Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've heard these eat all rotting/decaying material. Is this the same for, say, poop full of cricket exo-skeleton and urates? Could Springtails be an easier way of spot cleaning? Will springtail blooms hurt the animals in my tanks? (green anoles, crested geckos, millipedes)
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2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

Springtails, which are hexapods, (no longer considered insects) are one of the most abundant critters on earth. There are many species, which all live off detritus and decaying organic matter, perhaps feed off fungi, as well. They won't harm your animals or plants, but they may be hard to establish in a tank. The most available ones commercially require wet leaf litter and even some shallow pooling water. Since many frogs, especially darts, chow down on them, it's difficult to get them established in their viviariums. In any other situation, they will be helpful at best and not the least bit harmful to the animals. However, one can't expect miracles from them. How much they are able to degrade, or recycle by themselves, I don't know. They aren't going to make cricket carapaces disappear all by themselves. But all in all, they are a good thing to have in a planted, living vivarium.

Some people get nervous about them when they inhabit house plant soil and you will find advice upon how to get rid of them, but some housekeepers just can't stand to see anything hopping around in the house plants, and automatically think it's a pest of some sort.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)

Gotcha. It was just an idea. The millipede actually eats the carapaces for some reason, so it's not too too bad. Thanks Patty!
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2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

YES! springtails are amazing, I just started culturing them recently and i was shocked at how easy and inexpensive it was compared to FF. you just put them in a container of moist dirt with a slice of cucumber and watch them bloom. they eat dead plant matter and rotting wood, plants, ect. go for it!
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RES
WTF
FBT
Russian Tortoise
Hingeback tortoise
Leos
Lawsons Dragon
Aussi
Ocelot Gecko
0.0.3 Vietnamese Mossy Treefrogs
Oregon Newt
Japanese FBN
American Bullfrog
0.0.4 D. tinctorius
D. auratus
D. leucomelas
1.1D. imitator
0.0.2 imitator intermedius
1.1.1D. lamasi
Grandis Day Gecko
Mali Uro
0.0.4 Hourglass Treefrogs
Hedgehog, bunnies, dog, fish, crawfish...

The cultures last a long time, too, sometimes as long as a year before you have to renew them. I've also fed them with a sprinkling of brown rice and a scatter of yeast occasionally. If you also put in slabs of charcoal (not the briquettes that have been treated with fire starter, of course)they will swarm over these and you can just pick one up and blow them into a tank, or put the whole piece in for the frogs to gather around like a dining table. Of course it's impossible to dust them, and although they do contain more calcium than fruit flies and crickets, you'll still need to feed something else that's dustable for D3 in particular.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)

rice, never really thought of that. i am looking foward to expiromenting with different foods in the future. i heard charcoal works great too, but where would i get that? would Home depot have that kind of stuff? never really looked for it, but i'm not sure where i would start.
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RES
WTF
FBT
Russian Tortoise
Hingeback tortoise
Leos
Lawsons Dragon
Aussi
Ocelot Gecko
0.0.3 Vietnamese Mossy Treefrogs
Oregon Newt
Japanese FBN
American Bullfrog
0.0.4 D. tinctorius
D. auratus
D. leucomelas
1.1D. imitator
0.0.2 imitator intermedius
1.1.1D. lamasi
Grandis Day Gecko
Mali Uro
0.0.4 Hourglass Treefrogs
Hedgehog, bunnies, dog, fish, crawfish...

I got mine from Ed's Fly Meat with the first order of springtails years ago. I haven't found it anywhere since, but I used to see it as hickory charcoal. It's irregular rectangular or square pieces and not treated for easy starting, of course.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)

You can buy natural charcoal at stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart. Though it may be a seasonal item, and you would have the most luck in spring to late summer.

You can also find it at some garden nurseries. At the nurseries you will find smaller pieces for mixing in the soil. The others are for grilling, but are not treated with fire starter.

There is even some made by Kingsford, just make sure it is natural hardwood charcoal. It usually runs about $8 for a bag of about 8 pounds. (I am guessing at the bag size.)

Thanks for that information. I assumed that someone still had to be making some untreated hardwood charcoal. I'll need to look harder, I guess.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)