Springtails and Isopods
- Thread starter TLB
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2007
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- 219
Online purchase is your best bet just like tewebag mentioned. Amazon is a good place to find them. The good thing is they are cheap and reproduce quickly. I would start a group in a six quart of other similar sized container so you can have a continuous supply going just in case a tank dries up. Bedding I like to use is coco chunk mixed with crunched up leaves and whole leaves on top of the soil. The leaves will be where they concentrate a lot of time making for easy transfer. Lump coal works also I just have not used it in 15 yrs. since I use the above mix mentioned above for both isopods and springs. Look up the dwarf isopod option also as they will coexist with your springtails.
Dwarf isopods should pose no threat to your T's at all. I raise both dwarf costa rican and dwarf whites. They stay extremely small and are very easy to maintain. I would suggest a tropical white springtail if you are trying to control production. They breed quite fast, but with the tropical species you can dry up the cage a little and the production will slow. I usually keep a spot or two, usually in corners, moistened at all times. These spots become the main grounds your springs will stay. I usually mist the top of the soil every few weeks right before dark giving the springs a chance to spread out.
If you go with temperate springtails expect a hardier springtail that can take a bit more dry conditions. Although do not let the cage totally dry out of you will kill off all your springs. Other than cleaning up the soil for food I also feed them a small pinch of yeast every now and then. When I add it to the cage I mist it lightly to soften it up. Other foods that work great are rotting plant matter, fish flake, and small hits of veggies.
Dwarf isopods should pose no threat to your T's at all. I raise both dwarf costa rican and dwarf whites. They stay extremely small and are very easy to maintain. I would suggest a tropical white springtail if you are trying to control production. They breed quite fast, but with the tropical species you can dry up the cage a little and the production will slow. I usually keep a spot or two, usually in corners, moistened at all times. These spots become the main grounds your springs will stay. I usually mist the top of the soil every few weeks right before dark giving the springs a chance to spread out.
If you go with temperate springtails expect a hardier springtail that can take a bit more dry conditions. Although do not let the cage totally dry out of you will kill off all your springs. Other than cleaning up the soil for food I also feed them a small pinch of yeast every now and then. When I add it to the cage I mist it lightly to soften it up. Other foods that work great are rotting plant matter, fish flake, and small hits of veggies.
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- Jan 11, 2009
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- 4,092
Do you have wild isopods where you live? I just collect those and quarantine for a bit before adding to T enclosures.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2013
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I'd purchase springtails. Prolific breeders so you don't have to keep buying them for each enclosure, just keep some in the container or make multiple. I'd be careful with the larger isopods, I've seen photos/read threads about them 'munching' on centipedes.
Glorious Baboon
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2018
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- 95
Check your local pets store excluding pet smart and pet co most local pet stores carry springtails in my experience
Tenebrarius
Arachnoangel
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2018
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- 911
you got it half right. not here but yes the internet. super simple. I dont recommend isopods just my preference springtails work fine though