How do you keep fruit flies in your containers?
- Thread starter BocaJan
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sandrachameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
My number one tip is: Dont feed them more flies than they can eat right away 
Feed less quantity, more often.
Fruit inside the cage does help - especially banana
Use enclosures that have a fine mesh top (Im currently using exoterra glass vivs with fine screen tops, and very few flies get out (most of them that do escape do so while I have the doors open cleaning out poop)
When I used fish tanks with screen tops for babies, I taped a fine mesh or a piece of sheer curtain to a screen top. Put this one on when flies are put in and they're eating. Switched it for a plain open screen topper when not eating (so the light could penetrate).
Feed less quantity, more often. Fruit inside the cage does help - especially banana
Use enclosures that have a fine mesh top (Im currently using exoterra glass vivs with fine screen tops, and very few flies get out (most of them that do escape do so while I have the doors open cleaning out poop)
When I used fish tanks with screen tops for babies, I taped a fine mesh or a piece of sheer curtain to a screen top. Put this one on when flies are put in and they're eating. Switched it for a plain open screen topper when not eating (so the light could penetrate).
robmd1
Avid Member
on the reg baby bin ive tried the fruit that works, for my baby pygs there in a large cricket keeper when i put the fruit flies in there i put a nylon stocking over it and they dont go anywhere....not feedin the pygs many fruit flies now they seem to like pinheads better.
PantherVeileD
Avid Member
Put lots of fake plants/surface and drop the fruitflies in the middle. I keep about 8-9 babies in a bin. Give them 15 mins to munch them down. Then I mist and get the whole bin wet. That gives it another 15 min and by then hopefully the FF will get eaten. This works well for 2 month old chameleons because I think they are better hunter around this age.
I use the butterfly enclosures for younger chams.
I use the butterfly enclosures for younger chams.
BocaJan
New Member
you're still feeding fruit flies to 2 month olds? By 2 months mine are eating 1/2"s. They have sent me messages saying GIVE ME MEAT loud and clear. My babies are now 1 month old and I am introducing 1/4's to them along with their fruit flies. The 1/4"s are always gone within an hour unless there happens to be some large 1/4"s but sometimes I have seen them try to eat those too. Of course I have veileds so they might be different then other species.
PantherVeileD
Avid Member
I have panthers chameleons. I still do feed them fruit flies, they seem to enjoy it! I have so many left overs why not toss a few in every now and then. I'm feeding them 1/4 size crickets at the moment. Every other day I would throw some fruitflies in there as extras.
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xanthoman
Avid Member
i agree most chams should be well off of ffs by 2 months. if you are going to feed ffs there is a method i use which works quite well. first of all imo dont even bother with melongasters, because of their smaller size, they escape too easily, and there is too little meat for the effort required to eat them, (plus their behavior is different than hydei). even the smallest of chams have no problem taking down hydei. if you are using pet store cultures they almost certainly have mites (and are almost certainly melongasters), and if you dump them from above you are probably dumping mites as well. i cant show you with real cultures cause i have no longer have any on hand, but the method is easy to understand. first i poke a 1/4 hole in the lid of the ff culture, then i place a bamboo skewer in point first, the ffs will walk up the skewer a few at a time and the majority of them will hang out at the top of the skewer(if you are using hydei). (since cup feeding does not work for ffs) this gives a place where young inexperienced chams can actually see and find them and learn to rely on that location for food. when you are done feeding simply pull the skewer and place a piece of blue tape over the hole. please note the ff pic is actually rotated sideways.
jmo
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PantherVeileD
Avid Member
I'm feeding them 1/4 crickets and I have a lot of FF so I'm giving it for variety and an addition. They were actually born on april 20th-30th so I was mistaken another date. There are almost two months old.
xanthoman
Avid Member
dont get me wrong, i didnt mean to imply that there is anything wrong with continuing to offer ffs at any age, (unless they are from homemade media that uses vinegar for acidity/mold inhibitor), but young chams should be progressed to larger more substantial feeders as soon as practical. further, jmo, but i personally suspect, that there is a possibility of adverse bio-chemical issues from feeding especially young chams large amounts of ffs raised on vinegar containing media. jmo
PantherVeileD
Avid Member
Oh yeah I'm not taking it the wrong way, THANKS!! I only fed them twice this week with fruitflies anyhow. The statement I made earlier probably sounded like FF were their staples still!
mlw50
Member
Have you tried flightless fruit flies? Such as those with vestigial wings? I'm not sure where cultures of these would be found, but they are unalble to fly. They come in both hydei or melanogaster.
They are very common in bio labs as a way to study inheritance and because of how easy they are to work with because they can't fly.
They are very common in bio labs as a way to study inheritance and because of how easy they are to work with because they can't fly.
xanthoman
Avid Member
another thing you can do is wipe the inside upper 2" or so of the rim with baby oil, they cant fly and they wont / cant walk across the greasy vertical swath. i have heard that clear 2" packing tape (the smooth stuff, not the reinforced stuff) also works, but i have never tried that. i know the baby oil thing works really well but you have to re wipe it every day or two, dont wipe it too dry, use a small sq of not quite dripping terry cloth, and wipe real lightly so you dont wipe it off as you go, using this method in combination with the ff dispensing method described in the other thread, i was able to keep at least 98% of ffs contained in a 10g aquarium with no lid on it. (flightless hydei of course) for the strays just keep a couple of 2 litre home made ff traps close by and that should get a pretty good handle on your escapees. jmo
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