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[Synapze]

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[rantology]

I keep mine in roughly the cup'o'flies setup from mantisplace and  let them hatch and gutload for a few days... then stick them in the fridge. they fall into an extremely low activity state and it's super easy to take them out and toss them into the enclosures with no prep time beforehand. It actually works so well I ended up buying myself a minifridge to avoid the ire of my SO and I keep it at the highest temps it runs at (40-45 degrees F). You can take them out once a week to let them continue gutloading for a day then put them back in. Overall it dramatically decreased my die off rates and they make a lot less mess inside the cups since they are less active.

Only downside is that this only works for blue bottle flies, the smaller varieties do not survive low temps like that. 

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I do something like that already with a 32 oz cup but I like the idea of hot gluing a 1 oz cup in the center for their water source and placing the pupae around it. I use water crystals to provide water rather than fruit as it doesn't rot and you just have to mist them to reactivate. I started using a strip of egg crate in the cups instead of excelsior and I sprinkle some powder housefly food from mantisplace.com on the egg crate for the flies to eat. I also bought a mini fridge so I could keep my mantis stuff out of the main fridge and turned it to the warmest setting. 

My one concern is that when I stick the cup in the freezer to stun the flies, is that the cold may damage the pupae. Could that be an issue?

It shouldn't cause a problem. I already keep the pupae in the fridge and take them out periodically to let them develop a bit. They just go dormant temporarily if you interrupt their hatching cycle when you put them in the fridge again to shock the adult flies. As soon as they warm up they will start growing again. Blue bottles are pretty resistant to the cold,  it shouldn't hurt them. You do have to be careful with the temps for houseflies or stable flies, they will die if you keep them in the cold for too long. I have found that adult houseflies will be ok in a warm fridge for a day or two at most.

 

[Synapze]

I use water crystals to provide water rather than fruit as it doesn't rot and you just have to mist them to reactivate.

That sounds like a much better idea than fruit. Thanks!

I would like to use a 32 oz, but with my low vision I need to be able to get more up close and personal just to pick them up with tongs. I love the excelsior idea. I made a loosely wrapped "doughnut" around the small inner cup and the flies are walking on it rather than crawling all over the pupae. When I stun them they are so much easier to pick off the excelsior. 

 

[Synapze]

I ended up buying myself a minifridge to avoid the ire of my SO

I know exactly what you mean. ?

My fly container is only permitted in the mini fridge, in the bottom compartment, in a closed box with a Biohazard sticker... seriously. 

If a fly is spotted in the house, I feel compelled to inspect it and proclaim, "It's not one of mine!" ?

The struggle is real.

 

[ausar318]

I saw this video a while ago by a British dude, where he showed how to build a fly keeping thingy. It’s a pretty cool design. Once my mantids get big enough to eat flies, I’m building one just like it. 

Heres the link:

 

[Synapze]

@ausar318 I watched this video just the other day. I may make something similar in the future. It would be awesome if it could dispense one stunned fly at a time. ?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

If a fly is spotted in the house, I feel compelled to inspect it and proclaim, "It's not one of mine!" ?

The struggle is real.

Me too. I get blamed for every fly that appears in the house and I have to keep reminding my roommate that I am only keeping big fat blue bottle flies and fruit flies that cannot fly. Any houseflies and flying fruit flies found in the house are not my fault, they are wild flies that got in from outside. I still get blamed regardless.?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I use water crystals to provide water rather than fruit as it doesn't rot and you just have to mist them to reactivate.

That sounds like a much better idea than fruit. Thanks

The guy in the video says he feeds his flies honey, water & bee pollen mixed together in a dish with a sponge. I feed mine a dry powdered fly food from mantisplace.com that contains honey powder, bee pollen & other things and provide water crystals for water. You could probably combine the two ideas and presoak the water crystals in a honey/water/bee pollen solution and just give that to the flies as both their food and water in a convenient gel form they can't drown in.

 

[hysteresis]

All us weirdos have a bar fridge. Thanks for the tips @Predatorhousepet and @rantology. I'll try some of this. Especially the water crystals.

I'm at the stage that I need to be as clinical with my spikes (pupating and eclosing) as I am with my mantises. BBF are excellent food and I love just plucking a few off and throwing them in.

I've been handfeeding spikes for weeks as my stuff (BSFs aside) wasn't producing like it should. I've wasted a good 200 pupated BBF spikes that have either dried up, or turned to mush inside.

Today was a great day with 20 BBFs. I think I just hit paydirt with my care of the pupae.

@ausar318, thanks for the video link. My mantis lady told me bout gutloading with honey. I try but without the numbers, I just don't keep flies for more than an hour. Hand to mouth! 

 

[hibiscusmile]

I pupae 500 at a time and use a clean big water bottle to put them in, will try to video it this week for you guys.

 

[hysteresis]

I pupae 500 at a time and use a clean big water bottle to put them in, will try to video it this week for you guys.

I would really appreciate that. ❤

Ive found  US feeder companies that ship into Canada but always ship overnight. That's expensive considering the spikes are so cheap. 

I want to do it right, no fuss, no errors.

Hopefully my latest methods yield. I have another 250 in my fridge waiting to pupate. I have mantises that want their flies!

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Ive found  US feeder companies that ship into Canada but always ship overnight. That's expensive considering the spikes are so cheap. 

Hopefully my latest methods yield. I have another 250 in my fridge waiting to pupate. I have mantises that want their flies!

Good luck with your latest yield, hopefully you can keep propagating your own BBF supply but just in case you need a source of BB spikes that ships to Canada there's Rainbow Mealworms. They use FedEx and offer both Priority and Express options but not sure how much the shipping would come out to. Their FAQ explains their policy on shipping to Canada and how to look up transit times/cost for FedEx. 

https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/frequently-asked-questions/#Canada

They have blue bottle fly spikes for sale, 250 for $6. Plus they sell lots of different feeders that would be of interest to a mantis owner such as crickets, mealworms, black soldier fly larvae (aka phoenix worms), fruit flies and waxworms. They have amazing customer service too, I've bought from them lots of times. 

 

[hysteresis]

Thanks @Predatorhousepet.

That's exactly where I bought my 1000 count. Shipping to Canada mandated FedEx overnight. It also madates duties.

I paid 90 CAD and I have an unopenes bill feom FedEx for duties, no doubt. 

An expensive proposition. 

I imagine spikes and pupae dont need overnight now. Daytime max temps are 50s 60s here now.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Ah I see. I'm not familiar with import requirements, those are some expensive flies. I can see why you are trying to breed them yourself. 

 

[hysteresis]

Ah I see. I'm not familiar with import requirements, those are some expensive flies. I can see why you are trying to breed them yourself. 

That's @Charoozz520 trying to breed them. Although, maybe that's what I'll have to do. Maybe i can find a bait shop with maggots for sale. 

Thanks for your kind support!

 

[Predatorhousepet]

@hysteresis I assumed you were trying to breed them but now that I think of it you've only been asking questions on how to get spikes to pupate/hatch into flies. But yeah, you might want to try breeding them if you can't find a cheaper source, can't be too much harder than what you are already doing.  As for where to buy locally a bait shop is a good guess, might also want to ask the more specialized local pet shops, especially if they carry frogs, small reptiles or tarantulas if they know of a source for BBF in Canada.

 

[Charoozz520]

Honestly they are extremely easy to breed, just some people are sensitive to the smell..I for one can only smell it when I open the container to let the spikes pupae. 

 

[hysteresis]

All ive found here in Canada are BSF larvae. Ive not been able to confirm fly larvae at bait shops. Reptile shops carry your std assortment of mealworms, silkworms, waxworms, superworms, and horn worms

Its tough here in Canada.