Springtails

[leo kirkbride]

Hi Guys,

I Recently brought a couple of spiderlings P.Metallica and Lampropelma Violaceopes both have about 3cm leg span. I added about a dozen springtails in each of their tubs to try and help keep the spider-life substrate and small piece of climbing cork bark clean. Anyway I noticed the springtails in the P metallica tub feasting on the remains of a dead cricket, the next day the remains was gone. Seems to be a job well done, I've read springtails are supposed to be harmless but will they be ok when the spiderlings start molting? Do springtails only eat dead things? I guess I'm just worried incase they started feeding on the spiderlings during molting .

[Jamie Cooper]

Hi Guys,

I Recently brought a couple of spiderlings P.Metallica and Lampropelma Violaceopes both have about 3cm leg span. I added about a dozen springtails in each of their tubs to try and help keep the spider-life substrate and small piece of climbing cork bark clean. Anyway I noticed the springtails in the P metallica tub feasting on the remains of a dead cricket, the next day the remains was gone. Seems to be a job well done, I've read springtails are supposed to be harmless but will they be ok when the spiderlings start molting? Do springtails only eat dead things? I guess I'm just worried incase they started feeding on the spiderlings during molting .

Hi Leo,

Don't worry, you have absolutely nothing to be concerned about. Springtails will not harm your spiders in any way, even when they're moulting. I've been using springtails for about 4 years and I've found them to be great enclosure custodians. They can multiply very quickly and you might find your substrate absolutely swarming with them in a few weeks!

Jamie

[leo kirkbride]

Hi Jamie,

Many thanks for the reply, i'll leave the springtails in and keep an eye on them and make sure they don't take over

Leo

[Adam Beynon - Jones]

Hi Leo,

Don't worry, you have absolutely nothing to be concerned about. Springtails will not harm your spiders in any way, even when they're moulting. I've been using springtails for about 4 years and I've found them to be great enclosure custodians. They can multiply very quickly and you might find your substrate absolutely swarming with them in a few weeks!

Jamie

Can I just butt in and ask what are tropical woodlice like with spiderlings? I have some for a couple of my larger T's, but am thinking of putting them in with some slings, but was concerned for the same reasons...

Cheers

[Jamie Cooper]

Can I just butt in and ask what are tropical woodlice like with spiderlings? I have some for a couple of my larger T's, but am thinking of putting them in with some slings, but was concerned for the same reasons...

Cheers

As far as I know they should be absolutely fine. I used them for a short period with spiderlings as small as 2 - 3cm. However I found that there was just not enough maintenance work for the woodlice cleaning up after a tiny spiderling. In addition to that, the spiderlings kept eating them all!

I never bothered again and I just leave the maintenance work to the springtails who do a stellar job!

Jamie

[Adam Beynon - Jones]

As far as I know they should be absolutely fine. I used them for a short period with spiderlings as small as 2 - 3cm. However I found that there was just not enough maintenance work for the woodlice cleaning up after a tiny spiderling. In addition to that, the spiderlings kept eating them all!

I never bothered again and I just leave the maintenance work to the springtails who do a stellar job!

Jamie

Hmmm, methinks I should perhaps get some springtails, just for some reason I'm not keen on shedloads of tiny things crawling about with my spiders, despite the fact I know they are really usefull... doesn't make sense I know!

Do the springtails escape easily?

[Jamie Cooper]

Hmmm, methinks I should perhaps get some springtails, just for some reason I'm not keen on shedloads of tiny things crawling about with my spiders, despite the fact I know they are really usefull... doesn't make sense I know!

Do the springtails escape easily?

Yes I must admit it feels very unnatural adding these to the substrate at first. But you'll soon wonder how you coped without them! A lot of people actually mistaken them for mites as they can just appear when using certain substrates like peat.

They won't escape through ventilation holes, but you might lose the odd few when opening your enclosures for maintenance, depending on where the enclosure access point is. They can jump great distances and they do tend to start jumping when disturbed. Don't worry though, any that escape will not survive very long away from the moist substrate and you won't miss the ones that get away.

You will need to provide moist substrate for them to survive, so they are only really suitable for enclosures that require higher humidity. I use them for all my arboreals and most burrowers.

Jamie

[Craig Toon]

Jamie I recently had a mite out break in a couple of my vivarium's, even though some seemed to be on quite dry substrate too ,so I decided to a mass clean to all 40 of my Ts It was a pain stacking to say the least. I have know added Tropical wood lice along with springtails and a couple of European wood lice to all vivarium's and have still noticed a couple of mites which are white and don't jump when you touch them. Do you think me adding the custodian cleaners it would reduce Mites. I have been told you will never eradicate mites completely? Thanks Craig

[Jamie Cooper]

Jamie I recently had a mite out break in a couple of my vivarium's, even though some seemed to be on quite dry substrate too ,so I decided to a mass clean to all 40 of my Ts It was a pain stacking to say the least. I have know added Tropical wood lice along with springtails and a couple of European wood lice to all vivarium's and have still noticed a couple of mites which are white and don't jump when you touch them. Do you think me adding the custodian cleaners it would reduce Mites. I have been told you will never eradicate mites completely? Thanks Craig

Hi Craig,

You are correct, you will never completely rid yourself of mites. However, the precautions you are taking should keep the numbers to a minimum. Woodlice will compete with mites for food, feeding on dead matter. I'm sure I have read somewhere that woodlice will eat mite eggs, but I can't remember where so don't quote me on that. Springtails will help keep things clean too.

Personally, when I see mites in large numbers my initial precaution is to thoroughly clean the tank. This has only happened to me on two occasions so I'm not really the best person to ask. Most mites are harmless anyway. Perhaps if you post some pics, someone with more experience might be able to identify them. Peter Lacey is very knowledgeable on this subject.

I hope this helps.

Jamie

[PaulDaviesUK]

Is it best to keep Springtail/woodlouse cultures to supply your enclosures or just buy them as needed?

[Jamie Cooper]

Is it best to keep Springtail/woodlouse cultures to supply your enclosures or just buy them as needed?

One thing I would not advise is sourcing your own woodlice from outdoors as you have no idea what they have come into contact with. Some people have done this with success but I find it's better to be safe than sorry. www.dartfrog.co.uk is a good place to look. I don't use woodlice so I don't know how quickly they multiply.

If you use peat in your substrate, you might be lucky enough to find several hundred springtails have appeared over night. As far as I know, peat contains springtail eggs which hatch in hot, humid conditions. Quite often after a re-house, within 2 - 3 weeks I'll notice they have started to appear in the substrate. Once you see one or two, they tend to multiply very quickly providing the conditions are right and after another week or so there will be hundreds of them! I often transfer a small number from one enclosure to another as required.

Jamie

[Adam Beynon - Jones]

Yes I must admit it feels very unnatural adding these to the substrate at first. But you'll soon wonder how you coped without them! A lot of people actually mistaken them for mites as they can just appear when using certain substrates like peat.

They won't escape through ventilation holes, but you might lose the odd few when opening your enclosures for maintenance, depending on where the enclosure access point is. They can jump great distances and they do tend to start jumping when disturbed. Don't worry though, any that escape will not survive very long away from the moist substrate and you won't miss the ones that get away.

You will need to provide moist substrate for them to survive, so they are only really suitable for enclosures that require higher humidity. I use them for all my arboreals and most burrowers.

Jamie

Thanks Jamie, that's very useful info, I'll look into it. I've recently started aquiring a few more spiders that need higher humidity; although I must admit I never used to use any tank cohabitors when I used to have some of the tropical species, and never seemed to have much of a problem. But I'm getting back into the hobby again now and am wanting to make sure there is as little chance of my enclosure conditions deteriorating as possible, and also just quite like the idea of a bit of tit for tat cohabitation!