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Whiteworms and springtails

J

jesper

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I have this huge population of springtails in my culture intended for white worms...
I suppose I should use them for something, it feels like when a newt has gone through metamorphosis it is already way too big for these tiny things. I suppose they are floaters..

So has anyone tried to feed larvae with them? If so how do you collect these critters?
 
P

pollywog

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If you can't use them as food you can still use them as tank custodians, they feed on mould and fungus and will help keep your tanks clean.
To collect them you should be able to simply tip the pot slightly and shake them to one corner where you can scoot them out of the pot.
 
mike

mike

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Alan Cann very successfully cultures springtails, I believe that they are kept on a charcoal medium, (the sort sold for barbecues).
The springtails are simply shaken off of the charcoal pieces, to be fed to his animals.
 
J

jesper

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Hi,
Yes they seem to prefer lots of nutrition and very damp cultures. Does Alan feed these guys to larvae?

I'm keeping them in a quite shallow container(as it was intended for white worms) so any disturbance means springtails on the floor
lol.gif
 
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pollywog

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I don't think they are any good for larvae, they are mainly used for juvenile Dendrobates, Mantellas etc.
Some of the larger species such as the Tomocerus sp. or Seira sp. may be usable for metamorphs.
 
J

jarid

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I know small plethodontids eat them in the wild but I don't know about newts eating them.
 
A

alan

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Andrew and Mike are both right. My first ever springtail cultures were contaminants in grindalworms/whiteworms. I now grow enormous quantities on charcoal. Sadly, they are not much use for Caudates, but as Andrew says, useful housekeepers in damp environments (they desiccate and die amazingly quickly).
The solution is simple Jesper - get yourself some Dendrobates!
happy.gif
 
J

jesper

Guest
They seem to be very easy to culture, I was thinking about presenting them to larvae in very shallow water(I presume they float). Anybody tried that?

Btw why charcoal medium? It isn't the first substrate that comes to mind(my mind at least..).
 
E

edward

Guest
Hi Jesper,
unless the larva are terrestrial then the larva may not notice them as they do not break the surface film of the water (in fact, the dimple is too small for me to see).

Ed
 
A

alan

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Harvesting from charcoal is easy - I just wash them off and strain the water through a fine net.
They not only float, they are so hydrophobic they barely touch the surface!
 
J

justin

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my newts love springtails seen them eating them all the time very good food i just put a good lump of soil full of springtails in some water then net them off the top the newts love them great livefood cheers justin
 
J

jesper

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Ah, what species of newts in which size range do you feed springtails to?
 
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justin

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mainly juvies banded,carnifex,marbled but i have seen the adult banded eating them to cheers justin
 
J

jesper

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Thanks Eike and welcome!
I gather that you have lurked around for a while but not posted correct?
wink.gif

I already have that article but I haven't had the time to read it! I finally have my master's degree now so I will get to work reading articles soon.

What do you feed to larvae and small metamorphs? Anything out of the ordinary?

(Message edited by Jesper on January 26, 2005)
 
E

eike

Guest
I use the usual stuff: Tubifex, Artemia, Daphnia and "Cyclops". I lost quite a few larvae because of "Cyclops" though. In my opinion it´s not that dangerous if you only feed small quantities.
 
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pdpdpdpdpd

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i have 2 week old baby fire belly newts and ive heard i shouldnt feed them frozen daphnia or frozen baby brine shrimp? but ive also heard that white worms[chopped] are better? what do you prefer. and how do i keep white worms ? do i feed them?
not sure
danielle
dizzy.gif
 
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