# fly culture, make or buy?



## Johnald Chaffinch

if i'm gonna breed fruit flies do ya think i should buy a culture or use the ones i can gather up randomly? which would most likely be safest for mantids? ( baring in mind the ones i find might have been on anything )


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## DeShawn

To address the make or buy part, I usually buy a culture of the type of ff's I want to use, and then make more cultures using the purchased ones. There are a few different variations, but I prefer the flightless/wingless variety, as well as the hydei (the bigger species of fruitfly).

As for which is the safest... I couldn't tell you for sure. I doubt it would matter too much what the ones you find have been on if you are just using them to create more cultures. My only problem with that is wildcaught ff's fly and I don't like to deal with that.


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## Rick

Buy a culture and then buy some of the medium and get yourself some containers and you likely won't ever half to buy flies again. It's so easy.


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## hortus

medium i thought people usee oatmeal water and a little viniger

also heard of mash potato mix with water and vinigar

i heard of mashed up banannas too

for those that dont know vinigar stops it from molding or so im told

im still waiting on my first batch of fruit flies to show up


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## hortus

oh and i ordered hydea or however its spelled


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## Johnald Chaffinch

i want the tiniest ones for Ghosts, i'll probably need them to fly too, what species is that?


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## Rick

You can make your own medium but I highly recommend you buy some commercially made stuff.


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## Johnald Chaffinch

whys that? what'd be difference between that and some mashed banana with a drop of vinegar in it?


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## Rick

> whys that? what'd be difference between that and some mashed banana with a drop of vinegar in it?


Now this is just in my experience but it's messy and ends up stinking. The commercial stuff is easy and all you have to do is add a bit of water and a pinch of yeast and you're done.


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## infinity

I know you lot will hate me for this but I work in a lab with these things... I get all the medium I want!!!  PLUS I'm getting FREE , yes FREE!!! glass vials and unlimited flies... plus they're none of those *if you heat them, they will fly* variety


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## Johnald Chaffinch

i'll probably need the tiniest species of fruit fly, for ghosts, i'll probably need them to fly too. what's the smaller species of fruit fly called?


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## Leah

Its called Drosophilia melanogastor and you wont need them, nor will you need them to fly.


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## Johnald Chaffinch

what if the ghosts are young nymphs or they stay at the top of a largish enclosure?


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## infinity

all flies can walk upside down... they'll walk all over that cage- especially towards the top - flying flies are too tricky to bother with... just use the *walks*


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## Johnald Chaffinch

coolo, thanks guys  i keep reading elsewhere different things to what people say on here. thing is though i know you guys have real experience and there's a few of you to back stuff up. this forum has been really helpful


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## hortus

whats a good place based in the US to get the medium

and what kinda yeast do you use


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## Johnald Chaffinch

*i just got a flightless fruit fly culture from Global Live Food / mealwormsdirect.co.uk ( very cheap ). i've never done this before. they said the flies would emerge after 7 days but theres a bunch of em hanging around at the top and no sign of pupae or anything. was wondering if it is those flies that are gonna make the culture happen? anyone know how long this thing'll last ? and anyone got any clever way of getting some out but not the others? *

thanks


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## Rick

Like I told you before you can get the medium from many places. I get mine from carolina.com


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## hortus

> whats a good place based in the US to get the mediumand what kinda yeast do you use


i dont remember posting that


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## hortus

> *i just got a flightless fruit fly culture from Global Live Food / mealwormsdirect.co.uk ( very cheap ). i've never done this before. they said the flies would emerge after 7 days but theres a bunch of em hanging around at the top and no sign of pupae or anything. was wondering if it is those flies that are gonna make the culture happen? anyone know how long this thing'll last ? and anyone got any clever way of getting some out but not the others? *thanks


yeh when mine came there were flies and noi maggots . bout a week later theres a ton of maggots

i think i heard people will put the flies in the freezer for about 3 or 4 min and the flies will goto sleep.

oh and on both my containers when the maggots start to grow the top layer of media looks really wet


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## Johnald Chaffinch

ah thanks hortus


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