Blue bottle flies

Tammy Wolfe said:

If they hatched in transit, then they must have shipped you some pupae that wasn't fresh. Heat and humidity can speed up the process...perhaps by a day or two. I've been in the hobby for almost five years now. I've never had an order of spikes that hatched in transit...even a priority shipping order in July that took six days to get here.

I raised blue bottle flies a couple of years ago. No matter what you use, they smell. Do you have a shed or place where you can raise them outdoors? I found that the media/food source really has to smell bad or they don't seem to lay eggs. I used dry dog & cat food that I soaked in water and milk. The sour milk seemed to help. Anyway, I found raising houseflies to be much easier and less smelly.

I've been raising mealworms for around 10 years. I use them to add variety to the diet of sub and adult mantids and as an emergency food source. I also catch wild insects (mostly moths nowadays) to add variety.

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Melophile said:

I was originally planning on breeding crickets. Because of how large they are, it doesn't take much to fill up my mantises. But I've changed my mind on it. I've read around that crickets will eat other decaying crickets, and also the fruits/veggies I put in their enclosure eventually becomes rotten. That can't be good for my mantises. I've already have one mysterious death and the only thing I could think of that caused it was the crickets I fed it. And they also to take a long time to reach adulthood.

Now I'm planning on switching over to blue bottle flies. You can't go wrong with a flying insect. I plan to purchase 100 to start with. How do I purchase pupae without them hatching mid-shipping? I live in Florida, so the temps here are perfect for puape hatching. I was browsing around on http://mantisplace.com/ (forgot which member here runs that site) and noticed they have options for cold packs + insulation. Would that be something I should include in the purchase if I want the pupae to arrive unhatched?

How do I culture blue bottle flies? I've tried Google'ing some answers, but there are very few results on Google for "blue bottle fly culture". All I can find is that culturing blue bottle flies is not desirable because they feed on rotten meats which produce disgusting odors. If crickets, which can feed on rotten fruits/veggies and other decaying crickets, are bad for a mantis's health, how is a blue bottle fly that feeds on rotten meat any better? I've read around that you can substitute rotten meat with dog/cat food. However, if that is possible, what will the fly larvae eat? Can they also feed on dog/cat food? Anyone here with blue bottle fly culturing that can give me some tips?

Are there any other feeder insects I can try? I've tried both drosophilia hydei and melanogasters, but my mantises have quickly outgrown them. My next step were the crickets, but I'm looking menuland.ph for something else. Some of my mantises are extremely passive and trying to get them to feed on crickets can be a pain in the ###### (gluteus maximus). I've heard about moths. How are they? I haven't really done any research on them.

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• House flies: Easier to culture than BBFs and less odor.
• Waxworms: Nutritious but more fatty, so use them sparingly.
• Silkworms: Great for mantises but more expensive to maintain.
• Moths: Luna or silk moths can work, but availability is limited.

saqrio said:

Switching to blue bottle flies (BBFs) is a great idea for mantises, especially since they're active flyers, which helps stimulate mantises to feed.

Yes, when ordering BBF pupae in Florida's heat, adding a cold pack and insulation is a good idea to prevent premature hatching during shipping.

For culturing, BBFs do typically feed on decaying meat, but you can substitute with high-protein dog/cat food to reduce odors. The larvae (maggots) can also eat this protein source. Just make sure to keep their enclosure clean to avoid bacterial buildup.

Other feeder options you can try include:

• House flies: Easier to culture than BBFs and less odor.
• Waxworms: Nutritious but more fatty, so use them sparingly.
• Silkworms: Great for mantises but more expensive to maintain.
• Moths: Luna or silk moths can work, but availability is limited.

Happy feeding!

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Melophile said:

I was originally planning on breeding crickets. Because of how large they are, it doesn't take much to fill up my mantises. But I've changed my mind on it. I've read around that crickets will eat other decaying crickets, and also the fruits/veggies I put in their enclosure eventually becomes rotten. That can't be good for my mantises. I've already have one mysterious death and the only thing I could think of that caused it was the crickets I fed it. And they also to take a long time to reach adulthood.

Now I'm planning on switching over to blue bottle flies. You can't go wrong with a flying insect. I plan to purchase 100 to start with. How do I purchase pupae without them hatching mid-shipping? I live in Florida, so the temps here are perfect for puape hatching. I was browsing around on http://mantisplace.com/ (forgot which member here runs that site) and noticed they have options for cold packs + insulation. Would that be something I should include in the purchase if I want the pupae to arrive unhatched?

How do I culture blue bottle flies? I've tried Google'ing some answers, but there are very few results on Google for "blue bottle fly culture". All I can find is that culturing blue bottle flies is not desirable because they feed on rotten meats which produce disgusting odors. If crickets, which can feed on rotten fruits/veggies and other decaying crickets, are bad for a mantis's health, how is a blue bottle fly that feeds on rotten meat any better? I've read around that you can substitute rotten meat with dog/cat food. However, if that is possible, what will the fly larvae eat? Can they also feed on dog/cat food? Anyone here with blue bottle fly culturing that can give me some tips?

Are there any other feeder insects I can try? I've tried both drosophilia hydei and melanogasters, but my mantises have quickly outgrown them. My next step were the crickets, but I'm looking menuspricesphl.com for something else. Some of my mantises are extremely passive and trying to get them to feed on crickets can be a pain in the ###### (gluteus maximus). I've heard about moths. How are they? I haven't really done any research on them.

Click to expand...

• Moths can be a good choice, especially for passive mantises. They’re slower and larger, making them easier for mantises to catch. Culturing them is simple, using leaves or fruit.
• Mealworms and superworms are easy to culture and offer a slower-moving option compared to crickets. They can be used for mantises of various sizes.
• Dubia roaches are another great choice, slower and more nutritious than crickets, with minimal odor.