# FF transfer/feeding system



## kamakiri (Jan 2, 2009)

I think I finally have a method of transferring fruit flies without nearly as many escapees as I used to.

The main component is a pair of foam plugs cored in the center...also that I mainly have foam plugs in the center/top of enclosures.

Anyway, this is what I do:

Put one of the cored plugs (I guess it's not really a plug anymore  ) in the target/holding container.

Tap the FF culture to get all the flies off the lid. I usually tap the whole thing on the counter.

Replace the culture plug with the other cored plug.

Put the two containers together so that the two cored plugs make a little tunnel. I usually make the connection horizontally to the culture or vertically if using a holding container for feeding.

Tap until flies wanted are in the target container.

Separate and tap both containers to get flies out of tunnels and replace original plugs.

Repeat from the holding container to mantis enclosures, if not going from the culture direct to feeding.

Lately, I've been feeding the flies in the holding container first.

So far, doing this has eliminated squashing some of the flies in the lid/rim...and greatly reduced the number of escapees.

How do you transfer FFs?


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## kamakiri (Jan 2, 2009)

I guess I should have mentioned what I was doing before...

Refrigerate FFs and shake into a funnel in plug hole. When I get lazy and don't refrigerate between transfers, I get a lot of escapees crawling up the funnel or hopping off the supply container. :angry:


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## Peter Clausen (Jan 3, 2009)

I feed the mantises on my bugroom carpet (which adjoins our kids' living room). If a few flies get out, I just use the lid to flick them off the carpet into the next mantis container. This IS a wife-approved method (at least for me). We do find a few stray wingless fruitflies from time to time. No biggie. I'm sure the spiders that get loose take care of most of them


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## Rick (Jan 3, 2009)

Seems overly complicated. I use a simple funnel system. I just tap them from the container through the funnel and into the mantid enclosure. Or sometimes I tap them into a vial and them from the vial into the mantid enclosure.


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## kamakiri (Jan 3, 2009)

Rick said:


> Seems overly complicated. I use a simple funnel system. I just tap them from the container through the funnel and into the mantid enclosure. Or sometimes I tap them into a vial and them from the vial into the mantid enclosure.


That's essentially what I was doing before, but with a 12 or 24 oz. deli tub instead. That's a cool funnel for the side holes...

Typing out what I'm doing now did seem complicated, but feeding last night went pretty fast without *any* escapees. That means much less time chasing after the ones running around the deli tubs. Probably bothers me more than my wife...I don't like the waste...here in CA, my house spiders are fat enough!


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## nasty bugger (Jan 4, 2009)

I usually have a few escapee's, and I figure the escapee mantis' will have them  

I take the t shirt square off the jars I use, then mist into the jar, and any mantis' close to the top of the container usually go into the jar when I spray the mist in, then I tap the ff's to the bottom of the deli container, pop the lid and holding it onlightly , tap some ff's onto the side of the deli container and crack the cap and tilt and tap them into the mantis jar, and right the deli cup and tap and flick the lid so the other, more fortunate, ff's can live another day, if they;re lucky. I then spray one more mist into the mantis jar and put the 'screen' back on, and mist it a couple times.

If I have crickets in there I crumble a little bit of fish food into the container for them to eat, till they get eaten.

None of my mantis' have complained about gas, so I suppose I'll continue to use this method.

I've frozen my ff's by getting distracted and forgetting them a bit to long, so I am avoiding that technique for a while. They did recover, mostly, but I don't want to be foodless at this time of year, so I'll risk a few escapee's.

I believe that only having broadcast tv, and the remote being too difficult for them to operate, discourages many of the fruitflies from attempting escape  Fortunately they haven't figured out how to operate the dvd player...


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## Rick (Jan 4, 2009)

I usually lose only a couple at most.


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## Dinora (Jan 4, 2009)

I use Fruit Fly Bottles that I purchased at the Mantis Place.


About every 4 days I take the ff bottle, a funnel and my ff habitat/container outside. 
I'll place a small bit of banana in the bottle and tap it until it goes to the bottom, then place a funnel in the top. 
Then I tap the ff habitat/container on a counter to make the flies fall towards the bottom, then open the lid and knock some into the funnel (enough to feed 3 little mantis for about 4 days)
For the next 4 days (until it's time to clean and refill the bottle) I just remove the foam stopper from my mantis' habitats and from the bottle then I place the head of the bottle into the hole and let the fruit flies crawl in on their own.
This way I only loose about 3-5 ff at a time when I go outside to refill, and it's only because I don't really try to not loose any since I'm outside anyway. I have 2 of those bottles so I can always have one disinfecting and waiting to be used.


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## kamakiri (Jan 6, 2009)

Dinora,

I use some of those bottles too, but it's too big to fit in the 1" plug holes.

That's got me thinking that I should simply be using a transfer container which has a neck that fits inside the enclosure feeding hole.

I might try some 1" clear hose that you can get from the pet stores...


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## Dinora (Jan 6, 2009)

Oh! Permanently attach the hose to an opening cut into the FF culture/habitat? Maybe sealing it with a low temp hot glue gun?

Place a foam stopper at the end and just unplug and insert the hose into the hole in the mantis habitat when it's time to feed!

That would eliminate funnels! Sounds too easy though, there has to be some flaw here...


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## Katnapper (Jan 6, 2009)

Dinora said:


> Oh! Permanently attach the hose to an opening cut into the FF culture/habitat? Maybe sealing it with a low temp hot glue gun?Place a foam stopper at the end and just unplug and insert the hose into the hole in the mantis habitat when it's time to feed!
> 
> That would eliminate funnels! Sounds too easy though, there has to be some flaw here...


Hmmm..... *thinking*


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## kamakiri (Jan 6, 2009)

Dinora said:


> Oh! Permanently attach the hose to an opening cut into the FF culture/habitat? Maybe sealing it with a low temp hot glue gun?Place a foam stopper at the end and just unplug and insert the hose into the hole in the mantis habitat when it's time to feed!
> 
> That would eliminate funnels! Sounds too easy though, there has to be some flaw here...


Pretty much, but I was thinking out loud but about an intermediate container...use this container/hose to take the flies from the culture first. Then use it to distribute to mantises.

Either way should work...


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## bassist (Jan 7, 2009)

I use a drinking straw to transfer fruit flies with a foam stopper at one end I just refrigerate them and scoop them up into the straw then just tap them out of it into the mantis enclosure any escapees I just slide the straw under pretty easy for me at least.


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## kamakiri (Jan 7, 2009)

Okay, thought to take a pic of the 'new' tube on the way out this morning...should have taken one of the foam cores too.

The clear tubing happens to be reinforced since it fit the hole size better than the ones that were all clear. I think it was 5/8" I.D.

I still bought some clear tubing which could be glued or slipped though a cored foam plug to be used as a gasket.

bassist,

Do you use a funnel to get them in the straw? I suppose I could use the tube I got the same way...and just plug the other end like you did. Thanks for posting!


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## bassist (Jan 7, 2009)

Nope I just scoop each individual fly into the straw from the culture lol easy if you only have a few small nymphs I like I do right now.


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## Dinora (Jan 7, 2009)

bassist said:


> Nope I just scoop each individual fly into the straw from the culture lol easy if you only have a few small nymphs I like I do right now.


 :huh: You pick up each little fly and place it in a straw?

Ok, you love your babies more than I love mine...

I hang my head in shame.


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## bassist (Jan 7, 2009)

Yeah I've always done it even when I used to hatch two/four chinese ooths at once.


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## yeatzee (Jan 12, 2009)

Best way for me has been tapping the top and top sides of the ff container about 5-10 times, with the nymphs cage lid open, tap in as much as i want and throw the lid back on the ff culture than the nymphs container. I average about 2-5 fruit flies lost each time I do it, which isnt bad IMHO.


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## kamakiri (Jan 15, 2009)

I guess I'm one of the few who is bothered by the escapees...


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## bassist (Jan 15, 2009)

kamakiri said:


> I guess I'm one of the few who is bothered by the escapees...


I CANNOT stand escapee feeder insects they're annoying imo only ones I can somewhat stand are crickets because they're easy to get and only lose maybe one or two every now and then.


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## ABbuggin (Jan 26, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> Best way for me has been tapping the top and top sides of the ff container about 5-10 times, with the nymphs cage lid open, tap in as much as i want and throw the lid back on the ff culture than the nymphs container. I average about 2-5 fruit flies lost each time I do it, which isnt bad IMHO.


That's what I do. But I only get 5 escapes max out of 15 containers with multiple mantids. After a while, you get good at it.  

When I am keeping the nymphs separately, I use a big funnel with some "bug slick" (no insect can crawl up it) painted around the rim and funnel them into some smaller vials. (like Rick has pictured) After that, it's just a simple tap for each container.  

I also use flying fruit flies for when I'm keeping multiple mantids together (I know you probably think I'm crazy). They live longer, and are seen more so they don't die of old age. (the flightless like to "huddle" in the nooks and crannies) I use the refrigeration method for this, and it works great.  (surprisingly, they produce a LOT more than the wingless versions, so I get 1,000's for a bit longer than a month) In case your wandering where I got 'em, I got them in the fruit section in my local grocery store, and Wal-Mart. (hey, they have both species of fruit flies there) :lol:


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 30, 2009)

bassist said:


> I CANNOT stand escapee feeder insects they're annoying imo only ones I can somewhat stand are crickets because they're easy to get and only lose maybe one or two every now and then.


If you get irritated by escaped ffs (particularly the wild kind!) and are as klutzy and half-blind as I, here is a good trick for containing the little buggers that escape. Get one of those "butterfly cages," the net kind with one plastic face (mine are 12"x12"x12", but there is at least one larger size) like those sold by Hibiscusmile and shine a light down on the top. Transfer your ff's in it, and any escapees will crawl/fly to the top of the cage, where they will eventually die (unfulfilled, poor things) from dehydration. Don't forget to zip the cage when you are through!


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