Tiny Bugs in Water Dishes

Z

Zabuza

New member
Hello everyone.

I have a naturalistic vivarium with a female giant day gecko. She is very healthy except for one somewhat abnormal bowl movement yesterday. A few days ago I noticed small little grey worm like things floating in a cluster in the water dish when I was changing it (I clean and change both of them every day). I thought it was just some dirt that she kicked into it. I changed the water dish and went on with my day. At the end of the day I noticed them again. Upon closer inspection I realized they were moving. I scooped some out onto paper and they started running around. Possibly springtails? I've never seen grey springtails. Should I be concerned?

I also have an elevated water dish and they appear in both dishes after just a few hours.
HELP

cluster.jpg

closeup_group.jpg

enclosure.jpg
 
A

acpart

Active member
I'm not sure what they are, but one of my joys of having bioactive enclosures is the . . . bio! All sorts of interesting mushrooms, tiny bugs and whatnot. In the last 15 years of keeping bioactive enclosures the only problems I've had have actually been in my cricket enclosures that get plagued periodically by ants and grain mites. I often have springtails in my water dishes, but my eyes are too old to let me see them clearly. Let me know if you find out what these are.

Aliza
 
Z

Zabuza

New member
I took a time-lapse video of the water bowl right after filling it with fresh water. The time-lapse showed tons of them running up the edges of the water dish and running around the surface of the water. After close examination of their behavior and looking at some under a magnifying glass I can confirm they are definitely some variety of springtail. I'm theorizing many of them have been drowning because I heavily mist the enclosure multiple times a day and the mist causes them to break surface tension and get stuck while walking on the water.
 
A

acpart

Active member
"If you can hear crickets, it's still summer." ;)

If you can hear crickets, you must be in my living room!

Aliza
 
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