Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Guys,
Kinda baffled. I have quite a few clutches of eggs going. All are on vermiculite, and they are all fertile close to a month old. The eggs all have these tiny little black bugs on them, and I don't know what they are or if they are harmful or not. I'm assuming maybe it came from the brand of vermiculite I used? They aren't mites from observation, at least not snake mites. But there are hundreds of them. I was thinking maybe some kind of herbivorous mite like the red wood mites, but I'm stumped. My collection is spotless and these things weren't on them when they first went into the incubator. Also the eggs are incubated in a separate room. Please help guys.

Sounds like springtails (Collembola)-if so, they are quite harmless feeders on fungi and detritus.
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase and Striped Desert California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

Have to agree it sounds like springtails to me also. I breed way more geckos then balls, but have run into this every year. They actually are very beneficial to the eggs. I have not had any problems with fungus/mold on my eggs, and they also tell me when an egg is a dud. They simply devour the bad eggs which I usually find the next day with hundreds of the little buggers on the inside of whats not been munched upon.
You can also keep them for the next season with very little care. I add the vermiculite the springtails are in to a 6 quart container with no holes in it. On top of vermiculite add a layer of magnolia or oak leaves. Keep them in the lower part of your incubator while keeping the container moist but not sopping. You may need to add leaves over a period of time since they will eat them. I also feed them fish flakes, and brewers yeast every now and then.
Once you get eggs just pull out a leaf from your springtail culture and sprinkle off a couple of springs into egg chamber. You will not need that many they will breed and colonize the container in quick time. Sorry for the long post, but atleast now you can utilize your little egg cleaners

Thanks guys, I don't want to lose these eggs, so you guys have definitely cleared my mind. After that first post said springtails, I started pondering on it. I use to keep and breed dendrobates (poison dart/arrow frogs), and I fondly remember breeding springtails for the little buggers. These are so small but by my best visual identification I'm willing to bet they are springtails. I have never used vermiculite, always perilite but Lowe's started selling perilite that has fertilizer in it so I switched. thanks again guys, I'm now almost 100% pos. that's what these are.
thanks
Will Wohlers