Fruit Flies info please!

Miss Lily

Chameleon Enthusiast
Monty came with a tub of fruit flies. My friend had already put some banana in there for them. How often do they need feeding? Is there anything I need to be doing for them, and how long is the tub likely to last? Thanks in advance! Fruit flies are new to me so not sure what to do with them, lol!:eek:
 
My first question would be what kind are they...flightless or your normal wild type "flyers"... also my I suggest that you go to "Dendroboard.com"...those froggers over there really know flies!!!!
 
Drosophilas live nearly everywhere where organic stuff is decomposing. Here's for example a recipe how to breed them: http://www.reptilia.be/dendrobates_azureus/feeder_insects.html

For dartfrogs they are a staple feeder, so the dartfrog community knows multiple ways to breed them without smell and other problems.
Mites are the biggest enemy for your colony, if you have too less flies in the colony the mite population grows and will destroy your breeding trials. If you do some research at dartfrogs sites you will learn much about how to cultivate them
 
does the tub have the straw stuff in there already and the laying/food meduim on the bottom. i have found with a single baby a colony of friut flies is useually self sufficient untill the baby has basically out grown fruit flies.
jmo
 
does the tub have the straw stuff in there already and the laying/food meduim on the bottom. i have found with a single baby a colony of friut flies is useually self sufficient untill the baby has basically out grown fruit flies.
jmo

Yes, it is a plastic tub with a round tub in the bottom in which is something that looks like soft cheese)?) and loads of straw stuff too. They are flightless fruit flies - the ones with red eyes. I just open the lid and agitate the flies a few times a day and leave the lid open a bit at one corner for a while, then do it back up again. I don't leave the lid off the whole time as I only have the one baby and even he can't eat THAT many flies, lol!:D
 
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/18630-fruit-fly-culturing-mini-howto.html
Complete diy description. So start your fly cultures (and dont wonder if now your all of your friends thinking you are going mad;))

Thanks for that link! The family already think I am mad, lol! :rolleyes:

I don't particularly want to breed them, rather keep the current culture going as long as I can. Just wondered if there was anything I should or shouldn't be doing or if I just leave them to it!
 
Tiff if I were you, i would start just one more culture. Only because baby jacksons often eat FF's longer than most other baby chameleons. I like to be ready, no matter what.:) And as sweet as Monty is he should have anything he wants. That last part is jmho:)
 
Mites!!! Help please!!

Well, seeing as Monty is only interested in these flies, I bought another culture online. When it arrived it didn't have the grass-like stuff in it. Not sure what it is but it stinks! Anyhow, there were only a few flies in it, so I moved it to somewhere warmer yesterday and today I have a load of flies, BUT I also seem to have mites in there too! How do I get rid of them? Will they destroy everything or will the flies eat the mites? Luckily I have another culture on order which will be here on Tuesday.

The original culture has a lot of maggots in it so it seems to be doing rather well.
 
Honestly save yourself the mess and the time and the SMELL and get the Repashy Superfly mixture. It smells great and you get more nutritious flies.

You're gonna want to make 2-3 new cultures every 7-10 days. Don't throw out old cultures until you are SURE it has finished, as sometimes the hydeii especially can explode with flies about a week after all the parent flies have died and it looks finished.
 
I didn't realise you can get fly food too, lol! This new culture stinks awful! The mites bother me, but are they a problem to the culture or do I just leave them alone?
 
The Josh's Frogs fruit fly media is great too. Smells good, lasts forever and makes great cultures. I've never had mites. It will save you tons to make your own cultures. The grass stuff is excelsior - a cheap florist material you can find at Hobby Lobby for a couple of bucks, and you can reuse the cups you have or any jars you accumulate (spaghetti sauce jars work great). I've been using the same carton of media for over a year with continuous cultures. By this time I would have spent hundreds on purchasing cultures. You'll need to throw out the culture with mites. You won't be able to get rid of them and they could spread to your other cultures.
 
Thanks. I guess I'll freeze it and chuck it out then. I will have to search for the 'grassy' stuff online. When starting a new culture myself, is this stuff ok that I found on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280769325381&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en#ht_712wt_1344 and if so, do I just mix it up and add some flies and leave them to it? I am quite happy to keep Monty on his flies for now, but I don't want the mites. That culture is separated anyhow - the original one is still in his viv. Can I use the flies from the culture with mites or will they spread them to the new culture?
 
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