I had a whole supply of Springtails and Pill Bugs and just cleaned out the vivs they were in. I thought maybe some would survive but it looks like none did. When you guys collect them from outside how you go about qurantining them to make sure they had no pesticides,etc? Is there a place were you can purchase them? thanks.
Viv Cleaner Bugs
- Thread starter Saurian
- Start date
Ozymandias
New member
i gather tham and put them in a sterilite or Rubbermaid shoe box and let them go through a few generation before i will introduce them into a tank. the only problem with this is that is takes time but i know Carolina pet supplies has some for sale. not sure of a good place to get springtails off line sorry
you might want to look at a place that sells dart frogs or deals with other small animals. Many of them will have access to springtail cultures. That was were I got mine to seed my tanks. Also try local shops. Even though they might not have them they might be able to order them.
EsotericForest
New member
When I gather the pill bugs I breed them at least two generations in before I feel comfortable putting them with any of my herps. There really isn't a way other than that to tell if they've been in contact with pesticides.
MauricesExoticPets
New member
Yep, gather a few adult pill bugs or sow bugs, let them breed once, toss the adults back into the area you found them, you now own a bunch of pretty clean breeders.
Any offspring from these should be as safe as any live feeder you'll be able to find.
If your super duper ultra crazy picky and have nothing else to do, you can also make sure the critters are moved from sterile container to sterile container every 12 to 24 hours in an effort to limit reinfestation of any internal parasites. Then provide your friendly vet with a sample of live insects for inspection to determine if in fact your efforts were worth while.
And no, I am not that crazy.
Maurice Pudlo
Any offspring from these should be as safe as any live feeder you'll be able to find.
If your super duper ultra crazy picky and have nothing else to do, you can also make sure the critters are moved from sterile container to sterile container every 12 to 24 hours in an effort to limit reinfestation of any internal parasites. Then provide your friendly vet with a sample of live insects for inspection to determine if in fact your efforts were worth while.
And no, I am not that crazy.
Maurice Pudlo
EsotericForest
New member
Sounds logical to me...it's better than making the same trip to the vet with your reptile instead 
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dragonspirit1185
New member
Herps Feeders and All The Reptile Supplies You need - Josh's Frogs
Welcome to Black Jungle Terrarium Supply - The Natural Choice!
Jungle Box Online - Frogs, Vivarium Supplies, Feeders and Tropical Plants
The best thing to do is to buy a springtail culture and then put the culture in a shoe box size container.....98¢ at Walmart
Then you fill is about a bit past halfway of water and just place food for them in there.
Then when you tilt it the springtails will float and poar into your viv.
Or you can just dump the culture into the viv
YouTube - How to culture springtails
Welcome to Black Jungle Terrarium Supply - The Natural Choice!
Jungle Box Online - Frogs, Vivarium Supplies, Feeders and Tropical Plants
The best thing to do is to buy a springtail culture and then put the culture in a shoe box size container.....98¢ at Walmart
Then you fill is about a bit past halfway of water and just place food for them in there.
Then when you tilt it the springtails will float and poar into your viv.
Or you can just dump the culture into the viv
YouTube - How to culture springtails
Phantasy
New member
Some of my vivariums mysteriously will produce detritivore colonies by themselves. One of my large vivariums has strong numbers of both 'classic' white springtails (unknown species), as well as some sort of small (aphid-sized) isopod-looking detritivores; both of these populations grew without my help. I imagine that despite my best efforts to keep my tanks uninvited-guest-free, these guys came in on the roots of some of my plants. In reality, they're now welcome additions, and are thriving on their own. Whenever I find larger isopods or arthropods that weren't intentionally introduced into my tanks, which is very uncommon, such as pill bugs and millipedes, I always promptly remove them. Despite being good sources of calcium in some cases, I'd rather not have my geckos feeding on prey items other than those I gutload for them--and obviously I wouldn't want my geckos chomping down on even a mildly toxic millipede. Anywho, I think I just started rambling a bit for no reason, haha.
Cheers,
-Matt
Cheers,
-Matt
dragonspirit1185
New member
That's not good at all to carry bugs into your vivarium.
I always wash the roots and repot....
I've noticed people going and catching springtails themselves instead of buying them.....
by not getting them from a safe controlled source you're jeopardizing your herps getting them from outside cause you could bring in mites and other things you can't see with the naked eye.
I think that it is sheer stupidity to do so and put your herps at risk.
The only thnk I use from outside is wood but I make sure it isn't full of bug burrowing holes and that I soak it then bake it in the oven to kill whatever may have came with it.
Springtail cultures are relatively cheap so why risk it.
I got ahold of some bad Orchid mix once and now I only have 1 out of 7 Orchids left because I wound up tracking in some bugs that killed them all.
There's $150 down the drain....
Please buy from controlled sources and keep your herps safe...
I always wash the roots and repot....
I've noticed people going and catching springtails themselves instead of buying them.....
by not getting them from a safe controlled source you're jeopardizing your herps getting them from outside cause you could bring in mites and other things you can't see with the naked eye.
I think that it is sheer stupidity to do so and put your herps at risk.
The only thnk I use from outside is wood but I make sure it isn't full of bug burrowing holes and that I soak it then bake it in the oven to kill whatever may have came with it.
Springtail cultures are relatively cheap so why risk it.
I got ahold of some bad Orchid mix once and now I only have 1 out of 7 Orchids left because I wound up tracking in some bugs that killed them all.
There's $150 down the drain....
Please buy from controlled sources and keep your herps safe...
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Phantasy
New member
That's not true in all cases. Many people use bio-active soils in their vivariums, and get the soil started with unbaked logs and leaf litter that contain invertebrates. That being said, I don't do that. I bake all my leaves and tank decor before putting them in my vivariums, and I thoroughly wash all of the plants, roots included, of all the plants that make it into my vivariums. But you'd literally have to tear root structures apart and rip a lot of fine roots to COMPLETELY rid your plants of any soil. Believe it or not, most of the tiny invertebrates that will make it in the soil from the root bases of plants are harmless, they're only looking to eat decaying matter and to enrich soil. Despite sounding controversial, the reality is that most mites aren't even parasitic, and trust me, all of my geckos are completely mite free, and have always been mite free. If colonies of these detritivores make it into some of my tanks in the tangle of plant roots, so be it. Sheer stupidity? You should think twice before calling someone names, as I'm a very well-informed individual who spends a lot of time researching and applying husbandry techniques. I have never had a sick gecko, never had stool problems or mite problems with my geckos, and all of my plants and soils are healthy as. It's simply a matter of common sense, and if I ever have trouble with my animals from springtails that came in from the fine root-tangles of my plants, I'll be sure to let this forum know immediately.
Cheers,
-Matt
Cheers,
-Matt
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Robin Skrumsager
New member
I agree with Matt, I have some tanks with bioactive substrate, and added springtails. (bougth them as I saw them at a show), got half a culture in each viv, they cleaned the place pretty good, but I think they died out during the winter. So have to get a hold on some new cultures and put in. btw Pillbugs, are excilent, fodd supply that I know phants have great use off. The only negative side is you dont know how much they eatm if they dont eat all the crickets.