These bio-active custodians form an essential part of any ‘clean up crew’, breaking down organic waste and enriching the soil. They are also an excellent source of food for small reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
Springtails are a class of Arthropods, usually white or grey in colour and usually around 1mm long. They are detritivores, meaning they obtain nutrients by feeding on decomposing organic matter such as plants and faeces, in turn enriching the soil they inhabit. They are characterised by having a furcula (jumping organ) underneath their bodies which is held under tension; this enables them to ‘spring’ to safety by releasing it if they feel threatened.
This species has a cosmopolitan distribution all across the globe, commonly found in the upper litter layers of woodland and tropical areas.
Our Springtails are bred in a modern, ethical facility in the UK, reared on high end food - meaning that they arrive to you fresh and in excellent health as standard.
On arrival, your Springtails may appear immobile if temperatures are low but will soon become active when warm again. They will be delivered in a culture pot with soil in the bottom, a sponge stopper in the top and wood to feed on and hide under. Springtails are best stored at temperatures between 16-30°C, this will encourage them to begin breeding and kick start the culture, this temperature range also makes them ideal for most enclosures.
They will feed on organic matter in the enclosure, but we recommend boosting their nutrition with a specially blended custodian diet.
People often see small crawling bugs and worry that they will infest the house, this is not true. Springtails require moisture to thrive, doing best in damp, humid enclosures. If the tank you plan on adding these to is less humid, they will tend to congregate around water dishes and wet hides.
Springtails are soft skinned so are easy to digest for very small species such as Dart Frogs, Jumping Spiders and Dwarf Geckos.
They are perfectly suited to keeping mould at bay, feeding on this and any other organic waste material, meaning they will readily break down small amounts of faeces. Spot cleaning the enclosure is still recommended however, as there is only so much they can clean on their own! Springtails will help to aerate the soil, enriching it with their own waste creating the perfect bio-active environment.
