# Springtail picture



## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Managed to get a decent shot, for my budget camera at least, and thought I'd post it.. believe these are the common temperate variety.


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## roxrgneiss (Sep 30, 2007)

Wow, those are good! I took a few shots today - springtails are hard to photograph.













Easier, but smaller



















Mike


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Your 2nd set of photos are tropicals? I will try to get some shots of mine.

Here is an older shot of my smaller silver springtails.


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## porkchop (Aug 29, 2005)

Wow, no wonder the frogs eat em, they look tasty...
Nice Pics Guys....


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## roxrgneiss (Sep 30, 2007)

They look like mini roaches and termites.. mmmm Maybe with some chocolate fondue...

Mike, yeah, they are some kind of tropical Collembola.

Now this is one I haven't seen around. They look like silver bullets. I don't really even know if they are springtails - showed up in the tank shortly after plants went in - there were more of these before the frogs went in, but never many. They seem to like the leaf litter, probably to their detriment, the other springs just dive into the substrate or die a little while after I add them. These are the only ones I see out in the open at any given time of day. Been thinking about trying to culture them....



















edit: added another shot

Mike


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Mike, I've got one or two versions of those guys... blow on them, they don't spring, but they are a type of springtails (which is a family, and not all of them spring!). I've never gotten them to produce in huge numbers, and they seem to prefer leaves over anything I try and feed them... except mushrooms. Aaron turned me onto that and they seem to really like them.


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## flyangler18 (Oct 26, 2007)

What's that paste you have on the leaf, Mike? I vaguely remember seeing a thread about this recently....but memory escapes. Shame.


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## roxrgneiss (Sep 30, 2007)

Thanks Corey, I might try to culture them one day, if I can ever get enough.

Nice SantaFrog, by the way!

flyangler,

I think Mike has them on NatuRose, in that pic. 

Here's the thread

Mike


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## flyangler18 (Oct 26, 2007)

Thanks, I'm definitely going to have to try that. Culturing springtails is fun!


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Jason, that was just something I was trying with naturose and yeast mixture (in the above thread that Mike pointed out). Not sure if it works at all, but I mix what I can in the yeast to make a paste for them (in that case it was naturose, in another one I tried spirulina, calcium, etc), then feed springtails that are on the leaf covered in that paste.

Yeah Corey those silver ones (if that's what you were talking about) don't really spring much for me.. on the other hand these are my most jumpy springtail.. they move like worms and are larger than all my others..


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

Hey Mike,
what species are those above?


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Your guess is as good as mine, I'll make you a culture soon.


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## Greg (Dec 25, 2007)

I feed my frogs fruit flies but I have been considering on trying something else like springtails, to give my frogs some variety and fatten them up. What works best for you, do you find that springtails work better than FF's. Also are there any other things that you find work particularly well for your frogs?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Springtails are not a suitable replacement for FFs as a staple, but are a valuable tool to add variety to the diet (diet enrichment!). I don't consider them particularly fattening either lol, when a frog eats too much of anything it will gain wieght... 

As for prpeferences, epends on the frogs involved. Springs are inhaled by some (terrestrial species, thumbnails), ignored by others (those with larger food preferences). Care varies by the specific springtail species you're working with... 

There are plenty of other foods that work well for the frogs, and plenty of threads on the variety of foods.


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

My camera doesn't really cut it here because these are the smallest ones I have, but here are some blue springtails which I believe are locally collected temperates;


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## roxrgneiss (Sep 30, 2007)

These are similar - I think they might be European. About half the size of my tropicals.



















Cheers,
Mike


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## holidayhanson (Apr 25, 2007)

how big (or small) are these springs? I have some but they are pretty darn tiny, the largest about a 1mm in length. Hard to believe my azureus can even find them. 

These photos really make them look large... I keep mine in a deli cup with charcoal and water, in the dark, room temp, with some rice and occasional yeast. Any tips on how to get them bigger?


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## jmoose (Jun 21, 2006)

Nice spring collections, guys.

Mike
I have never seen blue one before. Did you pick them up at Rep show in White Plains ? (I am guessing since you said "I believe are locally collected temperates")
I had my friend pick up silver spring for me from one of the vendors but he didn't mention anything about blue at the show, though. How well do they reproduce for you ?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

There are some silver/blue springs that were collected "locally"/natively by Aaron and produced, and then there are blue springtails that were brought in from europe (mine have since croaked )

holidayhanson - depending on what springtails you have, you may be looking at the adult size. If you've got babies, what you're seeing is the adult size and the only way they'd get bigger is to get a bigger species :lol: the more common temperate, tropical, and pink springtails get up around 2mm, but all the black/silver/blue springs I've had (native and otherwise) have all been smaller around 1mm or less.


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

They were collected locally by Aaron as Corey said (I just said "I believe" because I couldn't remember for sure, but now I remember lol). I've never seen them at the reptile show but he does have them available occasionally, I got them from him when I visited him a while ago. 

They didn't do anything for weeks and I thought the culture was done, then I was tipped off that they don't produce on anything else other than mushrooms. So I stuck some in there last week and out they came. It'll be a bit longer before I can really comment on their production, since I was not providing an adequate food source up until now. The silver ones are nice, I think you will enjoy them.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

All my springtail cultures managed to dry out due to lack of care during my travels for work and I think I lost most of them (with the exception of one species that actually seems to be enjoying the dry out...) so I may have to grab some springs from you at some point mike... and grab a few slices here and there from the salad bar at safeway to keep them happy


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

I brought the blues in last year from Europe. Depending on when you got them from Aaron, he may not have actually collected them and I may have actually given them to him instead. He has collected so many different types that he would probably be the only one who could say whether those are the ones that I gave him or if they are some he collected. They look exactly the same as the ones I got, but who knows. I had sporadic success with them until he told me about the mushrooms too, and sice they have exploded. I will vouch for it... mushrooms will at least double or triple your production (hell, maybe more) of the blues...


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## rozdaboff (Feb 27, 2005)

For some really cool spring pics, check out

here

and

here


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## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

Those are some crazy shots Oz


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## flyangler18 (Oct 26, 2007)

:shock: *WOW* :shock:


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## rozdaboff (Feb 27, 2005)

That subforum of the site (http://www.fredmiranda.com) has some other incredible images of arthropods - you should check it out if you have time (as well as the other subforums).

I can't achieve anywhere near that sort of magnification with my current lens/body combo - but I am going to try and get some shots of the blues (European) and other varieties that I have this weekend.


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Now those are some real pictures!


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## hopalong (Sep 19, 2005)

Those pictures make me itch...

Where could I get my hands on some of the bigger ones? Most shows and vendors who have them only offer temperate and tropical.

Cheers!
Nicole


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Cool stuff I think we need a care sheet! ;-)


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

kyle1745 said:


> Cool stuff I think we need a care sheet! ;-)


Ummm... not it! But I will help...


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

*coughcough*

Just missing specific culture information on the types available... and pics...


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