Tiny jumping bugs

[Buzz]

I recently added top soil to my Russian tort's cage to grow grass and other plants. Today I came home and found a bunch of very tiny bugs crawling all over my tort. I don't know weather they were interested in him or the warm spot he was sitting in under the heat lamp.

They are so small you cant even tell what they look like and jump around very quickly. They may have wings but I can't tell.

Any idea what these are, how to kill them safely, and how dangerous they are for my tort?

As luck would have it I'm almost done with a new cage so he will be moving soon and I'll dump the soil. Are bugs a common problem when you grow plants in the cage? I've had my tort 10 years. He goes outside all the time and have never had a problem untill I added the soil.

thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Buzz:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know your name and where you are?

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

Do you already have plants in the enclosure? It's also possible that the bugs were in with the top soil. We have tiny bugs in our box turtle enclosure, they don't bother them and as long as it doesn't get worse it's not a big deal..

 

[jackrat]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Buzz]

My name is Shaun, I'm from Appleton Wi. My Russian's name is Buzz. The bugs do seem to be attracted to the light if that helps identify them.

I'm not too woried. Just want to make sure they are not a known parasite.

thanks

 

[Buzz]

Also, yes the grass/clover mix is grown.

 

[Madkins007]

They are probably Springtails, aka 'snow fleas'. Harmless and common. Hard to completely control without introducing predators into the habitat, like isopods (wood lice, pill or sow bugs, rolly pollys).

 

[Buzz]

I think they are springtails. I took out most of the substrait (grass and all). I realize they are harmless but my wife will freak out when she sees them. I think I'm going back to a dryer sandy substrate with just a small area of potted grass next time.

 

[pdrobber]

springtails, I hate em.

 

[Weda737]

Ugh, I have 'em too. They get all in my poor little guys food bowl. I'm changing the substrate tomorrow. I put a "window fly trap" on the side of the glass to help, it's good for catching little moths and stuff but no such luck with those things.

 

[Madkins007]

If you have a soil-based or soil-like substrate that has some sand or other material in it to improve drainage and prevent clumping, try adding a handful of isopods (wood lice, rolly pollys, pillbugs, etc.) you find in your garden, along with some old, used garden soil. They will help transform dead dirt into living soil, and the isopds and micro-organisms will help control the springtails... but it can take a few weeks for it to happen.

http://tortoiselibrary.com/substrates.html

 

[Buzz]

The irony is I had some pill bugs in there. I killed the ones I saw because they freak out my wife. My new cage is almost done. This time around I'm going to have a small cake pan full of grass. I should be able to control the moisture better that way. The rest will be sand/coconut and rocks to climb on.

 

[Madkins007]

I've had very good luck with cypress. No springtails, and only a very few fungus gnats, and good moisture control.

 

[Missy]

I would not use sand because your tort can get impacted from eating it.

 

[Madkins007]

I would not use sand because your tort can get impacted from eating it.

(Not trying to pick on you, but I knew someone would say this.)

And yet most tortoises live on sandy soil and many species have been observed eating sand and other grits intentionally. Many keepers use sand in their substrates successfully- RussianTortoise.com even recommends it.

There is obviously something we are doing wrong if tortoises are getting impacted from some sand in the soil mix. I suspect a large part of it is hydration- a dehydrated tortoise certainly would have problems passing dry grit, and dehydration is a serious problem in captive tortoises.