springtails and red eye???

[Savannah]

Hi! was wanting to double check if springtails are ok as second feeding source for Red Eyes???

[tylototriton]

They're fine in terms of safety, but I think they're entirely too small. They're great to keep in a cage to act as a clean up crew. Springtails are used as food for freshly metamorphed dart frogs and mantellas. I really doubt any size Agalychnis would eat them. If you're looking for a culturable feeder try bean weevils. Still quite small, but bigger than fruit flies and springtails.

~Alex

[Savannah]

well we want them to help with cleaning the tank. just wanted to know really if she'd eat them if theyd cause her issues.....

[tylototriton]

In that case, no, theyre great! Maybe try some isopods too! I doubt they'll pay any attention to those little buggers.

[poison]

springtails are 100% safe i have them in all of my enclosures

[Savannah]

ok. thanku. is there a big enough fruit fly??

[deranged chipmunk]

sadly, not for our guys

[Savannah]

poopy....okay. just trying to find another food source for them other then crickets to. roaches are a no in my house. lol

[Savannah]

What if i got the bigger size springtails???still be to small??

[deranged chipmunk]

i'm thinking most likely that they would be too small, but i pm'd Jeff to see if he wouldn't mind popping in this thread and offering some advice. the man knows his bugs

[JeffreH]

Alex Shepack really covered the bases here -> there aren't any species of springtail that I know of that would amount to any kind of sustainable meal for a frog of this size. Springtails are notoriously small and important across the globe as decomposers... playing a pivotal role in nutrient cycling along with oribatid and mesostigmatid mites within fine, fragmented litter and other organic matter.

If you are looking for a nice cleanup crew; spingtails combined with isopods is a brilliant start as recommended by Alex. The isopods are highly mobile and as surface decomposers that aid in breaking down coarse organic material so that it can become available to the springtails within the substrate. You'll often find using a combination of arthropods in naturalistic vivaria is beneficial if they have different feeding niches.

Savannah - I think you'll have better luck looking into some other food sources that are more appropriately sized for your frog. If roaches are not an option, you still have crickets, soldier fly larvae (AKA phoenix worms/ calci-worms), earthworms and silkworms as readily available options for staple food items. Of course, you can also offer things like waxworms and trevo/butterworms as treats from time to time and if you are feeling ambitious could even allow some waxworms or silkworms to become adult moths that make for fine treats to many insectivores as well. Try to limit things like appropriate sized mealworms and superworms (zophobas) to RARE treats as they have a poor nutritional composition and have a poor meat : shell ratio.

Variety is always best for any herp - you can certainly feed crickets as your main staple the vast majority of the time. Then just pick up the occasional small batch of other feeders to add some variety to the mix here and there = )

[deranged chipmunk]

thanks Jeff, i thought Alex covered it well also. but it also can never hurt to have more than one opinion. thanks for taking the time to respond

[Savannah]

ok. Thanks everyone.
i get my new babies soon.!!!