# That Stench



## Rib

As we all know, If left uncared for, Mantis enclosures *can* start to smell. It is however easily preventable, by cleaning out the tank or y using differents means of keeping the humidity levels. What I want to talk about is live foods, especially fly cultures. It wasn't so bad before as I lived at home and could put them in another room, but now Im at uni I don't appreciate my room smelling rancid. Is there anyway to either reduce or mask the smell?

Anyone tried/failed/suceeded in doing so on here?


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## Rick

Mine have never smelled. What are you using for substrate? I clean them out every few weeks but not because they smell but because they start to look unsightly.


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## Rib

Its not the tanks, My tanks have never gotten bad. Whether its because they generally dont or whether its because I clean them every once in a while im not sure. Its the food im more concerned about


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## Ian

Have the same prob. We keep a few bins of crickets downstairs, and it reeks. My mum is ALWAYS complaining..but hey, when isnt she?

Also I agree with the fruit fly cultures. You can purchase cultures that dont smell. However, I always make my own, and when using fruit, it always gives off a stench.

I don't think there is really a way around getting rid of the smell, without using harmful sprays that would not be good for the live ones.

Cheers,

Ian


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## Rick

Nevermind. I thought you were talking about mantid enclosures. But on the other hand my feeder insect enclosures don't smell either. The crickets will a little if I don't clean them regulary.


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## Johnald Chaffinch

think how an aroma travels. put it in a cardboard box and cut a hole out and cover the hole with some transparent plastic (from a food packet) to allow some light to the insects. then just allow it a bit of air a few minutes a day or something. if the scent cant escape it wont travel.

i havent actually done this, i just thought of it just then

:idea:

:wink:

now if only someone would give me advice on how to stop letting my room turn into a pigsty! :lol:


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## Tapos

my ff cultures don't smell until the bottom starts getting really dark, i then have to start changing out the culture. i do not use fruit as it does smell. i hate crickets, just because they SMELL, roaches do not. my house fly larvae containers stink, and i have not figured that one out yet. do you have a vent to the outside? maybe a small fan blowing the air out the vent? is there a laundry room, storage room or closet you could put them in away from where you live and sleep? i find that if i up the amount of vinigar in the media it takes longer to smell?


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## Rib

> my ff cultures don't smell until the bottom starts getting really dark, i then have to start changing out the culture. i do not use fruit as it does smell. i hate crickets, just because they SMELL, roaches do not. my house fly larvae containers stink, and i have not figured that one out yet. do you have a vent to the outside? maybe a small fan blowing the air out the vent? is there a laundry room, storage room or closet you could put them in away from where you live and sleep? i find that if i up the amount of vinigar in the media it takes longer to smell?


there *is* an airing cupboard, but other people use it to dry their clothes, so thats a definate no go area. I might try the putting them in a cardboard box idea and see how it goes. At the moment my fruit fly culture reaks just as much of vinegar as it does of insect, so it hasnt helped really


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## Rib

> now if only someone would give me advice on how to stop letting my room turn into a pigsty! :lol:


Tidy up after yourself


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## Johnald Chaffinch

i really should try that sometime :|


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## randyardvark

yo dudes, im new to this forum, so play nice,

ive been keeping mantids for about 6 monthsish now, and use all kinds of live foods , and ive never really had a problem, all you have to do is spend a few hours a week making sure there all clean, my crickets never smell (just keep singing-grrr...) and fruit flies ive never had a problem with i change the substrate every month give or take, all you need is two jars which you alternate , chill the one with you flies in sor a few mins open both jar lids, hold them togeter and hold the new cultures jar bottom against the window and they all merrily march towards the light sorted and you have a nice clean slightly vinegary smell, fresh! also do you use fruit or potato flakes as a medium?,

oh and crickets, if you cant be bothered to clean them out regulary or just havnt got the time u could just buy some carrion beetles like larder or carpet beetles, they eat everything thats dead

sorry beforehand if it seems im telling you to suck eggs,

i blame my blue hair....


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## Ian

Hmmm, okay, the whole fruit fly culture thing may work...but when you gotta breed em its kinda hard. You know, that lovely smell of rotting fruit circulating round your room, mixed with the smell of mould and other food rot.

As for the crickets, I have never had a problem with them dying..ours are kept in open top bins, so there is full ventilation for the smell to airiate out of. And those beetles, they are what you get in purchased crickets right? With the cute lil furry worms?

Maybe there could be a solution that will stop my livefood smelling. It would also keep me Ma's voice from ringing in my ears...

Cheers,

Ian


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## randyardvark

yeah there the furry caterpillar looking things, when i first saw one i wondered what the heck it was, they look like little walking eyebrows...  

im gunna try to start a wax worm culture this week, mmm....honey, wonder how that will smell? oats and honey...isnt that how you make flapjack? :lol:


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## Ian

Waxworms are expensive to breed I think..

MY flapjack recipe is a good one, and it doesn't have honey in it... ;P


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## Rib

I tried the box idea and it works perfectly! Fruit fly culture smell tamed


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## bruty2fruity

> As we all know, If left uncared for, Mantis enclosures *can* start to smell. It is however easily preventable, by cleaning out the tank or y using differents means of keeping the humidity levels. What I want to talk about is live foods, especially fly cultures. It wasn't so bad before as I lived at home and could put them in another room, but now Im at uni I don't appreciate my room smelling rancid. Is there anyway to either reduce or mask the smell?Anyone tried/failed/suceeded in doing so on here?


dude i hear ya man. it stank like baby vomit! i had to put them outside i couldn't take it no more. i just bought a sweet jar put holes in the side so the rain couldnt get in and left them outside. it was towards the end of winter and productivity did almost stop but i did have two huge cultures now i use flies and crickets


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## themann42

i use roaches instead of crickets mainly because of smell, but also because of noise and care.

for fruit flies i've also had problems with smell. i used to use tap water, but then started with distilled or spring water. production has increases considerably, but so has the smell.

i've always used homemade stuff, but lately i've been using a mix that i bought. it smells like apple cinnamon oatmeal. i've only made a couple cultures so far that haven't been producing for long, so we'll see what happens. i think it's just about finding the right combination of ingredients and eventually finding something that doesn't smell too bad.


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## Yosei

My media looks like flaked mash potatoes, I had one where I added too much yeast (I think) and the whole culture smelled like icky wine.

Crickets are just bleh period, they smell, jump, make noise, are a hassle to find when one gets loose.


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## Peekaboo

I'm joining the stink club as well. I'm developing fly cultures now for my nymphs, and hopefully for when (or IF) my Chinese ootheca hatches.


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