Springtails for Sale UK

Yes, you can buy springtails in the UK. Every culture on this page goes out as an established starter culture, packed in its own damp substrate and posted Monday to Thursday to anywhere in Great Britain, and every one is covered by the live arrival guarantee.

For a bioactive cleanup crew, pick a plain white: Temperate Springtails for a cool or average room, or Tropical White Springtails for a warm, humid vivarium or terrarium. The coloured species further down are the ones you buy to actually see.

What springtails do in a vivarium

Springtails (class Collembola) are six-legged soil animals, most of them smaller than a flea, that live in the top layer of damp substrate. In a bioactive setup they earn their place three ways.

• They eat the small stuff. Springtails graze mould, fungal threads and the fine organic debris that isopods can't reach, which makes them the other half of a bioactive cleanup crew. They are a help rather than a cure: they pick the softest fungi and leave the rest, and nobody has tested whether they clear an established bloom, so ventilation and sensible feeding still do the heavy lifting. My guide to mould in enclosures covers what does work.
• They are live food. A colony in the vivarium is a steady supply of tiny prey for dart frogs, mourning geckos and small juvenile reptiles, and it keeps producing without you doing anything.
• They keep the substrate working. By breaking down fine organic matter they help keep a planted or bioactive substrate alive rather than stale.

A culture costs little next to the animals and plants it lives alongside, and once it has taken hold in a well-set-up enclosure you rarely need to buy another.

Which springtails to choose

The range splits two ways: plain whites for cleanup, and coloured species you can see. My guide to choosing springtails compares four of them side by side.

The cleanup whites

• Temperate Springtails (Folsomia candida): the standard white springtail and the best-studied springtail there is. Hardy, prolific and happiest in a cool to average room.
• Tropical White Springtails: a white springtail for warm, humid vivariums. The species has not been identified, so it is listed as Collembola sp.
• Snowflake Springtails (Onychiuridae sp.): white, eyeless and non-jumping, working deep in the substrate out of sight, and able to cope with a cool room.

The coloured species

• Thai Red Springtails (Lobella sp.): big, bright red and non-jumping, easy to spot against dark substrate. They want more warmth than the others and are less forgiving if a culture dries out.
• Orange Springtails (Yuukianura aphoruroides): vivid orange, slow-moving and non-jumping, and less demanding than the Thai Red.
• Santa Claus Springtails (Neanuridae sp.): fat, slow, red and white and non-jumping, a cleanup springtail you can watch. Like the Thai Red, it wants a culture that never dries out.
• Lilac Springtails and Lilac and Yellow Springtails (Ceratophysella sp.): a lilac-grey colour you don't often see in a planted setup. Some sellers describe them as Thai, but no collection locality is on record.
• Yellow Springtails (Ceratophysella sp.): the cream-yellow line bred out of the lilac stock, easy to culture and prolific.
• Pink Springtails (Coecobrya cf. tenebricosa): small and eyeless, a soft pink to peach rather than a bright pink.

Not sure which to pick? A Springtail Mystery Box takes the choosing out of it.

How many springtails do you need?

For a standard vivarium or terrarium, one starter culture is enough. Springtails aren't stocked by headcount the way isopods are: you are seeding a population, and a single culture tipped into a damp, food-rich substrate builds up over the following months to whatever the enclosure can support.

You can't realistically overstock them, because a population that outgrows its food simply falls back. For a large enclosure, or to get numbers up faster, two cultures establish sooner, but one is the normal starting point.

Keeping a culture going

A springtail culture wants damp substrate and very humid air: a lidded tub at around 85 to 95% humidity, damp all the way through but never waterlogged, with no standing water. Feed a little every few days, brewer's yeast, fish flakes or a few grains of rice, and take out anything that starts to go mouldy. Lifting the lid to feed gives them all the fresh air they need. My springtail feeding guide covers the foods in detail, and how to culture springtails goes through setting up a culture of your own.

Springtails or isopods?

It isn't really a choice. Isopods process leaf litter, rotting wood and larger waste; springtails work at a smaller scale, in the top layer of the substrate. Isopods are the display animal and springtails the maintenance crew, and most bioactive setups want both.

If you start with one, start with springtails: they establish quickly, cost little and settle into a new enclosure before there is much for isopods to eat. Add isopods once the enclosure has settled.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get springtails in the UK?
Yes. Springtails are sold in the UK as live starter cultures for bioactive vivariums and terrariums. Every culture on this page is posted to anywhere in Great Britain, packed in its established substrate, with a live arrival guarantee.

Where do I buy springtails?
From a specialist who sends a working culture in its own substrate rather than a few animals scraped into a bare tub. Everything here is posted Monday to Thursday only, so nothing sits in a depot over a weekend.

Why would someone buy springtails?
Three reasons: they graze mould and fine debris in a humid enclosure, they are a staple live food for dart frogs and small geckos, and they keep the substrate biologically active. They are the standard partner to isopods in a bioactive reptile, amphibian or planted setup.

How many springtails do I need for my terrarium?
One starter culture is enough for a standard terrarium or vivarium. You are seeding a population rather than buying a number, and it builds up to whatever the enclosure supports.

Can you put too many springtails in a terrarium?
No. Springtail numbers settle to the food and moisture available, and if they outgrow their food the population simply falls back. They won't harm your plants or animals.

Which is better, isopods or springtails?
Neither: they do different jobs. Isopods deal with leaf litter and larger waste, springtails with mould and fine matter near the surface. Most bioactive setups do best with both.

Are springtails easy to keep alive?
Most are among the most forgiving cultures in the hobby. The exceptions are the Thai Red and the Santa Claus, which are less forgiving if a culture dries out, and the Thai Red wants more warmth as well. Keep the substrate damp but not waterlogged, feed a little every few days and keep the lid on.

How often do springtails multiply?
Continuously. A healthy culture keeps producing new generations, builds up over a couple of months and then sustains itself, which is why you rarely need to buy a second one.

What is the lifespan of a springtail?
Individually, several months to around a year, depending on species and temperature. In practice the culture is what matters: it replaces itself, and a well-kept colony keeps going for years.

How big are springtails in the UK?
Most cultured species are 1 to 3 mm, small enough to be inconspicuous in a vivarium. The Thai Red and the Orange are at the larger end and easy to see against dark substrate, which is why keepers choose them for display setups.

Are springtails good or bad?
In a bioactive enclosure they are beneficial: they eat mould and decaying matter, not plants or animals, and they are harmless to people and pets. Springtails turning up in a damp house are harmless too, but they point to a moisture problem worth fixing.

Are springtails insects?
No. They are six-legged hexapods in a class of their own, Collembola, closely related to insects but outside them.

Do springtails jump?
Most do, using a springing organ called the furcula. The Thai Red, Orange, Santa Claus and Snowflake don't, which helps if you want to open a culture without springtails pinging out of it.

Will springtails harm my plants?
No. They eat decaying plant matter, mould and fungi, not healthy living tissue, so they are safe in any planted vivarium or terrarium.

Can springtails be fed to dart frogs and small geckos?
Yes, they are a staple food for dart frogs, mourning geckos and juvenile reptiles. My guide to springtails as feeders covers using them for froglets, dart frogs, mourning geckos and other small insectivores.

For leaf litter, substrate and the rest of a setup, see drygoods and accessories. If you are not sure which culture suits your setup, ask me before you order.