Dash the Russian Tortoise

[dashthetortoise]

HI everyone,

I am a mum to a 4 year old Russain tortoise- Dash! I have been following this forum for a while and it has been immensely helpful! I noticed some small insects in Dash's enclosure so decided to do a deep clean. I recorded some insects and would really like to learn how to get rid of them!

Thanks all!

 

[ZenHerper]

I don't recognize the fly.

The wee gray critter is a terrestrial crustacean known as a springtail. They are beneficial to habitats since they eat refuse like old food, stool, urine, and mold. Springtail poo is slightly alkaline and it can help keep a substrate from becoming too acidic.

Springtails are 100% non-harmful to pets.

Their eggs ride into a set up in packaged bedding such as coco coir and bark chips. Once damped, the eggs hatch and the springtails go to work. Their population can appear large at times, but they calibrate their reproduction to the available food sources they find in the habitat.

If you keep the very top layer of substrate dry and the lower layers damp, you will see them seldom as they need the moisture to live.

There are several types of springtails, and they can look different depending on what developmental stage they are in.

All about Collembola or springtails - A Chaos of Delight

Springtails, or Collembola, are incredibly beautiful, colourful and usually very tiny six legged soil mesofauna with an ability to jump.

www.chaosofdelight.org

 

[dashthetortoise]

Thanks a lot, ZenHerper! That was really helpful.. I have heard we need to mist the enclosure a little hence i mist it everyday and that makes it damp.. should I not do that for the tortoise?

 

[ZenHerper]

Misting really only wets the air and the surface for a short time (and brings all the springtails up).

If you pour some water into the substrate just under the main heat fixture, you will get a more natural humidity from the ground-up (like what happens outdoors). And your springtails will be more apt to stay hidden. Replenish the under-surface water as needed to keep the lower half damp and the upper half dry.