Fly larva

[AMGChams]

Ok so I am in the process of making a Black Soldier Fly compost bucket. My question is do you think it is ok to feed off the regular fly larva? I know that normally wild caught flies are not a good thing to feed because of the chance of parasites but the larva are eating non meat, non fecal matter so I was thinking that it might be alright.

 

[Symbiot]

I don't see it being a problem at all. You should be fine feeding the regular fly larva off.

 

[AMGChams]

Thanks for the responce. Not sure if they will even go after them but heck it's worth a try to give them some variety.

 

[jdog1027]

You can feed them off as long as they aren't feeding on the rotting meat, feces, etc. Just take you one of those tea strainers from Wal-mart- the one that looks like a mini fish or dip net made out of screen, place them inside it and rinse them off really good. Those Soldier fly buckets can be kinda funky as well, so just be sure to rinse them off real good. I rinse the BSF larva off as well.

 

[AMGChams]

You can feed them off as long as they aren't feeding on the rotting meat, feces, etc. Just take you one of those tea strainers from Wal-mart- the one that looks like a mini fish or dip net made out of screen, place them inside it and rinse them off really good. Those Soldier fly buckets can be kinda funky as well, so just be sure to rinse them off real good. I rinse the BSF larva off as well.

Cool thanks. Yeah I am only putting in left over veggies, fruit, and bread scraps. I am just amazed at how many larva are in there after only a week ... just seemed like a shame to let them go to waste especially if my chams will eat them. I now am wondering if there is a way for me to house them until they pupate into flys cause I know my chams love them lol.

 

[armyrec1]

We are in the same though process, We found that our guy loves the BSF so we put them in a bigger tube with a fine mesh lid, they have sticks to climb up and we put in fruit and veggies in for them. After a week we can not believe how big the calcium worms are either. We are hoping they will hatch out into more flies and carry the process on. We did a lickle research on the internet of the best ways to keep them.
Our guy loves the worms and the flies so good luck and fingers crossed.
We noticed lickle red/brown like egg sacks when we cleaned the worms out, hopefully that's what they are and we are doing good. We know our Cham would be very happy if we can get this right for him.

 

[jdog1027]

We are in the same though process, We found that our guy loves the BSF so we put them in a bigger tube with a fine mesh lid, they have sticks to climb up and we put in fruit and veggies in for them. After a week we can not believe how big the calcium worms are either. We are hoping they will hatch out into more flies and carry the process on. We did a lickle research on the internet of the best ways to keep them.
Our guy loves the worms and the flies so good luck and fingers crossed.
We noticed lickle red/brown like egg sacks when we cleaned the worms out, hopefully that's what they are and we are doing good. We know our Cham would be very happy if we can get this right for him.

Black Soldier fly eggs will be in masses on the sides of the container. They are tiny- about 1/32" long. They are a creamy white color.

 

[xanthoman]

Ok so I am in the process of making a Black Soldier Fly compost bucket. My question is do you think it is ok to feed off the regular fly larva? I know that normally wild caught flies are not a good thing to feed because of the chance of parasites but the larva are eating non meat, non fecal matter so I was thinking that it might be alright.

personally, i would wait until second generation, you may be raising them on wholesome media, but the parent fly had to come from somewhere and one of the favorite haunts of bsf is hog manure.
in theory (or at least according to dr craig sheperd a university of georgia entimologist) bsfl are more resistant to coccidia because of their elevated levels of lauric acid. https://www.chameleonforums.com/grubs-phoenix-worms-same-47305/
i dont doubt that bsfl have elevated levels of lauric acid,however, without doing my own trials or at least seeing some results of at least a semi- controlled study, i am skeptical that that makes them coccidia proof.
for what its worth, dr shepard has a financial interest in the promotion of bsf so, entomologist or not, any claims made, need to be taken with a dose of skepticism, jmo
http://www.icmag.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=588
example of diy bsfl harvester
http://www.resplore.com/projects/bsfl_harvester.html