A friend of mine has set me up with everything I need for raising wingless fruit flies. We'll see how this goes. I brought home a small jar of springtails a week ago and dumped all of them in the TLTF and auratus tanks by accident. Meant to keep some for breeding but, oh well, I can order more. My friend also gave me a huge amount of mealworms to get a colony started. He raises the mealworms on finely ground baby chick mash with calcium and a potato for moisture.
Fruit flies are easy. Just keep them warm and away from fluorescent lights, TVs and microwave ovens and they do fine. Mealworms are even easier. keep them in a glass container, feed them quick oats. throw in a half a potato and some Cheerios every so often and they do their thing. My toads really like the beetles produced this way.
Watching FrogTV because it is better when someone else has to maintain the enclosure!
Good info about keeping fruit flies away from "death rays"... Problem with wingless flies is they climb the walls just about as easy as flying out of the tank. Can I get wingless and legless flies? (an attempt at humor)
Now a question...why keep the mealworms in a glass container? Plastic shoeboxes are what herpers I know use.
If you can provide a fine mesh top, then the fruit flies can't escape. Unfortunately, you have to make one yourself as no one manufactures one presently. If I still made silk screens for a living I would be making them.
I'm actually writing a huge article about fruit flies right now. The photos for it are in my albums if you want an idea of what's coming.
Founder of Frogforum.net (2008) and Caudata.org (2001)
Does anyone have experience of curly winged flies, wheres best to buy them from and how to keep them, what they eat etc please ?
Anybody please ????
Tropicok...To keep my fruit fly in, I use netting from the old netting curtains. It works really well as you can still put your enclosure lid on over top.
Sorry firefly, I cant help you.
If you mean the curly winged fruit flies, there's ~no difference in culturing them to the other kinds.
Founder of Frogforum.net (2008) and Caudata.org (2001)
Here you go
Springhalen - Homegrown Frogs and Feeders
Curly-winged housefly (Musca domestica), if this is what you are after most good reptile shops in the UK can order them, Dartfrog has culture food .
Carrion flies are not fun to culture - the stench and the bacteria risks pretty much make it impractical for the majority of people.
Founder of Frogforum.net (2008) and Caudata.org (2001)
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