Springtail Care Guides
Everything you need to receive, keep and deploy your springtails. Just received an order? Start with what to expect when your order arrives. Below that is the five-step quick start, then the full guides.
Quick start: five steps
- 01
Deployment
Tip the culture into your enclosure or tap a portion onto the substrate surface. Springtails burrow into the top layer and get to work within a day. For a new bioactive setup, seed the whole culture and let them establish before adding larger animals.
Full guide: Adding springtails to an enclosure
- 02
Terrain & Climate
Keep the substrate consistently moist (damp, never waterlogged) with good airflow. Most crews thrive at 68–80°F. Pockets of leaf litter, cork bark, and charcoal give them cover and breeding grounds.
Full guide: Moisture, temperature and light
- 03
Rations
Feed lightly: a pinch of springtail food, brewer's yeast, or a sliver of mushroom once or twice a week. Remove anything that molds heavily or fouls the air. Overfeeding invites mites, so ration discipline keeps the unit healthy.
Full guide: Feeding
- 04
Growing the Ranks
Populations boom when fed and hydrated consistently. Expect a visible surge in 3 to 6 weeks. To reinforce another enclosure, scoop out a portion of substrate with animals and transfer it. Your crew is self-replenishing.
Full guide: Harvesting and splitting
- 05
Troubleshooting
Crew gone quiet? Mist to raise humidity and offer a fresh pinch of food. Standing water or sour smell means too wet, so add ventilation and dry substrate. Grain mites (fast, round, tan) mean overfeeding, so cut rations and improve airflow.
Full guide: Troubleshooting: mold, mites and crashes
The full guides
- 01
What to Expect When Your Springtails Arrive
What's in the box when your springtail culture arrives, why they may look still, and exactly what to do in the first hour and first day.
- 02
Springtails 101: What They Are and Why Keepers Use Them
What springtails (Collembola) are, how they jump, what they eat, and why they're the clean-up crew of choice for terrariums and vivariums.
- 03
How to Keep a Springtail Culture
Set up and maintain a springtail culture: container, substrate, moisture, feeding, harvesting and splitting, with a simple setup diagram.
- 04
Adding Springtails to a Bioactive Enclosure
How to seed springtails into a terrarium, vivarium or isopod bin: where to put them, how many, and how long until they're established.
- 05
Springtail Troubleshooting: Mold, Mites and Crashes
Fix common springtail culture problems: mold, a population crash, bad smells, and telling springtails apart from mites and fungus gnats.
- 06
Springtail FAQ
Quick answers about springtails: are they safe, what do they eat, how fast they breed, why they arrive in a small container, and more.