Springtails congregating?

[TortDaddy2]

Hi all,

New here so apologies if I mess anything up.

I've confirmed that we've got a wonderfully plentiful infestation/colony of springtails. I understand they are harmless, and generally helpful in creating bioactive soil.

My question/concern is that they seem to be congregating on top of one of my hatchlings shells/head. It will come out to eat from it's hide, and there's about 20-30 springtails all congregated in a little pile either near its head on the shell, or on it's actual skin.

The tortoise is eating/drinking just fine, but occasionally seems to be annoyed by them running over it's face. I've not been able to find any posts here about anyone experiencing the congregating behavior, and wanted to confirm it's still harmless.

 

[ZenHerper]

Welcome!

Springtails like it shady and damp - inside a healthy tort's shell is kinda perfect. lol

If your vivarium is newly set up, the dormant springtail eggs that came along in your substrate are hatching and over-populating your substrate. They often scale back on their own due to the enclosed situation and the restricted available food.

You can help accelerate this population calibration in a few ways:
1) Soak your tort in warm water a few times a day. While springtails (relatives of shrimp) like dampness, they don't do well in actual pools of water.

2) Weirdly, springtails have trouble seeing their way to hop out of water they've walked into in the dark. Place some extra shallow pans of water in your enclosure when it's time for Tort Lights Out. You will catch and kill quite a number of hapless hoppers overnight this way. Repeat each evening as needed.

3) Don't leave food and other refuse in the habitat overnight. Spot clean stool and urates during the day.

4) Limit substrate changes to small portions of the whole over time - this prevents a new over-population with fresh re-hydrated eggs.

 

[TortDaddy2]

Thanks so much for the speedy response and the tips! Will take care of this tonight!

 

[ZenHerper]

They're essentially harmless to your tort; they won't bite, but they do scrabble around a lot looking for detritus and dead skin.