# Zen and the art of Podura springtail maintenance.



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Podura springtails, also known as water springtails, blue springtails, or, of course, Podura aquatica, are often overlooked in the hobby. Why? Probably because of a couple of things. 
They are rumored to be difficult to culture. That's just not true. Yes, they are different to culture, but still easy.
They ship notoriously poorly. They live in a swamp. A swamp in a bag is a horrible mess of mostly dead mud by the time you see it. They do thrive best in a swamp, but they _survive_ in damp coco. That means easy shipping. The recipient has to be prepared with a nice, swampy, sterile, master culture. Then he just dumps them in when he gets them.
Finally, they are very small and not much of a meal. What about Retics? What about Escudo? What about any of the smaller pumilio? It seems like they would be absolutely perfect for tiny, freshly morphed froglets.

Let's just kick back and watch a movie.

https://youtu.be/Zy2C00fkrxg

Wait, there's a sequel with all the original actors!

https://youtu.be/HOQKttybBjI

I know, part 3 always sucks, but you never know.

https://youtu.be/sR_Wvw4Opw0


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## Woodswalker (Dec 26, 2014)

That was fun. Which lava rock brand are you using?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Aspen Mountain Aggregates 
Red Volcanic Rock
It was the cheapest thing in stock at Lowe's.

PLEASE NOTE: In my video, I commented on sterilizing my coco by boiling it in the microwave. I don't put lava rocks in the microwave. Boil your lava rocks in a pot of water on the stove. The unknown mineral and metal content of a lava rock may not be the best for the life of your microwave.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

OK, I'm not gonna lie.... I couldn't see/find the podura in those videos


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

hypostatic said:


> OK, I'm not gonna lie.... I couldn't see/find the podura in those videos


I should have told you what to look for. You can actually see many hundreds in videos 1 and 2. An adult Podura aquatica is only 1/2 to 1/3 the size of Folsomia candida (temperate white). 
Podura do not scatter the same way other springtails do. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever even seen them jump. They crawl much more slowly, almost wormlike. Instead of scattering, they slowly slink away. This makes them a great choice for the most delicate of fresh morphs. They are easy prey. You can put a thin lipped plastic dish in your froglet viv, and drop your Podura on it. They stay in the lid for much, much longer. 
They also love to walk on water. I'm not talking about hanging out on water, looking helpless, like Folsomia candida do. They just stride right out there, trouble free.

What to look for. Second video. Very bottom, or front, of the culture. Floating on the water's surface. It kind of looks like someone has sprinkled floating pepper on the water. That's hundreds of babies, and many adults. Watch towards the right side of that same pool at around 20 seconds. You can see the bigger ones walking around. They move quicker on the water than on land. Once you see what to look for, you can see pockets of them everywhere. There are many hundreds sprinkled throughout the coco. This culture has fewer adults, and so many babies, because it was recently harvested. There are thousands visible in that second video...but just barely visible.

If you were looking for an ultra close up, with all the detail, sorry, I can't help. My live-in photographer doesn't live-in, anymore. (Max moved out)


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Pumilo said:


> An adult Podura aquatica is only 1/2 to 1/3 the size of Folsomia candida


WAAAAAAAT


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

hypostatic said:


> WAAAAAAAT


Guess you've never worked with Retics or Escudo? Great stuff for the tiny ones. Plus, if you happen to have a water feature, they eat the top surface film of whatever standing water they find. 

No, these will never become the hobby standard. They are niche. But when you see them in person...they're freakin blue!

I left a culture on the porch of a colorado frogger today. Texted him to look for the blue fuzzy mold on top...then look closer. That "mold" is a writhing mass of a few hundred almost dust-like babies.
And I got a bag of cuttings to start trying to repair The Jungle Gym.


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## kblack3 (Mar 9, 2015)

So what would the thoughts be if one were to order a batch and dump it in the bottom layer of their leaf litter almost right on top of the clay substrate? Would the moisture under inches of leaves at various stages of decomposition along with 3 mistings daily with various time intervals be sufficient to allow them to thrive?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

kblack3 said:


> So what would the thoughts be if one were to order a batch and dump it in the bottom layer of their leaf litter almost right on top of the clay substrate? Would the moisture under inches of leaves at various stages of decomposition along with 3 mistings daily with various time intervals be sufficient to allow them to thrive?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That I don't know. I can tell you that they are surviving and even breeding, in their 5.5 ounce shipping cups. They are packed in boiled coco that has been wrung out in my hand as hard as I can. Their are no air holes, but portion cup lids aren't fully airtight. Under those conditions, they reproduce, but not likely as fast as if they had themselves a swamp. Hope that helps you judge for yourself. Eventually, I'll try them out on clay with no swamp, and see what happens.


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