# Anyone know to to culture flies?



## spider_creations (Apr 3, 2016)

Hi I was justwonding if anyone knows how to culture flies I need some advice becuase I found a bunch of the same sp. Of flies and thought I might give culturing flies a go


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## CosbyArt (Apr 3, 2016)

spider_creations said:


> Hi I was justwonding if anyone knows how to culture flies I need some advice becuase I found a bunch of the same sp. Of flies and thought I might give culturing flies a go


Which kind of fly are you wanting to culture? As there are so many different ones such as the Melanogaster fruit flies, Hydei fruit flies, Phorid flies, houseflies, stable flies, bottle flies, horse flies, etc...


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## spider_creations (Apr 3, 2016)

Well I am thinking flesh flies or green bottle flies



CosbyArt said:


> Which kind of fly are you wanting to culture? As there are so many different ones such as the Melanogaster fruit flies, Hydei fruit flies, Phorid flies, houseflies, stable flies, bottle flies, horse flies, etc...


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 3, 2016)

There is a post on them here, using the search menu. you in for a stinky time!


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## CosbyArt (Apr 3, 2016)

spider_creations said:


> Well I am thinking flesh flies or green bottle flies


Well fruit flies are the easy ones, any other species requires meat and really make a stink (one reason many don't culture them).

Depending on your weather (temperatures) you can do a outside culture setup like this one from member Jay.

Inside you can do a similar setup, a food mix of dry dog food, dog biscuits, or milk. The larvae/maggots will eat and produce heat, and a awful smell themselves (not counting what you fed them). The adult flies have to be coaxed into laying eggs, in laboratory settings is done with a piece of chicken liver, or any type of meat (the more decomposed the better). I have some links saved if you would like to see them, I'll dig them out and post them later.

I've tried raising them inside on dog biscuits and culture mix (in 32oz containers like fruit flies) without much success. The larvae/maggots can quickly dry out, or have issues pupating, both of which was the end of my attempts. While I did manage to keep the odor down to a reasonable level, that my wife didn't know what I was doing, they didn't do so well - likely the increased moisture and meats would have solved the issues I had but at the expense of odor.

I'd recommend you take a look at the Forked Tree Ranch episode on Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, as it shows the largest supplier of fly pupae/maggots in the USA. It gives a look at how to keep the flies, feed them, and more - perhaps you can come up with a workable solution for yourself.


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## spider_creations (Apr 3, 2016)

Couldn't help myself from watching the whole episode lol....I might just stick to buying them.....do you know anyone who sells them for really cheap and/or free



> 1 hour ago, CosbyArt said:
> 
> Well fruit flies are the easy ones, any other species requires meat and really make a stink (one reason many don't culture them).
> 
> ...


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## CosbyArt (Apr 4, 2016)

spider_creations said:


> Couldn't help myself from watching the whole episode lol....I might just stick to buying them.....do you know anyone who sells them for really cheap and/or free


Yeah I have too several times.  

Depends on quantity you want to buy, larger quantities is a lower price per pupa (thousands+); however, they are only good for two weeks in the fridge before they really take a nose-dive on them emerging/hatching. In that regard just about everyone is the same on pricing for hobbyist use.

You can buy them from the main supplier (the folks in the video) Forked Tree Ranch (although I am not sure how small of quantities they offer). Then of course there are the sponsors of the forum BugsInCyberspace, and MantisPlace - and if you need other supplies then shipping costs isn't a concern. If your looking for spikes/larvae/maggots GrubCo is a good source. MantisPets is a good source of bottle flies and other goodies too.

The best prices I've seen on houseflies and fruit flies is SpiderPharm (the fruit flies are wild flyers though), and they do not offer bottle flies. As mentioned the bottle flies are about the same price anywhere so just order wherever you want other goodies from at the time, that tends to be the cheapest way.


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 4, 2016)

Grubco buys direct from Forked tree ranch, fyi, as do I. I have fresh spikes too, but Grubco won't tell you that, they will say they raise them.


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## spider_creations (Apr 5, 2016)

CosbyArt said:


> Yeah I have too several times.
> 
> Depends on quantity you want to buy, larger quantities is a lower price per pupa (thousands+); however, they are only good for two weeks in the fridge before they really take a nose-dive on them emerging/hatching. In that regard just about everyone is the same on pricing for hobbyist use.
> 
> ...


Well I thought i would give culturing flies 1 chance I had some flesh flies and they laid and now I have big maggots........and my set up is really simple and does not smell if you want I can tell you my set up


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## KICritters (Apr 5, 2016)

I'd like to hear more about your setup


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## spider_creations (Apr 5, 2016)

It's simple compared to most and it uses only a couple items first you find a good contaier then line the Floor with toilet paper then squished toilet paper (you can use paper towels ) then you add lunch meat in the tank the toilet paper absorbs any nasty juice and probably does the same with the smell......then you add flies and in a couple hours I had maggots eating the meat (flesh flies give live birth) I will make a more detailed instructions with pictures later hope this helps



KICritters said:


> I'd like to hear more about your setup


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## CosbyArt (Apr 5, 2016)

spider_creations said:


> Well I thought i would give culturing flies 1 chance I had some flesh flies and they laid and now I have big maggots........and my set up is really simple and does not smell if you want I can tell you my set up


Glad to see you are trying anyway.  

The smell is relative to how many maggots you have, what they are fed, and what life stages they have completed. For a shot at being used as feeders, you will need hundreds of larvae/maggots though, as not all will make it to the fly stage - and you will need enough pupae to put in the fridge for use as feeders and plenty left in your adult cultures to restart the cycle.

I found the biggest issue arises when it is time for them to pupate as everything has to be just right for them to pupate and then emerge as a fly successfully. If you can complete a few life cycles, then you know you are on to something.


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## spider_creations (Apr 6, 2016)

CosbyArt said:


> Glad to see you are trying anyway.
> 
> The smell is relative to how many maggots you have, what they are fed, and what life stages they have completed. For a shot at being used as feeders, you will need hundreds of larvae/maggots though, as not all will make it to the fly stage - and you will need enough pupae to put in the fridge for use as feeders and plenty left in your adult cultures to restart the cycle.
> 
> I found the biggest issue arises when it is time for them to pupate as everything has to be just right for them to pupate and then emerge as a fly successfully. If you can complete a few life cycles, then you know you are on to something.


Uhg all was well and the maggots were getting big and I had a good amount  this morning I went to check on them and they were not there I think my dog got to them because he will sometimes eat whole containers ........hopefully he did not


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## CosbyArt (Apr 6, 2016)

spider_creations said:


> Uhg all was well and the maggots were getting big and I had a good amount  this morning I went to check on them and they were not there I think my dog got to them because he will sometimes eat whole containers ........hopefully he did not


Dang that must be a big dog. Well I hope find them somewhere intact.


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## spider_creations (Apr 6, 2016)

CosbyArt said:


> Dang that must be a big dog. Well I hope find them somewhere intact.


I moved them into a smaller container....... I should have kept them in the bigger contaier...the dog is a golden retriever


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## CosbyArt (Apr 6, 2016)

spider_creations said:


> I moved them into a smaller container....... I should have kept them in the bigger contaier...the dog is a golden retriever


I hope your golden retriever doesn't get sick from it. I doubt the contents would do anything to your dog, but the container might. Well I hope you try again, if you was having any luck it would be great to see a method that works.


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## spider_creations (Apr 6, 2016)

CosbyArt said:


> I hope your golden retriever doesn't get sick from it. I doubt the contents would do anything to your dog, but the container might. Well I hope you try again, if you was having any luck it would be great to see a method that works.


right when everything was going good lol......i found the container he ripped it to shreds.......hopfully i can try agian soon


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## CosbyArt (Apr 7, 2016)

spider_creations said:


> right when everything was going good lol......i found the container he ripped it to shreds.......hopfully i can try agian soon


That tends to be the time something does happen the most often. Glad you found the shredded container, and will be trying again.


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