"isopods and springtails" in the enclosure

[RedSidedSPR]

Ive read in several places of people putting certain insects inside the snake tanks for self-maintained cleanliness.

Saw someone recently mention having small "isopods and springtails" in the garter tank, can't remember where it was posted or who posted it.

Anyhoo, anybody know anything about this? Are there insects you can put in the cage that pose no potential threats to the snake, and would clean up after the snakes?

Mostly just curious but it would be pretty neat if it works

[kueluck]

Isopods & springtails need 100% humidity to live, this is why they are in living viv. I have them in my toad tank.

[RedSidedSPR]

I see. So it's not even possible to live with a garter snake

[kueluck]

Not unless you have a planted live viv, then you have to make sure you have areas that are dry so the snake can get out of the moist areas. Are you looking for just a easier way to keep a cage clean? If that's the case I love the sani-chips. When the snakes eliminate, it clumps like cat litter. I have a plastic container and a plastic spoon I use to clean the cage. But then I only have 2 enclosures to tend to and when I'm home I'm in them every couple hours talking to snakes, giving chin and neck scratches or just watching them.

[RedSidedSPR]

Well I don't a major problem with keeping the 3 cages clean, but it can get a little put of hand The isopods just came to mind today as I was struggling with a particular large, very dry bunch of poop in the corner of the cage.

Not something i'd want to change beddings for, but I'll check that out (sani chips)

[Selkielass]

That might have been me.
You can purchase captive bred lines if isopods from some insect dealers. (Roach, mantis, millipede, centipede and spider raisers.) They can come in pretty colors like orange and dalmatian.

Try roachcrossing.com. I can't load his site right now, but I think he had isopods. He keeps garters too.

These are pillbugs and pillbug like critters. They need a damp area in the substrate to survive, and they need leaves and rotting bark to eat in addition to whatever they clean up. Orchid or reptibark seems to work, and I add a handfuls of fruit or oak leaves to my substrate when the old ones get chewed up.

They roam around at night looking for food- I had a lot drowning in my water bowl until I provided a stick of lucky bamboo in the dish for them to climb out on.

Springtails are even tinier soil and plant dwellers. You can gather local ones in leaf mold, or buy cultures from dart frog food sources. Different lines need different conditions. Look for temperate, not tropical if you want a hope of them surviving.

I also added a few local millipedes (they are harmless, beware of poisonous tropical species.) And they seem to be surviving, but I think the pillbugs are doing most of the clean up.

I provide a moist pillbug hide under some maple bark in a back corner, and there always seems to be a crowd there when I check. My Butlers burrow under occasionally, but all seem to get along fine. The rest of the terrarium is kept dryer than the pillbug corner, but still slightly damp so the burrows the snakes dig under the leaves just holdshape.

They are good little cleaners. No smell and unless droppings are on top of a leaf or chunk of bark they often dissapear before I have a chance to lift them out.

Garters are going into brumation soon. Im hoping a lack of hosts will cause a drop in any harmful beasties that may be in the enclosure. If any mites or disease turn up im not sure what I could do butter apart my carefully balanced system.
Im hoping a 'fallow' period will help keep things pest free, just as it does in agriculture.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

You can use chemical and fertilizer free potting soil mixed with fine orchid bark.The bark creates air pocket for aerobic bacteria to breed.They help brake down some of the waist and if spot cleaned when needed wont have to cleaned out as regularly.The soil only needs to be moist enough to hold burrows shouldn't cause skin problems.

[Selkielass]

My mix is half eco- earth, half plain potting soil. I shaped the ground on my terrarium on top of a layer of plastic grid 1inch deep for drainage covered with landscaping fabric.
I added a scoop of isopod and good bacteria ladenn compost from near the middle of my own compost heap and mixed togeter the top inch or two of material with a fork. Wood and bark chips finished the surface and then I added some non-toxic leaves to carpet my forest floor.

Later on I dug down in a back corner and buried a sandwich made of layers omaple and mulberry bark from my woodpile. This M
'JENGA' l like construction reaches right dn to the landscape fabric. It gets watered every few days and provides a damp retreat for the isopods. They venture out into the dryer areas after lightf s out.

[RedSidedSPR]

Intriguing. I'm gonna seriously look into this, thanks for the detailed help Selkialass

[pinkypink]

I have a naturalistic viv set up with isopods and springtails. I have no issues with scale rot or issues keeping my cleaners alive. My substrate is eco-earth and cyprus mulch. once weekly I mix the soil and wet it down...the top layer of mulch/soil drys quickly while leaving the rest under it more moist. I also have many place for the snakey's to lay that isn't wet at all. Cork bark rounds and such. I got my cultures form a friend of mine who breeds them...
www.herpetologicalgirl.com

Here is a link to pics of my snake tank.... https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...2110509&type=3