Meet Orange Springtails

Take a look at Orange springtails.

Buy Springtails locally on Craigslist: 

https://newyork.craigslist.org/search/sss?userpostingid=7391919122

 or buy Springtails on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3wfnfuJ

Very cute they are!

I want to culture Orange springtails for my terrariums.

To my surprise I could not find much information about this type of springtails in 2023.

And Orange springtails were not available locally in New York.

I waited until warm Spring came to buy Orange springtails online.

The package arrived on April 27th, 2023.

Shipping live organisms is tricky and very unreliable.

The hot pack sure helps for a number of hours - not days of shipping in subzero temperatures!

The most confusing to me part of buying springtails is that they are sold by numbers.

The sellers promised 25+ or 40+ springtails.

I can tell you from my experience with temperate springtails - it's near impossible to count them.

This 8oz container filled with mediums is supposed to have 40+ orange springtails.

Counting springtails hidden in the substrate seems like a bad idea to me.

I see a couple alive springtails here. 

Let's hope there are enough orange springtails to start a new culture.

Here you can see one Orange springtail.

Springtails need moisture for surviving.

I can use the same container for culturing Orange springtails - just like that.

It's always advisable to have more than one culture - as for backup.

So, I am going to set up another container for Orange springtails.

Let's use a 16oz container.

I poke holes in the cover for easy air circulation.

And now I simply move half of the substrate from the original package into the new container.

Hopefully there are enough springtails for breeding in each container.

It would take months to see results.

Again, let's moist both cultures.

I like to add pieces of tree bark for springtails to gather on for feeding and breeding.

Springtails like tree bark.

That is how I have been culturing temperate springtails with great results.

I am going to leverage my prior experience with temperate springtails for culturing Orange springtails.

Let's add plastic pieces to reduce water evaporation and for collecting springtails.

Almost forgot! Let's poke holes in the cover of the original container.

So, I set up two cultures of Orange springtails on April 27th, 2023.

I will share results and keep you updated!

Have fun and happy Springtails :)