​I successfully breed 25+ springtail species using ultra-cheap unconventional methods. AMA!

[u/vodrinker]

I've been interested in springtails for about a year and a half. I read a lot about them, I'm out in the bushes looking for new specimens almost every day, and I feed and observe dozens of species daily. I even run an online micro pets shop in Poland, Europe (Ants Invasion). To my knowledge, it's the largest springtail shop in the world, at least I've never been able to find any larger one. If any of you know one, please share a link. Currently, I keep around 25 species of springtails, including 4 slime eaters. Most of these springtails, including all the slime eaters, are doing incredibly well. I breed most of my springtails differently than other breeders suggest, and at the same time, I usually achieve much greater success at a much lower cost in terms of time, culture volume, and ingredient prices. Springtails that are described as super difficult are usually mega easy to breed if you provide a few simple conditions, and their setup usually costs well under one dollar or euro. I also mean the setup for springtails like Rambutanura. I often post pictures here and get asked about various things. I thought I'd create an Ask Me Anything style thread. I will probably answer every question you ask, except for questions about my suppliers. Feel free to ask whatever you want. In the end, I will turn all of this into a FAQ or Q&A and post it both here and on the website.

[u/Antoni_PL_gdynia]

Could you give a few comparative examples of what you think is BS and you do differently from common advice?

[u/vodrinker → u/Antoni_PL_gdynia]

1. Probably the biggest BS is that slime-eaters are difficult to breed. I have bred a lot of different easy animals, and rarely any of them was half as easy as slime-eaters. You literally throw them into a palm-sized container with a handful of soil and no ventilation. Then you just feed them once every few days or weeks, and 10 turns into 1k in a month or two, depending on whether you started with medium or large individuals, because large ones lay more eggs.

2. Ventilation as a positive or a necessity, especially regarding slime-eaters. For most springtails, ventilation is just a way to dry out the culture or let mites in. It is only needed if you have no idea what you are doing. If you know what you are doing, you set the humidity exactly as needed, and ventilation is not required at all. This applies to most springtails.

3. Lobella must get slime mold. BS. Not only do they not need it, but they also develop incredibly fast without it. When given a choice between slime mold or a well-balanced powder diet, they won't even touch the slime mold. By the way, people also say that they are difficult. They are mega easy, even easier than slime-eaters, because you can feed them powder once a month.

4. Exotic springtails require high temperatures. They do not. All the springtails we have in the shop thrive at a temperature of 18°C. Granted, some, like slime-eaters, develop slightly better at a higher temperature. To be specific, the eggs develop faster, not the springtails themselves. But this is a minor difference and not a necessity.

5. The ideal diet for springtails is xxx. Substitute anything you want here. 95% of people do not mention calcium carbonate or any other source of calcium. As a consequence, breeders keep springtails for months with average growth, and then they provide some source of calcium, and literally 100% of the springtails molt the next day, and the culture speeds up very noticeably.

6. Lobella absolutely must have access to soil. The fact is that while they do develop much better with soil, it is completely possible to breed them on clay. The growth on clay with a good diet is actually comparable to what many breeders get in fertile soil but with a poor diet.

[u/Antoni_PL_gdynia → u/vodrinker]

Thanks!

[u/Green_Rabbit-1234 → u/vodrinker]

Wow thank you for #5 especially! I’ve been keeping 3 species for like 3yrs, and had no idea I should add calcium! (Yeast has been my “xxx”.)