Josh's Frogs Temperate Springtail (Collembola) 8 oz Culture

I added these springtails to my terrarium almost 2 years ago, and they’re still thriving strong today. They established quickly and have kept my bioactive setup clean and balanced ever since. I haven’t had any issues with them dying off or failing to reproduce. Reliable cleanup crew and exactly what I needed for my enclosure.

This culture of Spring tales is still living in two of my tanks , Crested Gecko and Mourning Gecko.

Yup, just as others have said: I received substrate with absolutely no springtails in it. The culture was shipped under pretty optimal weather conditions, so I assumed it was unlikely that they would have died in transit, but just to be certain, I meticulously sifted through the material, used a magnifying glass and ultimately even prepped a number of slides for my microscope. Not even the remotest sign of a springtail, living or dead. The package came with a note saying that in the event of an issue with an order placed via amazon, contact Josh's Frogs customer service directly and they will attempt to resolve the issue to avoid processing a return. Well, it took me almost a week to even get someone on the phone, despite several calls during their listed hours; the line would pick up and I would be placed on hold for a few minutes, only to by summarily hung up on. Using another option in the phone tree, I left several messages, none of which were returned. I also reached out directly through the vendor contacts here on Amazon, same story. Eventually I did get a hold of someone with their customer service line and she was very professional and seemed eager to help. A replacement culture was mailed, and arrived about five days later. Once again, not a single springtail, living or dead. At this point I am just not even going to bother any more and will eat the cost, but I'm skeptical that this product could have been shipped twice without any of the actual springtails in the substrate without someone at the business knowing exactly what was (and was not) being sent. Now, I'm not a big purchaser of cultures; these were meant to be a one-off culture to control fungal blooms for the topsoil for some plants. Nevertheless, I have seen Josh's Frogs mentioned in the past as a usually reliable producer of such cultures. When I did my immediate research before purchasing this product, I saw some rumblings in forums that their reputation was not quite what it used to be. I decided to take a chance based on the long term, rather than short term, reputation. A big mistake as it turns out. Do yourself a favor: avoid this company. Either their QA is laughable, or someone in the organization is willing to ship a non-product, or some of their offerings are just outright scams. Not sure which, but I can tell you that you risk tossing money away if you buy from them.

So I bought this in June, I saw two somethings inside. I couldn't tell if it was spring tails or isopods. But kept it anyway. Put them in their own container with nothing but a little mold and a few scraps of food. I left it a lone for months only opening to keep it humid by adding a little water to the sides. Nothing, not even a hint of anything within. Was tempted to give up until I saw a few isopods moving around. I didn't add them to this container as I was going to throw it out or try it with other spring tails. Im glad I didn't throw it out, as I have finally spring tails showing! Two months and finally spring tails. Im posting this as to help someone else who bought an "empty dirt cup" to realize they could have spring tails and not know it until months later. Hope this helps someone

Honestly got this because I did a ton of research into making Terrariums and other things of the like. Honestly, just like a lot of the other reviews that I read before buying this particular culture, the springtails were very small. And I have it a couple weeks for the springtails to really have their numbers up before harvesting. I work everyday during the weekday and each other every other weekday I would check the culture, let some air in for a minute or two and then place them back on my shelf tucked underneath my Isopod colony I am trying to start up. I've kept them moist enough ( even in the now horrible Cali heat, which ive also noticed their population explode because of this? Not sure but might be a reason ) and I've only used bottles or filtered water for their set up. Kept them in the original subtrate they came in and only harvested about a quarter size worth of soil three or so times to add to terrariums or my other culture set ups. ( they look to be thriving in those set ups as well. ) These guys can be a hit or miss for you, considering the price but so far they are really good if you care for them diligently. I plan to possibly split them into a larger take out container with a Charcoal set up but I'm going to wait till they boost even more before doing so. You can see the bunches of white juvenile springtails all gathered in the bottom which wasn't there before ( wish I took a start and after set of pictures to compare their growth over the weeks but i digress... ) Recommend newer people to springtails to get this set up first, and once you got this colony up and running try moving them to a charcoal set up. Honestly don't think its worth it to pay extra for the same thing but different subtrates. ( Got a Whole bag of Natural Wood LUMP Charcoal not the Briquettes which have chemicals that kill animals and plants for $16 and use them for both my terrariums, plants and more. ) so you can save money in the long run and use them for different projects when you break them down. ( look up a tutorial for that its easy but you have to be safe about it. Wore a mask and it was A DARK BLACK when I was done. Don't want that in your lungs ) In conclusion, great product, came in well packaged and within a couple days with prime. I am definitely considering buying my first isopods from them as well. ( My own are wild caught from by Backyard. ) Good product, awesome growth, but patience and care are a definite must.

The first batch of springtails that I ordered arrived on a very hot day and was placed in my black mailbox. By the time I got to it, it was dry and all of the springtails had died. WITH THAT SAID, Joshes Frogs was amazing about helping me and fixing the issue. They offered to either refund me or send a new batch. I opted for the second choice and the new order was shipped to me quickly and arrived healthy with lots of little springtails.

Fiber substrate was pretty motionless when they first arrived; however after i dumped the contents of the container into a larger shoebox sized tubberware with additional charcoal substrate, dechlorinated water, and some brewer’s yeast, I saw the culture began to grow after a week or two. Several months later they are absolutely thriving. Some grain mites cropped up along with the springs at first but they quickly died down as I just let them be, and (apparently) the springs outcompeted them on their own. They are pokey, cute, and much larger and more visible than some of the naturally occurring ones I’ve seen in past terrariums. The package even came with a nice handwritten note. Great product, I love these little guys. They’re thriving in all my terrariums now. Unclear on why Amazon is prompting me to rate their flavor though 🤢

I’ve bought from Springtails from Josh’s frogs and now my tanks are infested with mites. When I got the order about 3 weeks ago there were no springtails in there at all. I left it open and put a little food in, and I also put half of it in my millipede enclosure. Now I know better to wait to see the successful springtail culture BEFORE putting it in my tank, because about 10 days after seeing zero springtails I noticed mites in the half of the culture that I kept in the container it came in, I panicked and took all the coco fiber from the culture I put in the milli tank. I email josh’s frogs telling them that there’s mites and no springtails after the 10 days and I asked if they can please send me one with an established springtail colony, now worrying that I might have a mite infestation and hoping I can get an established colony of springtails to out compete the mites. Josh’s frogs said they would send me a new one. I get the replacement culture about a week ago and not one springtail in the culture once again. I wait to do anything with it and about 5 days in STILL not one springtail in sight, but today I noticed TONS of the same white mites ALL OVER my millipede tank AND crawling OUTSIDE the tank, they are everywhere and it’s going to cost a lot of money and time to move my millipede and clean two enclosures I have. I sent Josh’s frogs an email again and they refunded me and barely apologized or acknowledged how much time and money this will now cost me. They completely ruined my two enclosures and now I have a massive mite infestation that are even LEAVING the tank. DO NOT ORDER FROM JOSHS FROGS UNLESS YOU WANT A MITE INFESTATION AND TERRIBLE SUPPORT