Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi friends:

My springtail pop. just died off suddenly. In the last 4 years I've been doing Darts and Springtails this has never happened. I've not changed anything, can anyone help me ask the right questions to figure out what happened?

Thanks

Maggie

My cultures occasionally go though a dormant period if I have not opened up the lid for a while. I guess they dont like the buildup of CO2 of other byproduct gasses. Many times I have just left the lid off the culture for a couple hours to get some fresh air in them and they were all crawling.

rob

I second the CO2 buildup. Just let a little air get to them and they will do better.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

I add a little bit of brown rice along with renewing the yeast every once in awhile, and that seems to stimulate them. Four years may be time for a substrate change--I had to renew the cocoanut fiber/organic base and clean the charcoal off this year-when I had the same sort of population decline. I think Maggie and I started our original springtail cultures about the same time.

I wonder if one should "recharge" the charcoal bricks by soaking them in salt water and then rinsing them the same as one does with spent aquarium filter charcoal? I haven't done this, because I just thought of it as a possibility.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus

Thanks for the advise! I'll try the lid off and brown rice. I have the culture from Ed's flymeat and never knew that a recharging might be needed. I love the stuff we learn when we do frogs!

This year for Halloween, my son wanted to go as an Imitator sitting in a Bromilad plant. Don't quite know how to make a costume like this, but I sure do like his idea.

Maggie

You don't have to leave the lid off if you open it daily for feeding, especially if the culture has been renewed.

I love Halloween. My daughter creates extreme costumes and we've always celebrated it with imagination.

You could accommpany your son as a "frog smuggler." This is an inside joke between Maggie and me, but since nothing was illegal about her transporting her imitators through airport security from a frog sale to home, all within the US, I wish that someday, she will share this delightful tale with everyone.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus