Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When soaking my 9 month old redfoots today I noticed these (red arrows) there were a few in the substrate also. I promptly removed the substrate and cleaned everything with dilluted bleach. I rinsed the torts under warm running water. The bugs didnt seen to be holding on, they just washed right off. I replaced the substrate with paper towells so I can monitor the torts. Any ideas, I am assuming that the bugs came from the substrate because I reall dont know where else they would have come from... If you can identify these are they a so called "problem", Any suggestions of other measures to take to prevent this???

Thanks
-Ian

.

ive seen these in my bedding before. they dont seem to hurt anything though. i think their a kind of dirt flea.

Huh, I removed all the old bedding and have another fresh batch in the freezer to hopefully kill any more bugs before I put it in their enclosure.

-Ian

They look like springtails to me. They get into any moist soil (indoor flowerpots) and the like.
They are harmless and I have had them appear and disappear.
I do bake all the substrates I put into my enclosure (quite an effort, but worth it), to get rid of harmful bugs and funguses, but the springtails do appear from time to time. If you let the substrate dry out a bit (just for a day or so, which won't harm your tortoises) you can usually eliminate the majority.

So no worries,
Gaby

At what tempature and for how long do you bake the substrate, I have always thrown it in a freezer for a few days. Also I'm using a mix of topsoil and cypress, what are you using?

Thanks, you know you never can be too careful when you see bugs in your tort's enclosure....

-Ian

I use forest bark (ExoTerra I think), about 2 inches high, covered with spaghnum moss, about 1 - 3 inches high, depending on the place.
Cypress mulch can replace the forest bark, but with babies I am too worried, that they could ingest one of the tiny splints in the Cypress mulch.

As sterilization temperatures are 120 degrees Celsius, I use about 350 degrees F to make sure, that I reach that temperature.
I buy the big aluminum single use roasting pans (use them for a long time though), fill them with moistened bark or moss (so it gets kind of steamed), cover loosely with aluminum foil with holes punched in and leave in the oven for about an hour. You simply have to make sure, that 120 degrees Celsius are reached in the center of the substrate.

For my big enclosure this means about 30 runs,- so it's a big job. But as my redfoots all do not poop in their enclosure, but just into their bath (for my oldest one) or in their feeding pen (for the three babies), I don't have to change the medium frequently.

Hope that helps,
Gaby

So 120C or 350F for an hour od so, works for me!
Thanks Gaby
-Ian

I agree that those are springtails. They are harmless and serve a large role in decomposition in a natural setting. I read that you use cypress, I work at a herp shack (pet store) and all of our cypress mulch products have springtails in them. I guess they really like the moisture it holds the same as redfoots do. Baking it will definately get rid of them along with the fungus that loves the plastron of refoots. Hope this helps solidify the other answers, Miles