Yesterday was my birthday but my birthday presents actually came in on Thursday. I received 11 beautiful E.decipiens, 2 P.saussurei, and 100 tropical pink springtails from Kyle at RoachCrossing.com. I was supposed to get 12 E.decipiens( don't know if he gave 1 less on purpose or miscounted) but nonetheless I am completely satisfied and happy with what I received as he included an adult and gave me a lot of large-largish medium nymphs and only 2 of the nymphs were small. The Zebra's are doing well so far and eating a lot! I am keeping them in a 20 qt Sterilite container, with moist coconut fiber and crushed dead leaves as the substrate( although I will be adding some cypress mulch soon.) I have some egg crates in their and a large piece of cork bark under a couple of the egg crates to create a nice humid retreat for egg laying and for the springtails to get some extra humidity. I will take some pictures of the P.saussurei soon as well, just trying to figure out why one of the nymphs is not barely moving and not burrowing( I think it is preparing for a molt because when I picked it up it seemed a little soft.) Here's the pictures!
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| 2 E.decipiens nymphs on cork bark |
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| 5 E.decipiens on egg crates |
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| E.decipiens adult's face |
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| E.decipiens nymph's face |
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| Side view of E.decipiens nymph |
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| Humid retreat |
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| E.decipiens enclosure |
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| Adult E.decipiens |
I have really been wanting this stunning species for a while now and it's great to finally have some! I look forward to having a thriving colony of these. Once again, until next time, good bye!
Very cool man, I hope they do well for you! Sorry to hear about the P.saussurei, I hope she pulls through for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Hope she pulls through too, yesterday and earlier today it was acting fine but when I opened the container a little bit later in the day it was still in the place it had been when I closed it's container up about 4 hours before. I took it out and then it was walking kind of weird and much slower than it had been, and now is still laying on top of the substrate in it's container. Have you noticed this weird behavior before molting in yours?
ReplyDeleteNo, yours do not sound like it is molting, more like dying. :( My P.saussurei molt under the substrate and do not exhibit lethargic behavior before doing so. Maybe Kyle will send you a replacement, and if not, at least this species is parthenogenic, and you only need one to start a colony.
DeleteIt ended up dying yesterday. I'm very confused as to why one nymph died and the other nymph is perfectly fine, I had them in the same conditions in the same container. Not sure what I did wrong I just gave them about 1.75 in of sterilized dead oak leaves and coconut fiber.
DeleteMust have been a random die off, it happens sometimes. My first Hemiblabera tenebricosa to mature died after a day of adulthood, I was very sad and confused, since it was being kept properly and none of the others were dying off. It was just a fluke, which is probably what happened with yours. Hopefully your remaining nymph will do well, this species is normally pretty hardy.
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