General Springtail Care Sheet

Springtails are very tiny, but  most species do reproduce very quickly.  They still don't require a huge enclosure, even for a master culture.  You can use a larger deli cup that allows a good amount of space at that top and holds at least two inches of soil as some of these species do jump, and for being so small, you would be surprised at how high and far they can actually jump.  You can also use a cheap plastic food storage container or a latching plastic tub.  Containers with gaskets are the best but aren't a deal breaker.  You can honestly use just about anything for these tiny creatures as long as it has a lid and some depth.  It can be small or large, round of square, and since a lot of species don't need ventilation, it can even be glass. Certain species do have some more advanced care than others and do actually require moderate, to even heavy ventilation.  For the other species though, you can simply open the lid on their container every couple of days for a minute or two to replace the air and then close it back up and they'll be perfectly fine.  If you do want to add a ventilation hole, you can make it rather small, about the size of a dime and then hot glue a piece of extremely fine mesh or fabric over it .   Before you open your springtail container, make sure to tap the lid to get any springtails that may be hanging out on there off the lid so they don't escape.

Please see the species-specific care guide or the listing page of that particular species if you have questions on their care.  If you still have questions after that, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. 

You've got a few options to choose from when it comes to what you want to keep your springtail culture on.  You can use soil, clay, or natural lump charcoal (not the BBQ briquettes).  

Some species require soil to live on while others can be kept on soil, clay or charcoal without issues. 

If you choose to go with a clay culture, you can purchase a clay powder that you can mix with water and lightly coat the bottom and walls of the culture enclosure and then add your springtails.  Clay tends to not get grain mites as bad as other types of medias and is easier to culture from, but most commonly occuring mites are not harmful to your springtails if you do get them.  Eventually, clay cultures will break down and you will need to start a new container.

Some species are more arid than others and some are more tropical.  We will include their preferences and care on their specific species listings and also have species specific care guides  available.  While most species can tolerate a range of climates, some are a little more sensitive to humidity and ventilation so make sure to do some research on your specific species when determining humidity ranges and care.  Also keep in mind that your container may or may not have ventilation, so you won't need to add a ton of moisture to keep them wet depending on what substrate or media you use and how much ventilation you add.  

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL springtails, including strictly arid species will need a moist area to lay their eggs in.  This can be as simple as a small cup that has moist sphagnum moss in it or a corner in their enclosure that can be made and kept moist.  You can add leaf litter and cork bark hides to help keep it moist longer.  Just make sure that whatever method you use, that you always keep it moist or they, as well as their eggs, will die. 

Springtails don't need any additional heat or light source.  They will do perfectly fine at room temperature and are mostly nocturnal so they don't need a light source, although they may benefit from non direct lighting to mimic a day/night cycle.  You can keep them in a closet or somewhere they can still get a little light but they don't need their own  direct source.  Some species may do a little better as far as reproduction at slightly higher temperatures, but it is not necessary and doesn't need to be warmer than mid to high 70s.   Thai Reds do prefer to be kept in the high 70s to low 80s, but this can be provided with a small heat pad that is controlled by a thermostat.

When it comes to feeding your springtails, if you are keeping them on a substrate culture, you can add some leaf litter, cork bark, sphagnum moss and even a chunk of natural charcoal for them to munch on.  Springtails eat bacteria and charcoal is a great host for bacteria growth.  If they are on clay, you will need to offer them supplemental foods.  More on that below.

You should provide some supplemental foods about once a week for all types of cultures.  They love a good sprinkle of fish flakes or even baker's yeast (like the active dry yeast you would make homemade bread out of).  Make sure not to overfeed these foods and they will mold with all the moisture and can also create too much C02 and could possibly kill your culture.  Start by giving a very, very tiny pinch to get a good base line on how much your culture will eat.  You only want to give them enough that they can finish it within a couple days.  You can also give them a super small piece of sweet potato or carrot to chow down on as well.  But they won't eat a noticeable amount of it so just a tiny sliver will be plenty.

When it comes to culturing from your master culture to either create a new culture, getting some to put into a bioactive enclosure, or whatever other reason you may need to pull some springtails from your master culture, these are the best ways we have found.  I don't think there's an absolutely perfect, surefire way of counting or pulling them.  However, some people do make entomology aspirators that are one of the most accurate ways to pull them.

Here's how we do it:

We made our own aspirators, and it does make it somewhat more convenient but if you don't have one, it's not the end of the world by any means. 

For soil, we just use a spoon to scoop some substrate out into their new cup with an added scoop of "virgin" substrate and make sure we can see plenty of them moving or you can add things for them to climb on into their enclosure, such as bark, leaves, charcoal, egg crates, ect. and once there's a number of them on there, you can tap the object into the destination.

For charcoal, you can pull a piece of charcoal out of the master culture and just and tap them into their new location or you can set the whole piece in and wait for them to come off.  If they are floating around in the water, you can gently hold the charcoal in place and pour some of the water out into the destination or wait until the water reaches the lip of the container and they will jump off.

For clay, it is pretty much the same concept as charcoal.  You can gently tap them into their new destination and try to estimate how many you are wanting to move, or you can set the whole master culture in the new destination if you are wanting to move most of them out.  

Springtails make perfect tiny, harmless feeders for small animals that need tiny prey items.  You can keep an 8oz or similar size deli cup filled to the top with substrate and the springtails will climb onto the lid.  Carefully remove the lid and there should be plenty of springtails that can be tapped into the enclosure of the animal that will be eating them for dinner.  You can also follow the instructions in the above "culturing/harvesting" section and just tap the desired amount from the master culture.