# How to feed flies.



## Aryia (Jan 9, 2014)

Ok really stupid question, but how do you all get your flies out of the container and into the cage?

I've tried feeding my Bettas (fish) flies before since they need live food for conditioning. I've given up since I used 32 oz containers to culture wingless flies, and when you try to open a container with 1000 flies, you get at least 200 crawling on your arms and around the house. My cats of course think it's amusing. My boyfriend and I have a very different opinion. Plus it was almost impossible for me to get them where I wanted them to go to. So in the end, it takes me about 5 minutes per fish (I have a lot...) to get several flies into the tank, and a dozen more crawling where they're not supposed to.

Seeing how flies are a popular choice for mantises I guess I have to revisit culturing flies. Is there an easier way to feed them ? I honestly don't want to end up dumping hundreds of flies in a single cage &gt;.&lt;!


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## HungryGhost (Jan 9, 2014)

I cut a hole in the lid of the ff culture cup and put a foam plug in it. Bang the culture on the table and the ffs fall down, remove the plug and cover the hole with your finger. Now you have better control over how many flies you release. I still get escapes but not as many. Hope this helps.


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## Extrememantid (Jan 9, 2014)

Just tap the container on the ground so they fall to the ground or lower in the excelsior


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## Sticky (Jan 9, 2014)

What kind of flies? By wingless I guess you mean ff. I feed blue bottles to my bigger mantids and my frogs.

I let some hatch at a time then keep the flies ,and pupae too, in the fridge until I need some. It slows them down so its easy to catch any escapees. DONT keep ff in the fridge. I tried that and it killed most of the flies and all the larvae turned black so I think they died too.

The hole idea is a good one.


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## D_Hemptress (Jan 9, 2014)

i put the culture in the fridge for awhile and they get all stupid and slow. they can easily be tapped out one by one. i also do this with bbs, but i put them in the freezer for a couple minutes so they are retarded for a longer amount of time


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## AxolotlsAreCoolToo (Jan 9, 2014)

Tap the culture then open lid keep tapping walls so they dont all flood at once. Tap small amount into empty 32oz and and cape both cups. Feed accordingly try not to tap the pupae off the walls. Hope this makes sense this should also work if your lid has a hole and plug


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## Aryia (Jan 9, 2014)

Yeah I was referring to hydei fruit flies. I do have the melanogaster for the Bettas as well.

Thanks for all the input, the hole in the lid idea is definitely good. I didn't have a hole and literally squish 50 flies everytime I try to close the lid.

Do you think they'll stick on a honey stick? Seeing how that's nutritious for mantises as well..


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## sally (Jan 9, 2014)

Aryia said:


> Yeah I was referring to hydei fruit flies. I do have the melanogaster for the Bettas as well.
> 
> Thanks for all the input, the hole in the lid idea is definitely good. I didn't have a hole and literally squish 50 flies everytime I try to close the lid.
> 
> Do you think they'll stick on a honey stick? Seeing how that's nutritious for mantises as well..


I posted this before when I had my first Creo. Cleopatra loved honey fly kabobs


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## Aryia (Jan 9, 2014)

Yes I got the idea from someone's post!

I saw a video of a mantis eating a honey stick and thought it was really cute xD


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## kobelu3 (Jan 9, 2014)

HungryGhost said:


> I cut a hole in the lid of the ff culture cup and put a foam plug in it. Bang the culture on the table and the ffs fall down, remove the plug and cover the hole with your finger. Now you have better control over how many flies you release. I still get escapes but not as many. Hope this helps.


why does everyone put a foam plug in their fly cultures? WHY?


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## Extrememantid (Jan 10, 2014)

kobelu3 said:


> why does everyone put a foam plug in their fly cultures? WHY?


Because it's convenient and useful..


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## Rick (Jan 10, 2014)

kobelu3 said:


> why does everyone put a foam plug in their fly cultures? WHY?


Because without the plug the flies escape.


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## PeterF (Jan 12, 2014)

I've been reusing the peanutbutter type jars that the FF cultures come in at the pet store (I have a lot) and also mason jars with mesh lids. I find they are a lot easier to tap the flies down, but you really shouldn't have any trouble tapping the flies down in a 32 oz deli cup. You might also consider having more cultures with less flies per culture. As mentioned above, having less excelsior (or whatever you use in your cultures) should help as well. I don't use anything, actually. I do make at least 4 cultures every time I make cultures, and I stagger them pretty tight (culture 0 gives adults to culture 1 and 2, culture 1 gives adults to culture 3, culture 2 gives adults to culture 4, so on). But I am doing Mels, so any of this might be different with Hyds (which I have never bothered with).

Also, in a lot of cases I use a funnel. The flies are shaken into the funnel, which directs them into the jar. This is helpful in 2 ways. 1: I usually have a foam plug in the mantis jar for the funnel to go into.

2: The funnel is usually wider than any of the jars involved, it cuts down on how much I "miss" the mantis jar.

Of course, the mantises are in a room well away from my lab, and not in my house, so I find escapes to be a minimal issue. I find them in with the roaches sometimes.


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