Water Bear (Tardigrade) Culture, Living

I do not write many Amazon reviews, but I was so pleased with this live culture of moss piglets, that I wanted to tell others about it. The small jar contained hundreds, if not thousands, of tardigrades, alive and kicking around. They were easy to see under a good, high-school grade light microscope, plus they came with some good information in printed form. I think this live culture is well worth the price. Tardigrades can be hard to find on your own, but--once you see these--you'll know exactly what to look for.

After trying for 6 months, and failing, to find water bears in the wild, we ordered this live specimen. I honestly regret not purchasing them sooner. While hunting for tardigrades in the wild is fun, these specimen are delightful. So many tardigrades in just a couple drops of water. Easy to care for. Will be a delightful part of microscope studies for years to come.

After watching the waterbears swim around for a bit I put them in my paludarium wondering if they will reproduce over time. It will probably be awhile before I see any again but I plan to get some of the plant life under a microscope in time and look for them.

I got this for my son for a science project and there were so many tardigrades. I would guess hundreds!We were using a 50x microscope and it would have been more enjoyable if we had a nicer one with higher power, but we loved it! They are now pets.

Had to wait over the weekend to use in the classroom... then, couldn't find one! Anywhere!Using decent school light microscopes and cleaning the slides and cover slips didn't help. The irony is these little guys are supposed to be everywhere and I've never been able to see one. Maybe I'll try again since other people have had luck..... the package says to open the lid and Use Immediately!!!

My students LOVED seeing the live tardigrades under their microscopes. There were enough live specimens to give each pair of students a drop of the sample through five class periods. The students brought the drops back to me after each session but I was able to pass it on to another teacher who had enough, too.

There were very few. Less than one per drop on microscope. They weren't dead, I didn't see any dead ones, just had to really hunt for them. Found them, but few and far between.

I received lots of tardigrades and am happy with the numbers!