Moving Fruit Flies to a new culture

[Miss Lily]

I want to try and start a couple of new cultures but I have what looks like hundereds of flies in the tub now (haven't fed any off yet because of mites) but I figured that I may as well give it a try. My question is how on earth do I move some flies to a new container without letting all of them out and into my house? Can I put them in the fridge? If so, how long do I leave them in there? Any help would be gratefully received before I unleash the whole tub in one hit, lol! My family wouldn't forgive me if the flies got loose in such large numbers!

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Stick them in the fridge for 2 minutes or take them outside to transfer.

 

[laurie]

Or you could just have a million loose ff's like I do sometimes.

 

[Seeco]

Do they have wings? If not, here is what to do: Place the culture inside a large lidded container, let the flies escape into the tub or whatever, shake them to the bottom and then pour into a new culture. This way the flies will escape with only the mites that cling to their bodies and you won't be sprinkling additional mites into your new culture.

 

[Miss Lily]

Not an option Laurie! My human family think it's bad enough that we have pet flies now too, lol! I try to explain that they are fruit flies and are not like the nasty flies that are outside that eat disgusting things! Ugh! I daren't risk letting any more than a few out. I clean Monty's viv out in the bath so I see any escapees and can deal with them before they inhabit the rest of my house!

 

[Miss Lily]

Do they have wings? If not, here is what to do: Place the culture inside a large lidded container, let the flies escape into the tub or whatever, shake them to the bottom and then pour into a new culture. This way the flies will escape with only the mites that cling to their bodies and you won't be sprinkling additional mites into your new culture.

They do have wings, but they don't fly. I will try that method along with putting them in the fridge I think! I have plenty of flies so I can afford to experiment with both ways!

 

[clarkrw3]

I have been told also that putting mite paper down when you transfer is helpful but I have never done it.

 

[TattooedFish]

Just take a empty culture cup and tap them off into the other cup and as they try to crawl up the cup you pour into just spin the cup it will slow em down. I feed ff daily to my dart frogs and don't place them in fridge and after you do it a couple times its easy

 

[pssh]

The mites can be taken off by dusting the flies when transferring. Just use a nice fine calcium and coat the flies like ghosts. Be sure to allow the flies to crawl into the container so that the mites stay in the calcium powder though!