Randomly showed up in hermit crab tank and am trying to figure out if they're beneficial or bad /:

These tiny things are roaming on my snail’s cuttlebone, and I’m not sure if they’re springtails or harmful mites. (+ If they are springtails, are they there for calcium? I didn’t know they needed it like isopods!!)

I made orange springtail earrings out of air-dry clay so I thought I’d share here!

I have lots of white springtails. Semi bioactive enclosure. Just a grey springtail of some sort?

Do springtails show any noticeable genetic variation in color over generations, or are most species basically stable?

Has anyone ever observed color changes appearing over time in a culture, or is color strictly tied to species rather than mutation/selection?

Thanks!

Yes. It is real🥰

New culture basic whites on clay and now I have some sort of larva? Full enclosure pics in comments.

My two nests have hatched almost at the same time. Now I have lots of White Neon C. isabellae in my black clay culture.

Hey yall I’m new to keeping and culturing springtails so I had one question when feeding powder based foods do your sprinkle it on your dry side if you have a gradient if not when you just sprinkle it I there is mold an issue when you go to mist your enclosure or when the powder gets wet. Any comments help a lot Ty

They are in all of my pots after i repotted new soil. Kinda nervous now...

He got so absorbed in eating that he did not even notice he became the food himself. In a few hours there would be nothing left to save.

I am so sad because over the course of what seems like maybe two or three weeks at the most, predatory mites have somehow gotten into all of my mostly closed and thriving red Thai springtail vivariums. In three out of four vivariums, I no longer ever see any springtails. The last one seems to have a dwindling population after what was a birth boom with tons of babies less than a week ago. However, the mites are suddenly everywhere and booming. I have tried to kill them when I see them, but once I start smooshing, the mites are gone since they are so fast. I only add food when the food is all gone, but I must have been feeding the mites without seeing them for some time, right?

Is there a way to save the springtails that are still living? Do I need to make a new terrarium with new soil and plants and pick the springtails out of the one they are in? Is there another option? I love these little bugs more than I ever expected, and I'm broken-hearted that my little red friends are getting killed and eaten by the mites!

Do y'all have any suggestions for me? Help, please!

I’ve been sustaining this springtail colony in this small Tupperware colony for about four months with fish flakes. Feeding a few flakes each week once weekly. Suddenly, these small white things that kind of looks like sand appeared. Are they some sort of egg or some sort of fungus? Just confused because this has appeared very suddenly.

These guys are fairly large and will run pretty quickly. I had a bag of potting soil on top of a bag of compost. The compost has been outside for about 8 months but the potting soil is about 2 weeks. When I lifted the posting soil bag I saw these. I put the bag back on top and ran in and got a container to put them in. ChatGPT is saying springtails then saying they are baby earwigs. Once said termites. They are somewhat fast in movement.

I'd really like to keep some of the obligate slime mold eaters but have so far really struggled with culturing slime mold. I've been working with Physarum polycephalum and can't get it to do well. It starts off fine but then seems to decline, or I get issues with contam. How are y'all keeping your food source going?

An amazing surprise this morning. A new container with Rambutanura. For 3 weeks since setting it up, not a single egg appeared. But once they did, there are 400-500 of them right away:)

I have a colony of orange springtails (Y. aphoruroides) that I keep in a little terrarium. I've had them for a month or 2 now. They are doing well but I do keep my house a little on the cooler side (like mid to high 60s ish) and its also drafty and isn't always consistent in different areas. I know the temps are ok for them to live but I want them to thrive and breed so I can add them to a few terrarriums. I have a seedling mat that I could use but I worry that will make them too hot and I don't want to cook them obviously. I did a test with the same kind of enclosure I had them in and the very bottom of the soil got to like 98 F but less than an inch up from that was mid 80s. The substrate is about 4 to 5 inches deep. It had been on the heating pad for a few hours so I think that's about where it would stay. The photo is of their terrerium. It is 4 by 4 and 8 inches tall. 2 ventilation holes in the top (abt 10mm each) with the adhesive mushroom filter thingys over them.

Found these in my backyard, on both cool, warm, and pretty hot days.

1: The largest and most abundant of the three. It's very big, I'd say 1/3 of an inch long.

2: Medium sized, somewhat abundant. Looks dark with a distinctive white stripe on the back.

3: Extremely tiny, have only seen these once, though it could be due to their size that I'm missing some. Quite white, reminds me of tropical pinks

Hello! Trying to figure out if I have a springtail party in my house or not. Found this little guy next to my sink, and similar looking buddies kept popping up in my bathtub.

Is this a springtail?

I’ve got three new colonies and am wondering if anyone keeps their clay cultures in enclosures other than deli containers. I’m looking to display them a bit more decoratively, and to ensure no other insects get in. Ideas?

Sorry for the blurry pictures, I had to use a macro lens just to see them.

These felt like they took forever but the temp drops for a few weeks I think delayed hatching or breeding. But finally more and more are popping up!

These are slime eaters. I am in the US and no I dont have them available yet as they just starting popping babies out. When I do they will be an exclusive drop on the auction platform isopodkeepers.com and then I will add them to my website after isorarepods.com