I saw a few very small bugs crawling on the rocks in my RT. Is this bad? They are thin and long (for their size, still very tiny, had to look close) They seem to only be on the rocks.
what substrate do you use if your using soil then you might get a few, i used to grow.... plants when i was younger and i used to get fungus nats which had eggs already in the soil but because of the damp/humidity and they were able to breed and live quite well in my cupboard, what colour are the bugs, do they only crawl or have wings. there are millions of bugs so without some image its gonna be near impossible to tell without a better description. i wouldnt have thought they would do much harm but im no expert on torts or insects
what substrate do you use if your using soil then you might get a few, i used to grow.... plants when i was younger and i used to get fungus nats which had eggs already in the soil but because of the damp/humidity and they were able to breed and live quite well in my cupboard, what colour are the bugs, do they only crawl or have wings. there are millions of bugs so without some image its gonna be near impossible to tell without a better description. i wouldnt have thought they would do much harm but im no expert on torts or insects
I use a mix of aspen and eco earth..... sorry I don't have a camera good enough to get a picture of them, they look greyish and I havn't seen any flying around, I think they just crawl. Thanks
My guess is that they are springtails and if so they don't hurt anything other than they annoy you. Mostly the tortoises don't notice them. You can use a product called Knock Out Gnats bought at Gardens Alive, or you can pour boiling hot water over them (remove tortoises first), or just let your soil dry out totally...I simply ignore them...
sorry yeah i should have said to dry the soil out i put a layer of dry sand on my plant pots and it stops them laying more eggs. but i wouldnt like the sand to get in your torts eyes so id just let it dry for a few days and bath your tort regularly so he doesnt dry up aswell
Well they always seem to be around the remaining food when I remove it, I also see them around the poop. They don't seem to bother the torts at all. Also quick question, how moist should I keep the substrate for my RT's on a regular basis? I usually will dump a bit of water in it to dampen the soil at the bottom so they can burrow for it, I also slightly mist the top layer to keep it from getting too dry. Should I be doing more or less?
