll find it. Feeding iso colonies with dried (and baked to eliminate pests more troublesome than grain mites) oak leaves won't attract excess mites, and dried foods such as Repashy Morning Wood, or Bug Burger (or, as mentioned, dried yeast, though I've not personally fed yeast to isopods) are good nutritious choices as well. I also feed fresh mushrooms from time to time.

Grain mites are frequently reported in springtail cultures (kept on substrate; I keep mine on charcoal, which doesn't seem friendly to mites), so I wouldn't hold out too much hope on the competition idea, though there is no harm in trying.

 

[isopodgeek]

Springtails ship legally anywhere in the USA.

I personally wouldn't get too worked up over grain mites. They are everywhere. If there is a food source for them, they'll find it. Feeding iso colonies with dried (and baked to eliminate pests more troublesome than grain mites) oak leaves won't attract excess mites, and dried foods such as Repashy Morning Wood, or Bug Burger (or, as mentioned, dried yeast, though I've not personally fed yeast to isopods) are good nutritious choices as well. I also feed fresh mushrooms from time to time.

Grain mites are frequently reported in springtail cultures (kept on substrate; I keep mine on charcoal, which doesn't seem friendly to mites), so I wouldn't hold out too much hope on the competition idea, though there is no harm in trying.

Thank you so much for the Springtails legality issue. Are all springtails species legal to receive?

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Are all springtails species legal to receive?

I've never heard of an exception.

 

[isopodgeek]

I've never heard of an exception.

Thank you!