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How do you feed out Springtails ?
#1
I just got my very first culture of springtails and thought I would give them a try as an alternative because lately my fly cultures havn't been working out well for some reason.

Anyway.......how the HECK do you feed-out these things ??

They came in a clear plastic dish with what looks like cocoa bedding, and a zillion little tiny white critters crawling all over in there.

Well, I sat and watched this little item for awhile and for the life of me, I couldn't think of any way to get those critters out of there and into my viv for the frogs..without ALL of them crawling out or having to dump the whole dish into the viv.

Who out there uses springtails as feeders...and just how do you go about feeding them out / into the Vivarium ?? Confusedhock:
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#2
When you get them home, Its best to transfer them to a bigger container- make a "master" culture, and feed them yeast. Try putting a piece of cork bark in there or a piece of LUMP charcoal, NOT briquettes, and see if they flock to that. You can then tap the charcoal or cork bark (with the springtails on it) into a cup or right into the viv. Keep them around 80- 83F for the tropical species and a little below 80F for Temperate / Commons.
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#3
Thanks for the info FrogFarm.........I was actually wondering on the best way to seperate them from the material they came shipped in (cocoa bedding) so that I could feed them to my frogs.

I reread my post and it does sound like I was asking about how to feed the springtails......lol......when what I meant was, how do I feed the springtails to my frogs.

I'll try the charcoal approach, I have plenty of that around for my aquariums. I guess I could put the container they came in.....into a larger container (like you suggested)..with a lid on it. If I leave the small container open maybe they'll all just crawl out into the larger container and I can feed from that.
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#4
You can dump clean spring water into the springtail culture / container - usually a charcoal based culture works best for the "water feedout method" and the springtails will float to the top!
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#5
Springs will congregate on top of the soil /culture substrate / charcoal, especially if you tap some yeast or dry baby cereal there as their usual feeding station.

They are easy to lift of on a piece of Charcoal, Cork bark or leaf and then you can either tap it into the viv or blow on it and send those springs flying into the viv. The "blow method" allows for them to reach all areas of the viv, to allow a percentage of them to get away and avoid frog predation and possibly establish themselves in the viv as well as make the frogs work and hunt for their food -always good for frog exercise.
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"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#6
A friend of mine (vuggers#1) showed me this (credit where credit is due). I keep mine in one of those disposable ziploc containers, about 4" wide 6-8" long, 3" deep. All that I have in it is charcoal, and feed them mushrooms. I keep about 1" of water in the bottom. I keep them on the bakers rack, right over the lights, the water gets warm, but, they seem to like it and I would describe them as booming. I was using the turkey baster, add water to the container and when they float up start transferring, but it took a while and I never seemed to get as many as I wanted. What he does and I now do is open the door to the viv, put container in a little and tip it up just to the point where the water is ready to spill out. Then take a hand mister hold it about 6" away and start spraying the container. The springs pop right out into the viv. It took me longer to type this than it does to seed a tank with springs. Big Grin
Derek
1.5 kids and a bunch of frogs
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#7
^^ like that. Interesting.
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"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#8
I am developing a springtail trap.
(because I want to be a mad scientist when I grow up. :lol: )

Seriously, it looks very promising and I am at the point where I have a few variations now out and about that random people are testing/trying out for me....

I will keep you all posted.

Todd :mrgreen:
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