Springtails

[ERKleRose]

Just some brewer's yeast around once a week or less should be more than fine.

 

[Scaled Alchemy]

So as well as brewers yeast feeding rice? As I don't think there will be enough dead leaves / organic matter to sustain them

I have noticed that they kinda balance themselves out. If there is a lot of food around then you will have a large colony of springtails and less food means a smaller colony. I like to think of it as a competition for food, if there is enough to go around then they will keep reproducing until the food becomes scarce. I have never had to add food to springtails that were in any of my enclosures, only to ones that I was culturing on charcoal.

If there is no food around for them to be self-sustaining then they really aren't needed... but again they are eating on fungi which is hard to prevent unless everything is dry! Also, depending on what you are using for potting mix there is a high likelihood that there is decaying vegetation already present and will act as a food source.

 

[Flick boy]

Thanks guys and gals .

 

[Flick boy]

Anyway as far as isopods anyone just grab some woodlice from their yard and chuck them in rather than buying from stores ?

 

[jamest0o0]

I don't use either cuttle bone or any "supplementation" like custodian fuel!

Also, I find that there are a lot of products on the market that are over advertised in general. That's were forums such as this one really help, they act as communal research so no one individual has to go out and buy all of these products. We all use information from one another, which helps from over spending on products that you don't really need! Granted there might be a certain time and place for some items, but from my experience the springtails don't need anything special.

Amen! I have a few containers of springtails on charcoal, I also have roach/isopod/snail bins loaded with springtails. They thrive off of pretty much any organic material that you throw in. I used to buy some of the fancy powders and stuff, but really anything works. A lot of my old calcium/vitamin powders I throw in for them and the isopods, they go nuts. Old food, leaves, etc.

 

[jamest0o0]

Anyway as far as isopods anyone just grab some woodlice from their yard and chuck them in rather than buying from stores ?

Yup, but depending on species, they don't reproduce as fast and arent as efficient cleaners. Still cool though.

 

[Scaled Alchemy]

Anyway as far as isopods anyone just grab some woodlice from their yard and chuck them in rather than buying from stores ?

Yup, but depending on species, they don't reproduce as fast and arent as efficient cleaners. Still cool though.

I have used some from my yard as well, and the typical rule of thumb is to avoid collecting them in areas that have potentially came into contact with (weed killers, insecticides, fertilizers or other harsh chemicals). There is still some debate to if you should field collect or not, but in my opinion if the isopods are in that area it is probably free of contamination.

Also, another trick is to gather a few and allow them to reproduce a few generations before using them in your set ups... though like @jamest0o0 mentioned they can take awhile to reproduce.

 

[Flick boy]

Good point about field collection after a little reading this morning I have know learned there are around 35 species of woodlice in the uk a couple of which are on the ucni red list as vulnerable so anyone now or in the future reading this thread best to identify type and species of insect before removing them for the wild/ nature. I never thought/ imagined when deciding to get a cham it would lead me down this sometimes bonkers but intriguing wonderful road