Springtail overload

Luc

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 11, 2019
Messages
14
Hi! I keep four millipedes in an enclosure with a population of springtails. I give my millipedes fresh cucumber as an extra snack, which i replace everyday.
However, my millipedes have recently started breeding for the first time (woo!) and now I have a couple dozen baby millipedes feeding on my cucumber. The problem is, I can't replace the food now, because obviously the babies are very small and fragile and I couldnt very well brush them off. And since I've stopped replacing the cucumber daily, my springtail population has EXPLODED.

Does anyone have advice on diminishing the springtail population? or should i just let it go?
 

BoyFromLA

Spoon feeder
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Oct 26, 2017
Messages
2,488
if I were you, I would rehouse your millipedes and keep springtails colony going as well. Why waste one over the other when you can save both?
 

Luc

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 11, 2019
Messages
14
if I were you, I would rehouse your millipedes and keep springtails colony going as well. Why waste one over the other when you can save both?
OK. Which does bring me to the next question, how often should I replace my substrate? I feel like the nutritions might be depleted by now, and also Ive been seeing a lot of feces on the surface which ive been told is a sign i need to replace.
Im just kind of nervous, because my millipedes spend a lot of time underground (I have 4, and sometimes none of them surface for months, sometimes theyre all active, sometimes just two of them etc.) and I don't want to hurt them by digging them up from the soil.
 
Last edited:

paumotu

Arachnobaron
Active Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
386
OK. Which does bring me to the next question, how often should I replace my substrate? I feel like the nutritions might be depleted by now, and also Ive been seeing a lot of feces on the surface which ive been told is a sign i need to replace.
Im just kind of nervous, because my millipedes spend a lot of time underground (I have 4, and sometimes none of them surface for months, sometimes theyre all active, sometimes just two of them etc.) and I don't want to hurt them by digging them up from the soil.
Just very lightly brush the soil away until millipedes are exposed if you think you must do it immediately, or alternatively, you can wait until the millipedes are at the surface to replace it. I agree with @BoyFromLA in that you should keep the soil, as not only does it contain a good springtail population, but possibly some babies you missed.
 
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