For my Dwarf white isopods, I learned from trial and error, I mix wet spragnum moss and leaf liter heavily with vivarium soil, ( 45% wet moss, soil/ leaves/etc. the rest) and even bits of charcoal -( so some springtails can breed there and eat mold if it develops) some cork bark bits and vivarium fungi I’ve added, mist, and give it a year or so( Ive started in 2016, success in 2018 ,lol and you’ll have alot.

"Not that type of hard wood you sick bastards" 😂😂😂 love this channel

I have a 6 foot by 4 foot red footed tortoise enclosure I set up to be bioactive but didn't add any critters . It has a drainage layer and a good moist soil and bark substrate . It's been set up for months and there is a huge amount of little millipedes under rocks and the water bowel and also theres wood lice naturally inhabited it and small little white Beatles that look like those springtails but don't jump . I also added a lot of earthworms to the soil at the start . Now I don't even need to spot clean at all and the tortoise makes big poops ! Also any leftover lettuce disappears over night

Ok I dont know if I'm doing this wrong, but I started an Isopod colony and I feed them: Banana peels, apple bits, grass, leafs, and strawberries... ill admit I overfeed them but they are doing awesome and they are HUGE

Another tuber said dwarf whites need higher protein. I pit a few catfood pellets or pinch of fish flakes with mine, all breeding well. They all like cucumber, lettuce, marrow, melon, strawberry, etc. Also the whit ritten wood fungi...like oyster mushroom sawdust or kinshi is also appreciated.

I found some isopods in the wild I had about 12 of them and they have exploded I have a huge tank full of them now they are flat and do not ball up, I've had huge success feeding then fish food and various fruits and veggies with some of the plant matter from the place I got the original from 12, all your set ups are good, and I wish I knew how easy springtails were to raise wasted so much money on them in the past I bought a small one that had a few in it. Using a home depot bucket I filled it with 4 inches of charcoal, 8 inches of coco husk and then just filled the top with old veggies and fruits, filled In about maybe 4inches of water, after that I sealed the bucket and put it in my closet and forgot about it. After a few months I opened it to find literally 1000s of them....it was awesome. They eat the mold that gathers on the fruits and veggies mold won't grow to bad because they eat it all and it just makes it easier to put it in and forget about them. Overall great vid, quick note by keeping them in a sealed or closed bucket I have had no mite problems.

I am a first time owner of a Veiled Chameleon, his name is "TUGGER". He is 2 years old. He is the LOVE of my life. I think I will be obsessed with more... the more... I watch your channel! I want to make sure I learn everything I can and do not lose him before I go further Thank You

CONGRATS ON 30,000 SUBS BRO!!! Nice video, very informative as always haha

Great video. Always excited whenever u upload!

Oh, I forgot to note... I purchased TUGGER when he was only about an inch and a half long. Just a baby, bright green and only the nubs on his back feet to let me know he was a little boy. I think I am doing pretty good with his nutrition and lighting because of access to your channel.

Awesome review! I'm starting a Purple Dwarf Isopod culture and I was wondering if uncooked rice and cat food would be okay to feed them? I heard it was like a secret recipe that they love but I figured I would ask around before I tried anything..

Mike, I am pretty shure, the small "worms" on the lid in the small springtail cultures is nematodes. They EAT springtail nymphs.

From India. Chill one! keep them coming bud... EDIT TIP: The dwarf whites like non stagnant air.. Maybe poke a few large holes in either sides of the container and cover them with a fine mesh.. Double up your spraying schedule.

Im from Australia, we cant buy isopods or springtails like you guys can, so i did what us aussies do and dug in the garden! 😂 found so many dwarf isos and the bigger "rolly pollies" now my Vivarium will be healthy and happy! Thanks for a great vid x

For the whites, I would try keeping them warmer and overall more "tropical". Also I would feed them some greens or small amounts of protein rich food from time to time, like dry dog food. But after all, this species isn't really fast breeding, so don't worry, its completly normal ;)

That diatomaceous tek is actually very smart. Tons of info. Thanks

Keep it way more dry for the dwarf white and try to add more dead moss to one forth of the tank and wet that side instead of the whole tank and ones a week do spray the whole tank and they will explode on you

The dwarf whites seem to have a lower metabolism than the others based on how slow they move, because of this they would tend to mature slower and thus reach breeding age slower

I've had a dwarf white and dwarf purple starters fail in my viv. The springtails took off. Admittedly, my first iso starter was very weak, from NEHERP. The replacement I got was nice and strong, but they seem to have all died off. I'm not too disappointed though. I really want an Armadillidium species

For your set up do you have any side ventilation for your containers? I've been told isopods need cross ventilation. Some holes put into the ends of your container and then sealed with carbon fiber or plastic window screen mesh crazy glued into place on the inside will give you the cross ventilation as well as keep your stock inside the containers. The cross ventilation helps prevent CO2 build up.

I started with about 10 springtails, different size, about 3 species. In two month one species grew to thousands. Have some species of mites, seems they don't bother them. Live in Russia.

The Netherlands, Amsterdam, and it definetly has to be the panther chameleon.

Hey mike don’t know if you ever learnt but the dwarf white just generally are slower breeders only breeding around 3 times a year witch is considerably slower then let’s say rolli polli or scabers

New Jersey, USA Favorite reptile is Crested Gecko!

I'm in the USA, and I'm completely new to the bioactive game. I have a leopard gecko right now, which I LOVE, but I'm thinking maybe some kind of frogs, someday, as well. Did you ever make a video about your springtail food? I tried to search for one, but came up empty. Thanks!

Awesome video

Whats the calcium thing pls? I want to start a coloni but im new any help

Saint Louis Missouri, USA Favourite would probably be a Savannah Monitor

Good info. Thanks. Oregon and Blue Back Reed Frogs. Do a video on setting up bioactive everything from one area. Madagascar,?

hey mike, what do you think works best the charcoal or the eco earth for springtails? btw i'm from England and favourite reptile is the red eyed crocodile skink. Could you give me a shout out if possible in your next video please. it would mean a lot. thank you for your time.

Is there enough airflow in the sterilite bins as is or do you need holes to ventilate them?

Kool vid boss. Did you try to keep the dwarf whites in 85-90 degree temps? I heard at higher temps they reproduce faster. Might be worth a try...

I was wondering what the appropriate cost for a blue tongue skink is. I have been researching reptiles, but could find nothing about the costs

Great video Mike!!

Loving the videos! Thankyou for all the information you are imparting. Durham, England

From england and I love blue tongue skinks

I am from New Mexico

Great video, in a year all my cultures exploded in populace, I almost thought I had a die off months before, now I have isopods in all my vivariums and alot of cultures,lol

australia and i can't choose a fav great vid i started a spring tail culture recently with some i found and they have exploded in numbers all I've usually been feeding is oat bran great video!

You don’t give them any ventilation? Do they need any?

Hello, can isopod live with springtail? Do any of them ever escape your enclosure and are they harmful if they are out in our rooms?

Do you need to put small holenon the container for air hole?

great video man you go in depth on this topic n im from west texas

How often should i spray with water, for give them water?

I have read they love potatoes

Hello from Northern California. My favorite reptile is my Jackson’s Chameleon. I like your video. Thanks for all the tips!

Because I enjoyed the video, I will ablidge I’m from California and I’m looking to get a bearded dragon in a couple of months and am really interested in a bioactive set up so seeing the culturing of the cleaners is pretty interesting to me

I tried to find your springtail food video but didn't see it. :(

Can you feed springtails organic grown rice?

U.S. favorites are hard, maybe Retics or Amazon Tree Boas. Are there any kitchen scraps you shouldn't give isos?

Are isopods good to use in a bio active corn snake vivarium

Awesome video showing off a successful culture! I was worried about using IAL because I have lots for my bettas! But hoping theyll do fine!

do you know which species the brown dwarf isopods are which bred so well? so far i have 2 cultures of white dwarf isopods and i know about their lower production rate. the frogs i am going to keep are ranitmeyas and i fear most isopods tend to be too big to work as feeder animals.

hi Mike I'm from texas its so hard to choose my favorit I have Bearded dragon, Chinese water dragon, Iguanas, Whites dumpy frogs , leopard geckos , crested geckos and I'm raising my own mealworms and superworms.

but don't they just reproduce when you put them in the viva/tera/paludariums ?

I wish that you had a list of the ingredients in your substrate. I have heard that natural yeast, crushed algae disks (plecos food) along with what you're feeding your isopods.

Increase your temperature because the Dwarf white isopod breed more in a warm environment then a cold environment

Would egg shells work the same as cuttlebones. I use ground up shells for my tortoise. I just feed mine kitchen scraps. They are housed on coconut coir.

Why you dont have any ventilation in these boxes ? arent you afraid about acari or fungus ? or isopods clean it so good, that there is no point to have ventilation ?

Thank you nice one I have Fire Belly Toads Great Video uk.

The Netherlands, PDF. I have two Phyllobates Vittatus and one Epipedobates Tricolor. (Not in same enclosure)

UK, my fave pet reptile are tortoises, i have always wanted one like the shell man

Hey Mike, if I purchase a leopard gecko in the future, I plan on putting him in a 40 gallon breeder. What is your opinion on that? I hear from others it is too big of a cage to keep warm for that type of lizard, but I wanted your thoughts. Thanks!

Do you have any newts/salamanders?? I have 5 newts and want to make my own tank with plants and stuff. Just don't know what kind of plants I'm able to put it there with them. They're semi aquatic newts. California newts.

Toronto. Probably some sort of iguana or even perentie monitor

Spain, Jackson's Chameleon Great video👍🏻👍🏻 Just what I needed 😃

Love your videos

okay so basically isopods are rolly pollies am I correct?

you could try keeping the dwarf whites a few degrees warmer, in the past i kept them at 80 F

can we collect these isopods from outdoors, or will it bring some kind of parasite into the viv

Switzerland, great vid! Thanks Mike!

Hey Mike, I've seen some people use mulch, leaves, soil etc for springtail cultures... my question is, could you combine springtails and isopods into this type of mix and have one master culture of the two? Would love your thoughts on this...

@Mike Tytula you are using diatomaceous earth to protect your springtails but doesn’t it become way less effective when exposed to air and humidity in the period of a few days? I don’t want you to have to waste money on a false sense of security.

Do You have a Video for the setup of Springtails?

USA and my favorite reptile is any species of aquaitc turtle, but i also love tortises!

USA favorite reptile is crested gecko. quality content by the way, I'm new to the hobby and to your channel and your content has helped me quite a bit!

From Anaheim California and I love my thumbnail dart frogs. Question... my dart frog set up has been up and running for about month now( 2 1/2 week with frogs in it) when do you think I should get isopods or spring tails. And what kind would you recommend. I can send you a video or picture of my set up. Thank you again and love your videos

North Carolina, USA and my favorite reptile is leopard gecko! I'm hoping to get one soon!

mike if they are not reproducing it may the temperature you are keeping them ; they like warmer temps & do not care leaves but do like fruits !!!! :)

hi i love the live streams you make i go to every one you deserve more subscribers

Australia, Green Tree Python

Do u have a website to buy sprintails or isopods and other items

Do they stay that small?

I'm from North America and my favorite reptile is the Albino Ball Python

Can you put any of those in a bearded dragon tank?

Are isopods cool with mold ?

whats the name of the Dwarf Browns ?

USA-Green Iguanas

I just got a gecko from kijiji, and her habitat is pretty trash. I'm letting her settle in for tonight then I'm gunna makeover her cage, what substrate do you recommend.

You probably have a ton of them in the substrate.

Can you use Isopods from the nature in your vivarium?

sweet video full of info I made it t to end... I'm from Canada, Ontario

What do you use them for

Germany, favorite is dart frogs, specifically azurius

Im from Denmark and my favorite is Dart frogs. Reptile would be the crested gecko :)

Hey ! iam from Czech republic (central europe) and I love all kinds of chameleons, i breed Veileds, so especialy them :P Love your vids dude ! Goinf to make springtails / isopod colony soon ! so i would really love to see what do you feed them :P Wish you a good day !

Love this

South Africa - Boa Good vids man

Hey man nice video and I like your shirt

Do the isopod nests stink?