# House Fly options



## yeatzee (Apr 19, 2009)

Im going to start needing a steady supply of houseflies so I was wondering where you guys buy yours so I have options (i.e. price &amp; location).

Thanks,

Tanner


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## Katnapper (Apr 19, 2009)

I use SpiderPharm. You can also get maggots from Grubco.com.


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## yeatzee (Apr 19, 2009)

hmmm..... $10 for 50 pupae seems kind of expensive :-/


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## Katnapper (Apr 19, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> hmmm..... $10 for 50 pupae seems kind of expensive :-/


Where do you see that? $10 (plus s&amp;h of course) will get you 200 grams of pupae... lots. That's what I buy, and it's plenty to feed about 75 hungry mantids for a month.

Edit: Just found this:

Houseflies

Musca domestica, wild type pupae

10 grams (~500): $1.95

100 grams (~5,000): $5.00

1kg (~50,000): $40.00

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=5102

So $10 would buy you approx. 10,000 pupae.


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## yeatzee (Apr 19, 2009)

Im talking total here......so according to their website buying 50 pupae from spiderpharm = ~ 10 bucks.


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## macro junkie (Apr 19, 2009)

i buy mine from my local fishing shop..i buy half a pint of white maggots(bluebottles) for 1.50£ or 1 pint for 2.75£..takes around 10-13 days to hatch to fly.I have alot of mantids and it cost very little to look after them..

you not got any fishing shops by you?


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## Rick (Apr 19, 2009)

I get bluebottles instead. I get mine from grubco.com


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## macro junkie (Apr 19, 2009)

white maggots = blue bottles

pinkie maggots = green bottles ( not to be mistaken with pink dyed maggots)

pinkies are about half the size of white maggots.


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## Emile.Wilson (Apr 19, 2009)

how long can you keep fly pupae in the fridge for?


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## macro junkie (Apr 19, 2009)

Emile said:


> how long can you keep fly pupae in the fridge for?


when left in the fridge mine start to hatch after about 2 weeks ish..Its very cold in my fridge but they still managed to get out of there pupae


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## Katnapper (Apr 19, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> Im talking total here......so according to their website buying 50 pupae from spiderpharm = ~ 10 bucks.


Quantity

1 g (gram): ~50 pupae = 1 gram $1.45 + s&amp;h $7.95 = $9.40 Total. 

10 g: ~500 pupae

100 gs: ~5,000 pupae

1 kg (kilogram): ~50,000 pupae

So yes, although 50 pupae is only $1.45, the S&amp;H is what raises the cost so much. &lt;_&lt; The local bait shops are an option I'd like to look into.

Emile, you can keep the pupae in the fridge for up to 2, possibly 3 weeks. But the longer you keep them in cold storage, the less the overall eclosion rate. SpiderPharm's website advises to take them out and leave at room temp. for a few hours about every 4 days. After about 2 weeks, I take them all out of refrigeration and distribute into net cages to eclose. Then I just feed the adult flies (which have a life span of 30 days max.) on honey that I smear on the top of the cages (I mist them to give them a drink every day or two also) and use as needed.


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## PhilinYuma (Apr 19, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> hmmm..... $10 for 50 pupae seems kind of expensive :-/


If you're ordering from SpiderPharm, you'll find that it is a lot cheaper, per unit cost, to buy 10G. Shipping's about the same.

It's easy to keep eclosed flies in a 5gal bucket with a pot containing water and woodchips/moss in it. I feed mine powdered buttermilk and sugar. You can cover it with some kind of mesh top. Was it Rick who suggested using a pair of panty hose? :lol:


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## yeatzee (Apr 19, 2009)

It would be a lot more cost effective if i bought large quantities but I dont need that much at the moment which is why im searching for a cheap option.

I don't live by any places to fish sadly meaning no fish shops close :-/

What is the size difference between blue bottles and house flies? Would L4+ ghosts/Limbatas be able to eat them?


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 19, 2009)

House flies are about 1/3 smaller than blues, I have them on my site too, shipping is only 6.50 for the pupae. They will keep a couple weeks in the fridge, take them out every four days to warm up for an hour or so then put them back in fridge, just take out what u want to use for a few days, this goes for blue or house and let them pupae and feed off.


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## PhilinYuma (Apr 19, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> It would be a lot more cost effective if i bought large quantities but I dont need that much at the moment which is why im searching for a cheap option.I don't live by any places to fish sadly meaning no fish shops close :-/
> 
> What is the size difference between blue bottles and house flies? Would L4+ ghosts/Limbatas be able to eat them?


They'd both have a struggle, I think, though they are both pretty fierce.

I have been experimenting with dog food medium (which essentially what they use at SpiderPharm) and recently one accidentally contaminated pot yielded about 70 house flies without my really trying! I'm going to set some more up tomorrow with a few HF's and I'll let you know what happens. Or hey, you could try it too! I'm going to put some woodchips in with the medium. The directions on the site have been offline for months, but try two cups of hot water to one of pulverized dog food and give that a try!


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## yeatzee (Apr 20, 2009)

I'll have to have house flies first  

Seems that mantisplace is fairly cheap in this regard but Im worried they will hatch and/or die in the long transit from ohio to California. What do you guys think?


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## bassist (Apr 20, 2009)

I order flies from Rebecca whenever I need them never had them hatch in transit I'm in california too even with a heatpack when I got my wide arm nymphs the fly pupae where cold.


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## PhilinYuma (Apr 20, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> I'll have to have house flies first  Seems that mantisplace is fairly cheap in this regard but Im worried they will hatch and/or die in the long transit from ohio to California. What do you guys think?


Hibiscusmile uses ice packs if need be. I have recieved both house fly and bluebottle pupae from her that were in great shape on arrival.


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