Fruit fly feeding tips

[Itsdelliott]

Hello!

Any tips on managing fruit flies? I just had a hatch and with a lot of mouths to feed i'm having a hard time feeding them without losing track of a lot of flies or the nymph jumping away.

How do ya'll do it?

 

[hysteresis]

Chill the culture in the fridge. Use your judgement. I haven't needed more than 4 or 5 minutes 

Plan ahead, and dispense into a feeder cup / cups.

I have small cups with lids I portion out with at the mo'.

Chill those if you need to, then serve.

 

[Aristalochia]

If they are too fast, you can refrigerate them for a few mins and theyll get real slow. Or what I do is just tap them down before opening. Then tap some into a feeding container. I use deli cups, same as the fruit flies come in, and when the container is new mine cant climb it, but after a while they can get traction, so I sprinkle a pinch of flour into it with the flies and swirl it around. Then they cant climb thesides to escape even if the container sits for a day. This should make feeding much simpler. 

 

[Synapze]

I do something similar to @Aristalochia except I use a tiny bit of powdered sugar. I just sprinkle a tiny amount in the bottom of the 32 oz cup, dump in the flies, and shake from side to side vigorously. They will then just roll around in the powder. I don't even bother with the fridge for FF. When you tap them out of the cup they tend to slide ahead of the powder. If the powder gets too close to the edge of the top of the cup just tap the cup and it will fall back and you can start tapping out again. Once you drop the flies in they will begin cleaning the powder off and start moving freely... until they meet their doom. If you still have many flies left in the cup, just dump them back into your culture, sugar and all. Once you get the hang of it you should have very little powder left after feeding. Try to get as little powder in the enclosure as possible. Some people use bee pollen powder, which is probably better yet more expensive, but I've never had any health issues... and I have some lots of healthy elderly mantids.

 

[hysteresis]

Could flour contain mites?

 

[Synapze]

Could flour contain mites?

Flour is notorious for containing mite eggs as are many grains. Some people use cornstarch as well, but I would be concerned with it making the mandibles sticky. After all, we did use cornstarch to make glue when I was a kid.

 

[Graceface]

If they are too fast, you can refrigerate them for a few mins and theyll get real slow. Or what I do is just tap them down before opening. Then tap some into a feeding container. I use deli cups, same as the fruit flies come in, and when the container is new mine cant climb it, but after a while they can get traction, so I sprinkle a pinch of flour into it with the flies and swirl it around. Then they cant climb thesides to escape even if the container sits for a day. 

I'll have to try that trick with some bee pollen/honey powder. Good idea you guys! 

 

[Itsdelliott]

Wow! Awesome advice! As luck would have it my other ooth hatched this morning so we will be putting these to the test!

 

[MantisGirl13]

Wow! Awesome advice! As luck would have it my other ooth hatched this morning so we will be putting these to the test!

What species are your ooths?

- MantisGirl13

 

[Itsdelliott]

What species are your ooths?

- MantisGirl13

Chinese mantis