Neonate Food

[jajeanpierre]

I am expecting--hoping!--my 12 quad eggs will hatch. The earliest they could hatch is mid July.

I bought four cups of three different types of fruit flies (melanogaster and two types of hydei) that arrived a week ago. They seem dead on arrival and the coffee filters/culture is moldy. I'm going to hold onto them and see if I can find a few living individual larvae/flies and pull them out if if I find any.

I bought a culture of Melanogaster from the pet store last week. They don't carry hydei although I might be able to ask the pet shop to order me some. I went to their supplier's web site (Timberline) and saw they have hydei.

Can I feed just Meanogaster to quad neonates? I've never had a neonate and experienced breeders tell me quads hatch quite large compared to other same-sized species.

I also have bean beetle cultures. My stick bug colony seems to be regularly producing baby stick bugs but I don't feel I can rely on them.

The weather has changed from cool rainy weather that it was when the failed shipment was in transit to lots of heat and sun. Temps will be in the mid 90s from now on and I don't feel like throwing another $50 away to get dead fruit fly cultures.

I'm terrified of not having food for the babies and I'll need to learn how to keep a steady supply of fruit flies.

Can the quad neonates be fed just melanogaster?

 

[distortionz]

I've never had quads.. But I would think at least for the first few weeks melanogaster would be fine... I don't know who you went through but I'd have to say when it comes to fruit flies I highly recommend joshsfrogs.com you can get a kit there to culture your own for like 30 dollars and it makes 10 cultures but in all reality I'd say it makes like 15... Also I know my panthers neonates LOVED small black soldier fly larvae... Something about their movement enticed them to go nuts. Best of luck

 

[jajeanpierre]

I've never had quads.. But I would think at least for the first few weeks melanogaster would be fine... I don't know who you went through but I'd have to say when it comes to fruit flies I highly recommend joshsfrogs.com you can get a kit there to culture your own for like 30 dollars and it makes 10 cultures but in all reality I'd say it makes like 15... Also I know my panthers neonates LOVED small black soldier fly larvae... Something about their movement enticed them to go nuts. Best of luck

Thanks for the tip with the soldier fly larvae. I have a compost bin that usually is full of soldier fly larvae. I don't feed the larvae to any of them for a couple of reasons, one being I just can't get past the idea of gut loading with rotting vegetables and coffee grounds (soldier fly larvae do like their coffee!). I can easily find as many small wiggly larvae as I want and just keep them separate for a couple of days feeding them fresh food.

 

[fluxlizard]

making pinhead crickets is pretty cheap and easy for a clutch of quads. Many walmarts have buckets of 50 adult crickets for 2 or 3 dollars this time of year, and that is enough to make more than enough pinheads for those baby quads.

Melanogaster are fine (hydei too).

you can make a surprising variety of baby insects pretty easily (mealworms, superworms both aren't hard to do either).

 

[Dooley1]

I think Tylene should chime in but baby quads are huge, at least compared to lateralis and other common species. I'd skip melanogaster and just use hydei if possible or 1/8" crickets. They don't even need pinheads.

 

[laurie]

I think Tylene should chime in but baby quads are huge, at least compared to lateralis and other common species. I'd skip melanogaster and just use hydei if possible or 1/8" crickets. They don't even need pinheads.

I agree I start mine in on hydei fly's, but I use 1/16 crickets. I get them from Ghann's crickets. With a month they may eat bean beetles, not all quads will touch them.

Kevin, Janet has never hatched a chameleon baby, size comparisons will not help her much.

 

[ponders]

I think Tylene should chime in but baby quads are huge, at least compared to lateralis and other common species. I'd skip melanogaster and just use hydei if possible or 1/8" crickets. They don't even need pinheads.

I concur with Kevin. The babies are large and hydei will work for a few weeks, then on to 1/4" (2 week crickets) Pinheads are way too small and even the 1 week crickets I grow up for a week or two. This depends on the accuracy in size of your cricket distributor, of course.