# Mites in the fly culture



## sk8erkho (Dec 19, 2007)

Is there anyway to get rid of the mites without losing the culture so that these little buggers don't continue to show up on my babies?


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## bellerophon (Dec 19, 2007)

In my hobby we empty out some ff's and dust them with our supplements (calcium). then we use those dusted flies to start a new culture. The dust helps to knock off the mites. It can take a few generations of cultures to completely rid them of the mite problem but you should definitely see a dramatic drop right away. The easiest option is just to get a fresh batch. Obviously you'll also need to start using mite paper of preferably mite spray on paper towels (changing every few months). the commercial paper has an extremely short shelf life and is often useless by the time you order if its been stocked for a while. Mite spray for bird cages is the kind you want to look for.


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## macro junkie (Dec 20, 2007)

i got this probelm to..iv been advived by breeder that they wont hert your mantids.just start new culture.


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## Kruszakus (Dec 20, 2007)

Honestly? I do not pay any attention to them - there has not been any problem with feeding my mantids with fruit flies from the container crammed with mites - so why bother?


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## macro junkie (Dec 20, 2007)

Kruszakus said:


> Honestly? I do not pay any attention to them - there has not been any problem with feeding my mantids with fruit flies from the container crammed with mites - so why bother?


very true..this is how i look at it.


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## Kruszakus (Dec 20, 2007)

Yeah - but one hint - if the nourishment is kinda gooey, then mites do not appear so often - frankly - in all my cultures based on rudimentary paste made from bananas and apples - there are no mites at all.


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## sk8erkho (Dec 20, 2007)

Yeah. I got it online with the nymphs. A while ago I went through the trouble of creating my own batches of flies but then they began to fly around my apartment. I could not have that issue here. So, i moved on too crickets as I only had all L3-5 and adults. Now that i have more nymphs I'm back with the stinking flies again. When I was making my own culture I came across university website which used mashed potatoes, sugar andyeast only. Before that I used bananas ,oatmeal, and i believe yeast grains. So, how are they kept from flying anyway? Is this some genetic procedure?

As long as the mites won't harm the mantids I'll just stick with it until i get a fresh batch.

Regards!!


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