Really tiny white bugs in enclosure

Mario Flores

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Joined
Jun 21, 2019
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Location (City and/or State)
California
Lately I have notice really tiny white bugs crawling in my RFs enclosure I’m not sure what they are. They seem to jump but I’m not sure. I have never seen any on my RF and there are no bites visible. The substrate is repti bark.
 

Blackdog1714

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Jul 30, 2018
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Richmond, VA
Probably springtails which pose no harm and eat decaying plant matter and tort poo
 

Maro2Bear

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May 29, 2014
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Glenn Dale, Maryland, USA
Greetings...

Yep, sounds like Springtails, and yes, they are a good thing in that they help eat left over food and other organic matter in your torts enclosure. However, It is best to spot clean your enclosure so you don’t have a ton of extra decaying food, water, humidity, etc that these bugs like..and take over.

On Springtails -
Springtails are cryptozoa frequently found in leaf litter and other decaying material, where they are primarily detritivores and microbivores, and one of the main biological agents responsible for the control and the dissemination of soil microorganisms. In a mature deciduous woodland in temperate climate, leaf litter and vegetation typically support 30 to 40 species of springtails, and in the tropics the number may be over 100.

Snow Fleas - A species of Sminthurinae(Symphypleona: Sminthuridae). In sheer numbers, they are reputed to be one of the most abundant of all macroscopic animals, with estimates of 100,000 individuals per square meter of ground, essentially everywhere on Earth where soil and related habitats (moss cushions, fallen wood, grass tufts, ant and termite nests) occur. Only nematodes, crustaceans, and mites are likely to have global populations of similar magnitude, and each of those groups except mites is more inclusive: though taxonomic rank cannot be used for absolute comparisons, it is notable that nematodes are a phylum and crustaceans a subphylum. Most springtails are small and difficult to see by casual observation, but one springtail, the so-called snow flea (Hypogastrura nivicola), is readily observed on warm winter days when it is active and its dark color contrasts sharply with a background of snow.[28]
 

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