# Orange peel killed 3 cultures of springtails?



## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

I have (had?) three cultures of springtails that were finally starting to boom. They're on charcoal in largeish plastic/tupperware containers. I'm not sure what kind they are besides being white. I mostly fed them on yeast but drop in the occasional piece of fruit leftover, peel, or seed. Last night I was munching on some "Cuties" (easy-peel clementine things) and dropped a few pieces of the peel into each container. 
This morning there is no movement in any of the cultures and I noticed some floaters. I took out the peels, is there anything else I can do (maybe the eggs aren't all dead?) to hopefully bring the cultures back? Each container has about 1/4-1 inch of water in the bottom, should I dump that and add new water?
Thanks for any help!


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## nyfrogs (May 1, 2005)

It has happened to me before. Open the top for 5 minutes and put it back on. Mine all come back to life like they were sleeping


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## xm41907 (Nov 26, 2007)

I had that happen too. Yeah, open it up for a bit to air out and hopefully they'll bounce back.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Springtails do lay eggs and it is possible to see a completely dead looking culture bounce back. First make sure they are truly dead. Then remove the peels and perhaps the substrate they were sitting on. Changing the water might be a good idea too. Then don't throw them out until it looks dead for at least a month.
Isopods would be a different story as they hold their live young under their tails. If you kill an isopod culture it is a dead culture.

I have often wondered if citrus could hurt your frogs or cultures. I avoid particularly acidic fruits and also particularly spicy veggies like hot peppers, onions or garlic (I have used bell peppers though).


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I routinely use orange pieces (with peel) in my enclosures as a feeding station for the frogs but I also make sure to throughly wash the orange to prevent pesticide residues from making it into the cultures. I also use pieces of orange to provide moisture to crickets and roaches as part of thier culturing as a routine practice. 
When I check enclosures after the lights are out, I see springtails, and isopods feeding on the orange pulp and peel. 

Often people don't wash the oranges since the peel isn't consumed and I would suspect that the pesticide residues are the concern. 

Ed


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

Pesticide Residues Found in Most Apples - WSJ.com


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Are you making an apples and oranges comparision??  

Ed


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

Ed said:


> Are you making an apples and oranges comparision??
> 
> Ed


Lol. No!


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

Sometimes a good  trumps an eloquent reply...


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

I knew somebody who had a 35-year old parrot, a lifelong companion, die when it ate peels with oranges. She had never fed it that way but the bird was in somebody else's care while she was away and that's when it happened.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

hydrophyte said:


> I knew somebody who had a 35-year old parrot, a lifelong companion, die when it ate peels with oranges. She had never fed it that way but the bird was in somebody else's care while she was away and that's when it happened.


I have doubts about it since I know institutions (and private people) that routinely add it as part of the diet (usually for enrichment purposes). There are a lot of other things that can cause unexplained deaths in parrots including heating teflon lined pans too high... 

Ed


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Ed said:


> I routinely use orange pieces (with peel) in my enclosures as a feeding station for the frogs but I also make sure to throughly wash the orange to prevent pesticide residues from making it into the cultures. I also use pieces of orange to provide moisture to crickets and roaches as part of thier culturing as a routine practice.
> When I check enclosures after the lights are out, I see springtails, and isopods feeding on the orange pulp and peel.
> 
> Often people don't wash the oranges since the peel isn't consumed and I would suspect that the pesticide residues are the concern.
> ...


Good to know, Ed. I've always wondered about the acidic fruits.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Pumilo said:


> Good to know, Ed. I've always wondered about the acidic fruits.


here is an example, you can clearly see the orange piece with a A. spumarius hoogmoedi.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Ed said:


> here is an example, you can clearly see the orange piece with a A. spumarius hoogmoedi.


off topic... awesome frog!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Ed said:


> here is an example, you can clearly see the orange piece with a A. spumarius hoogmoedi.


Good thing you posted proof, Ed. I was doubting your honesty and integrity!


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Pumilo said:


> Good thing you posted proof, Ed. I was doubting your honesty and integrity!


lmao....


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## jpstod (Sep 8, 2005)

Orange Peel Oil is used effectively as an insecticide

Orange Peel Spray
Oranges and other citrus fruit contain natural occurring pesticide compounds called limonene and linalool. These compounds can be used as a treatment for soft bodied pests such as aphids, fungus gnats, mealy bugs and as an ant repellant.

Insect Treatments

Dr. Rod's invention takes advantage of differences between insects and humans. Unlike man, the breathing passages of ants and all other insects are waterproofed by a wax lining. The food-grade ingredients in BUGS 'R' DONETM soften and dissolve this wax lining, clogging the passageways and quickly leading to the insect's death.

ORANGE! The New


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

jpstod said:


> Orange Peel Oil is used effectively as an insecticide
> 
> Orange Peel Spray
> Oranges and other citrus fruit contain natural occurring pesticide compounds called limonene and linalool. These compounds can be used as a treatment for soft bodied pests such as aphids, fungus gnats, mealy bugs and as an ant repellant.
> ...


That is concentrated limonene from the peels. It is very different than the peel itself... There are a huge variety of invertebrates that will feed on oranges and the peels.. In one tank I've been battling small brown snails and slugs, and I routinely find both of those along with the flies and isopods feeding in and on the fruit.. as a small example see Citrus: Identifying Invertebrate Damage to Fruit—UC IPM 

Ed


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## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

Thanks for all the info, folks!
Just to be safe I won't be adding any more peels from those clementines to my cultures. I had taken out the peels and changed the water but they still haven't come back. Luckily I have pretty decent populations of springs in my iso cultures and I was able to re-seed them all. 
An interesting thing to note, I forgot I had added some peels from the same clementines to a viv I recently built to feed the bugs in there. I looked in there yesterday and the peels had a few bugs crawling on them and the bug population in general seemed to be booming. Maybe the issue was with the peels being air-sealed in a culture instead of being allowed to breathe?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

If the container was well sealed, it may have nothing to do with orange. Instead, it could be that the feeding added some extra bacterial action, just enough to throw the cultures over the edge and suffocate your cultures. You can fix that problem in the future by adding the .3 micron filters that Frogparty told us about. There is a link to them in my culturing thread. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/66991-how-culture-isopods-woodlice-springtails.html


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## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

Pumilo said:


> If the container was well sealed, it may have nothing to do with orange. Instead, it could be that the feeding added some extra bacterial action, just enough to throw the cultures over the edge and suffocate your cultures. You can fix that problem in the future by adding the .3 micron filters that Frogparty told us about. There is a link to them in my culturing thread. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/66991-how-culture-isopods-woodlice-springtails.html



I've read your recommendations on those filters and OFTEN thought about ordering some. Maybe this will be that extra nudge I needed to get off my butt and actually order a few! It really sucked losing all three of my cultures at the same time, especially when they were finally starting to pop.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Shinosuke said:


> I've read your recommendations on those filters and OFTEN thought about ordering some. Maybe this will be that extra nudge I needed to get off my butt and actually order a few! It really sucked losing all three of my cultures at the same time, especially when they were finally starting to pop.


Yes, and that's when it hits us because all the little beasties in there are breathing more. We start feeding heavier and that spikes the bacterial action which uses up just enough more oxygen to throw your culture right over the line.
Use hot glue to attach your filters. I made the mistake of trying to attach them with silicone and they came off over time because silicone doesn't stick well to many plastics.


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