Josh's Frogs Temperate Springtail (Collembola) Culture (32 oz)

This arrived to me during the cold of January. We had a random 40-50 degree week so I ordered. It arrived and ended up sitting on the porch much of the day since we never saw or heard the delivery driver. I brought it in and opened the top and saw nothing. I put the top back on very loosely and waited some more. After several days I saw one or two springtails but that was it. I ordered the springtail food from the same brand and spritzed the charcoal with some unchlorinated water. When I finally received the food, I had had the colony for going on two weeks. It looked absolutely dead. I added the food and waited a few days. When I opened it back up I had springtails. I have repeated the feeding and watering and about 3 weeks on, it is thriving. If you receive this and it looks dead, be patient...and add some type of food. Don't overdo the food, just the tiniest bit works. Keep the environment moist, but don't drown them. Wait and you will see your colony begin to grow. Glad that I puchased this because the Petco/PetSmart prices are ridiculous. Now I have an endless supply, instead of paying $10 for a few at a time.

I really wanted this culture to knock my socks off. Not a single springtail in the culture. I've scrutinized the container under magnification for any sign of springtails. No live ones, no dead ones. I'll update in a few days when there should be at the least some eggs hatching out. Nice container with nice label and nice charcoal. However, that isn't what I paid $25 for. Stay tuned for my update to see what happens with this 32 ounce springtail culture. If it doesn't produce springtails in that time I'll opt for a full refund. Even though it's not returnable, you can still get a refund from Amazon. Update 10/10: Only one springtail so far. Not enough to feed my nepenthes seedlings or my Betta fish. Amazon gave me a full refund.

I'm really glad I read the reviews and description/instructions from seller!! When mine arrived I thought maybe it WAS all dead like so many low star reviews, but if you read the directions you'll know that it's actually full of EGGS that hatch quickly. I saw no movement AT ALL and my package was very cold from shipping. I left it alone for a few hours and MAYBE saw 3 or 4 individuals crawling around. So, like they say to do, I fed the culture, LOOSELY ATTACHED THE LID SO THERE IS AIR EXCHANGE, and set it aside for 2 days... SO MANY SPRING TAILS!!! NOW If I pour out 1 or two ounces a PILE of 100+ active adults come pouring out! It's been a few weeks now and the culture is HUUUGE! Thing is, Shipping is hard on these little ones, the adults will die, but the eggs laid in it and the very next generation is what you're really buying. So make sure you purchase them WITH feed and WITH TIME to let them breed up for a few days before you have to use them (if you want to keep a constant culture going). And they MUST be kept with the lid not fully tightened so there is air exchange, without which you could kill the culture on your own. I got them for constructing vivariums and terrariums. I'm NEVER going to have to buy a new culture. I'm saddened that so many people likely suffocated or threw out a perfectly good culture assuming it was dead when they really just needed to feed, check the water, and wait a few days... week max if it froze or boiled hard in transit. That said, I'm sure some people did do this and didn't get the same results. So they may have a good warning on being considerate of how long and at what temperatures the package may be exposed to before it gets to you. If you can control for any of those factors it may help prevent total catastrophic failure of the culture. As to how well they work for plant care? (If you need to feed animals, I don't use them for that) I wish I took pics. NIGHT AND DAY! I have enclosed Tupperware for moss and succulent propagation and the succulents particularly were molding. When my culture arrived I took ONE PIECE of carbon out and put it in the box since I didn't want to let them rot while waiting for the springtails to breed. Well, there must have been enough eggs! I saw adults in the bin within 24 hrs and after 3 days the plants were 100% clear of rot and growing green and healthy!!! They really really clean up! After a week I was able to pour a pile of new springtails in to make sure the bin is thoroughly inoculated. I will buy from Josh's frogs again. MARVELOUS!

Don't listen to the negative reviews! You need to understand that you're probably not going to get live springtails if there's extreme weather, but you are going to receive a bunch of eggs. I received my culture with one half dead springtail, I listened to the instructions and opened up the container to release the gas build up. I also added some more water (just an inch high) and a few rice grains at the top for food. I opened the container everyday in the morning and in under a month the culture is booming with life. I'm very pleased, thank you! Just remember the springtails eat the mold that grows on the food, so you just need two or three rice grains at first, but when you have a large colony you can add a little more after they finish up their food. I add more food every two weeks.

Generous supply of janitors.