New T Keeper

[Arnadon]

I just recently got into keeping Ts and got a T Albo. I'm very excited getting my start. I just have a question about cleaning. My sling will take the cricket into its burrow. I dont want to destroy its burrow to remove stuff. Being in a naturalistic enclosure, would it be ok to use Springtails in order to clean the leftovers? Thanks for the help in advance

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Sure...but in my experience, they'll become food, too. Just make sure you stick with your gut there, & don't disturb it's burrow...

 

[Mustafa67]

I just recently got into keeping Ts and got a T Albo. I'm very excited getting my start. I just have a question about cleaning. My sling will take the cricket into its burrow. I dont want to destroy its burrow to remove stuff. Being in a naturalistic enclosure, would it be ok to use Springtails in order to clean the leftovers? Thanks for the help in advance

Welcome to the forum. You do not need springtails, just spot clean.

Don’t destroy the burrow, I wouldn’t recommend a naturalistic enclosure for a beginner. Keep things simple, tub, coco fibre, water dish and lid.

Check out the beginners guide it’s very helpful lots of useful info for a beginner:

Tarantula Information for Beginners (and More)

Below are some helpful resources. (Rather than having half a dozen or more pinned threads, which clutter the top of the board, we are pinning this index.) While the focus is on beginners, there are other threads on health and more advanced species that may be useful to more experienced keepers...

arachnoboards.com

 

[NMTs]

One thing you'll notice as you watch your T is that they are actually very tidy little creatures. They will very rarely leave a bolus (balled-up remains of their prey), molted exoskeleton, etc., in their burrow - they will often designate one area of their enclosure as the "trash can" and will dump those items there, which makes cleanup pretty simple. They also like to use their water dish as the trash can (and the toilet), so be prepared for that by using a water dish that is either easy to remove and clean or easy to replace as needed.

As for the springtails, I've only ever used them in adult enclosures for moisture dependent species. I wouldn't bother with adding them to a sling/juvenile enclosure because your T will likely outgrow the enclosure before the springtails become well enough established to be useful. A T. albo doesn't need the substrate to be moist enough to support a springtail population, anyway.

 

[Matt Man]

others have said a lot. The problem with springtails is the moisture level that is best for them, is NOT the best for the T. @NMTs mentions this above and it is worth repeating

 

[TheraMygale]

Most of all, springtails need food. You won’t be providing enough remains for them to actualy thrive.

you would be suprised how long it takes for an enclosure to actualy get nasty.

do not bother with anything in the burrow.

keep an eye out in corners and near water bowl. Worse case scenario: do nothing. First signs of greyish mold, you will learn where your tarantula has decided to leave its garbage.

for the record: springtails are excellent cleaners. They thrive in warm moist enclosures: aka, dart frogs.

of course, many tarantula keepers have found ways to use springtails. They keep leaf litter, etc. This feeds the springtails.

when i setup a new enclosure/rehome, i wait. If i can’t tell where the boluses are going, i will know soon enough. And its never too far advanced for intervention.

thrive:

live, reproduce. If you buy springtails, they will probably die before they get a chance to mate. Then, it gets expensive. Thats why springtails are best in moist enclosures.

 

[viper69]

yes