EricSJCA
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2016
- Messages
- 32
I have thousands of springtails, starter culture sold to me by as Tropical Pink Springtails (Sinella curviseta) by Cape Cod Roaches (though none of them seem to be 3mm, and I don't see any pink)
They thrive in the coco "Eco-Earth" substrates with my roaches, and make a modest living hanging around the "water coolers" in three terrariums of adult Brachypelma albopilosum (Honduran Curly Hair) and in three sling enclosures of Grammostola pulchripes (Chaco Golden Knee). No problems there, but they aren't that numerous there and aren't all over the cages.
In my two Poecilotheria metallica enclosures, both the springtails and isopods (Porcellio scaber) swarm throughout the substrate. When the arboreal T's are feeding, the springtails even climb and gather around like hungry jackals. I've watched a P. metallica flick a springtail off a pedipalp in annoyance. I got really concerned when the two P. metallica molted, and it seemed like springtails were gathering like vultures, but everything turned out fine.
I've been collecting pillbugs (Armadillidium vulgare), hoping they would do as well in the drier terrestrial enclosures as the Porcellio scaber do in the moister arboreal enclosures, but then I read this:
"During social interactions, individual woodlice can even cannibalize weaker individuals from the same or different species if the prey is injured or caught in the middle of a molting period."
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Armadillidium_vulgare/
What do you think? Can I trust my molting T's with Armadillidium vulgare?
By the way, this site has an amazing amount of information on those isopods and these:
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Porcellio_scaber/
They thrive in the coco "Eco-Earth" substrates with my roaches, and make a modest living hanging around the "water coolers" in three terrariums of adult Brachypelma albopilosum (Honduran Curly Hair) and in three sling enclosures of Grammostola pulchripes (Chaco Golden Knee). No problems there, but they aren't that numerous there and aren't all over the cages.
In my two Poecilotheria metallica enclosures, both the springtails and isopods (Porcellio scaber) swarm throughout the substrate. When the arboreal T's are feeding, the springtails even climb and gather around like hungry jackals. I've watched a P. metallica flick a springtail off a pedipalp in annoyance. I got really concerned when the two P. metallica molted, and it seemed like springtails were gathering like vultures, but everything turned out fine.
I've been collecting pillbugs (Armadillidium vulgare), hoping they would do as well in the drier terrestrial enclosures as the Porcellio scaber do in the moister arboreal enclosures, but then I read this:
"During social interactions, individual woodlice can even cannibalize weaker individuals from the same or different species if the prey is injured or caught in the middle of a molting period."
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Armadillidium_vulgare/
What do you think? Can I trust my molting T's with Armadillidium vulgare?
By the way, this site has an amazing amount of information on those isopods and these:
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Porcellio_scaber/