Where can I find flightless melanogaster fruit flies in Canada? I found them in a website called supercricket.ca I think, but shipping was ridiculous. Is anyone here located in Canada that could ship to Alberta? I don't mind paying $25 for fruit flies and shipping, but I don't really want to pay more than that.
Canadian Fruit Flies
- Thread starter gp724
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Would it be possible just to kill and chop up larger prey(crickets, mealworms) and feed it to the nymphs like that? Would they be able to survive on that until they are large enough to eat live crickets/mealworms? I think I read that this is possible, but that you have to touch the bug parts to their mouth. Or would raw chicken breast work? I read about someone that fed their mantis raw hamburger meat, but I think that eould be kind of fatty. What's your opinion on chopping up larger bugs, and raw chicken? This would be for newly hatched nymphs.
Your first idea would work but to do this may be a bit difficult if you have a lot of nymphs. What about pin head crickets?
mantisman 230
Well-known member
You can also attract wild flying insects to feed them 
None of the pet stores in my city carry pinheads sadly . I will probably just cut up mealworms/crickets then. I think I'll make a Co2 chamber to kill them, as they just fall asleep and it isn't painful for them. Is it safe for them to eat bugs that have been killed with Co2? I'd think it is, but I want to make sure.
. I will probably just cut up mealworms/crickets then. I think I'll make a Co2 chamber to kill them, as they just fall asleep and it isn't painful for them. Is it safe for them to eat bugs that have been killed with Co2? I'd think it is, but I want to make sure. 
Will Amazon send them to you?
http://www.amazon.com/Producing-Flightless-Drosophila-Hydei-Culture/dp/B00JJWEPG0/ref=pd_bxgy_199_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1NN2DFSB2HBETZXFFJW3
I did some searching around and indeed it's really hard to find someone who will ship them to Canada!
http://www.amazon.com/Producing-Flightless-Drosophila-Hydei-Culture/dp/B00JJWEPG0/ref=pd_bxgy_199_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1NN2DFSB2HBETZXFFJW3
I did some searching around and indeed it's really hard to find someone who will ship them to Canada!
Try culturing wild fruit flies that fly.
you can make a lil trap with vinegar and old fruit and leave it outside. I made a wild fruit fly culture accidentally once when I tried to use farmers market strawberries to start a flightless culture -flying hydei and melanogaster hatched from the strawberries!
i'd make the culture now because you want to have it ready to go when your nymphs hatch.
Its possible to feed with flying fruit flies, you pop them in the freezer for a minute and they get knocked out, then quickly dump them into to the mantishaus
you can make a lil trap with vinegar and old fruit and leave it outside. I made a wild fruit fly culture accidentally once when I tried to use farmers market strawberries to start a flightless culture -flying hydei and melanogaster hatched from the strawberries!
i'd make the culture now because you want to have it ready to go when your nymphs hatch.
Its possible to feed with flying fruit flies, you pop them in the freezer for a minute and they get knocked out, then quickly dump them into to the mantishaus
It is highly unlikely you could pull off rearing nymphs with chopped up dead prey. By highly unlikely I mean practically impossible. You might want to bite the bullet and pay whatever you have to for the flies or leave ripe fruit in a bowl on the inside of a screen window to attract wild flies to start a culture. You may find your comfort worth the cost of buying flightless flies.
It's a chinese mantis egg case, the flies will cost me well over $100. Would pinhead crickets work? I absolutely do not have access to wild fruit flies, I have stated this before. I can get mealworms, any size of cricket, and waxworms. Those are the only bugs I can get. I also can get baby food, milk, honey and yogurt, along with beef, chicken and turkey.
jseng
Well-known member
Handfeeding an entire ooth worth of chinese nymphs would be a TON of work. Fruit flies are insanely easy to culture yourself--why don't you buy a couple cultures of FFs, then use them to seed homemade cultures from that point on?
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Sarah K
Well-known member
I do believe you can probably feed your Chinese nymphs pinhead crickets, as long as you have access to them. Dead prey will really not work though.
Because I do NOT have access to fruit flies. I have already said this. I'm not allowed to keep fruit flies. I live in a condo, and the owner of the building doesn't want a fruit fly infestation in they escape. Even flightless, I'm not allowed to have them. Pinhead crickets are fine though. I'm no longer planning to feed them dead bugs. I can feed them any of the following: pinhead crickets, waxworms, mealworms, regular worms, fruit, babyfood, milk, honey. I don't have access to anything else.
Silly~Chili
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The best thing to do is just let the nymphs eat each other. That way you can keep the strongest nymphs and they'll be well fed til you have access to bigger food.
