tiny black bugs that jump and stay near water dishes

[dakni]

hi,

i recently moved my tarantulas to their new terrarium and i noticed that after a few days, there are several tiny black bugs that stay under and
around their water dish. the size of the bugs is about a few mm and they keep on jumping. do i need to be worried? are they bad for my T's? if
yes, please help. what do i need to do to get rid of them? i would really appreciate any info about them. thanks!

 

[dementedlullaby]

Hard to be sure but sounds like a cricket laid some eggs and they hatched out. If that is indeed the case other threads around here have had the same issue/question. The answer was the crickets have nothing to eat and die. Poor buggers .

 

[dakni]

i'm pretty sure they are not crickets. i feed my T's turkish roaches and it's been a long time since i last saw a cricket inside our house. i'm also positive that those tiny insects aren't roach nymphs. i searched the net and found this "http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/38013-bug-id-please.html" the ones im talking about really look similar to this. if they are indeed black springtails, do i need to get rid of them? are they bad for my T's..?

 

[dementedlullaby]

If they are indeed black springtails you have what people commonly call snow fleas. I've only seen them once in the wild when I was a kid. Interesting buggers.

"Snow Fleas, and other springtails, live in soil, leaf litter, mosses, fungi, and along shores of ponds. Sometimes they can be found on the surface of ponds. Since they are so light, they can walk on the surface without sinking.

They eat old dead plant matter, bacteria, fungi, algae, pollen, roudworms, rotifers, and sap. Roundworms and rotifers are tiny microscopic animals.

Snow Fleas mate in the Spring, and the females lay eggs in the soil. Tiny springtails are born, which are called nymphs. Nymphs do not look exactly like adult Snow Fleas."

Source : http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/snow_flea.htm

So while I don't personally think black springtails would be harmful they indicate that you have detritus matter that they are feeding off. Do you notice them in all of your tarantula tanks? Do you use the same substrate for all tanks? Do they seem more plentiful in some enclosures rather than others? I would imagine them to be more plentiful in the more humid enclosures compared to desert species enclosures, especially since you notice them around the water dish. If you really want them gone make sure there is nothing for them to eat. Taking apart the enclosure and nuking the soil seems a bit drastic. If they are indeed black springtails they're just trying to be bros and help you clean up.

I have no idea of the typical range of snow fleas. I cannot claim to be a snow flea expert. And of course I'm not even saying they are snow fleas. I'd say keep looking for a positive ID to be safe and watch your tarantulas. Make sure they aren't on the spiders themselves.

Happy tarantula keeping.

 

[dakni]

crossing my fingers and i hope they do indeed help out. i use coco peat for my substrate and once in a while my substrate does get wet when i refill my water dish. i've never seen them near my T's, just around and under the water dish. that are usually gets moist. thanks for the info. i really appreciate it!

 

[Smokehound714]

there's a scorpionfly species that's also called a snow-flea, as well. (which is actually more aptly named, as fleas are closely related to scorpionflies!)