Emergency problem with fruit flies
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Sarah K
Well-known member
Tell us the conditions in which you were keeping the fruit flies, how old the culture is, etc., so we can try to help you figure out what happened.
In the meantime, you will have to order more. Or you could take a trip to a Petco or Petsmart, and they might have some you can pick up there as well.
I plan on going to petsmart I think he will be able to eat small crickets or worms. They were just in my room which is at around 77 degrees I wasn't aware if I needed to do anything like most them or what not
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izbiggs
Well-known member
All fruit fly cultures crash, which means that all of the flies seem to drop at once! This usually takes a couple of weeks, since that is the lifespan of the flies, but it also depends on if there were mites, mold, or if it dried out. I'm guessing what happened is that the usual crash occurred, which doesn't make you a bad fruit fly keeper! It's totally normal for all of them to seemingly drop at once. It'll take a little while for new flies to come back, so I would suggest getting a new culture in the meantime.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Oh sweet I'm sorry I didn't see your comment. So they will come back in the same culture? How long will it take ? I bought some new ones plus 4 crickets too keep his hunger at bay how do I keep those alive ?
@izbiggsAll fruit fly cultures crash, which means that all of the flies seem to drop at once! This usually takes a couple of weeks, since that is the lifespan of the flies, but it also depends on if there were mites, mold, or if it dried out. I'm guessing what happened is that the usual crash occurred, which doesn't make you a bad fruit fly keeper! It's totally normal for all of them to seemingly drop at once. It'll take a little while for new flies to come back, so I would suggest getting a new culture in the meantime.
Good luck!
izbiggs
Well-known member
If you have larvae, they'll take a couple days to pupate and then to hatch into fruit flies. If the situation calls for it, you can even feed the mantis the larvae! I've never kept crickets personally, but I hear that potatoes are good for crickets because it feeds them and gives them water! Also, tiny mealworms are available at Petco, which can also be good feeders with low maintenance. Let me know how it works out! I wish the best for your mantis
cwebster
Well-known member
You can mailorder fruit flies and pinhead crickets. When you get your flies make sure to start new cultures every few weeks so you have an endless supply.
Once a FF culture crashes it is done, it will not repopulate.
So I'm glad to hear you got more FF as they tend to live 3-4 weeks in a single culture. The trick is to take out at least 25 FF (more flies is always better) and start a new culture see Orin's guide here. How often to start new cultures depends on your need for them (which most of us do weekly).
For crickets just give them a container they can not escape from, a place to hide (empty piece of egg crate or cardboard tube (paper towel or toilet paper tubes)), and food and water (many use potatoes as it is simple solution to food and water (carrots are said by several to cause problems to mantids that eat the crickets)). Unless you are culturing the crickets, then chicken waterers (jar and base) and ground cat food (or a mix) are the best.
Crickets can be kept in cooler temperatures, 60s F, to make them keep their size/life longer (as the cooler temps keep them from molting as quick) - but room temperature is fine. Otherwise, for breeding warmer temps of 80-85F work great, and the eggs hatch much quicker too.
Personally I feed my larger crickets and have for years without incident, with maybe one death I can contribute to crickets but even that is doubtful.
Okay sounds good I think that I will feed crickets only after this culture I got is done it really sucks that the flies don't live long it's going to be hard for me to keep them :/ if you have any other suggestions for sustainable food I would love to hear it my mom is getting worried that I won't feed him properly or I will run out of food which is making me worry too
Once a FF culture crashes it is done, it will not repopulate.
So I'm glad to hear you got more FF as they tend to live 3-4 weeks in a single culture. The trick is to take out at least 25 FF (more flies is always better) and start a new culture see Orin's guide here. How often to start new cultures depends on your need for them (which most of us do weekly).
For crickets just give them a container they can not escape from, a place to hide (empty piece of egg crate or cardboard tube (paper towel or toilet paper tubes)), and food and water (many use potatoes as it is simple solution to food and water (carrots are said by several to cause problems to mantids that eat the crickets)). Unless you are culturing the crickets, then chicken waterers (jar and base) and ground cat food (or a mix) are the best.
Crickets can be kept in cooler temperatures, 60s F, to make them keep their size/life longer (as the cooler temps keep them from molting as quick) - but room temperature is fine. Otherwise, for breeding warmer temps of 80-85F work great, and the eggs hatch much quicker too.
Personally I feed my larger crickets and have for years without incident, with maybe one death I can contribute to crickets but even that is doubtful.
Other sustainable feeders that can be cultured are crickets of course, cockroaches, wax worms (which grow into molts), mealworms, and black solider flies are the more common varieties for mantids. In warm months I personally just capture wild feeders (houseflies, bottle flies, moths, even field crickets, and such) with simple traps or my sweep nets.
I too will be catching wild feeders in the summer since I do it for fun anyway lol I use my hands I have mastered the art of catching grasshoppers and crickets and an assortment of tons of things. Can I feed them small grasshoppers? Thank you for all of the help.
Teamonger
Well-known member
I've been working on breeding and culturing all the various feeders for a few months now. So this is my two cents as a beginner to another beginner.
Mealworms - easy as pie to keep and breed. Oat meal and some potatoes (or mine LOVE cauliflower) and minimal life cycle sorting and you can quickly have more worms then you will ever know what to do with.
Fruit Flies - Just as easy as meal worms but a bit more upkeep. Basic culture medium (there is a massive sticky thread on all of the recipes) is dirt cheap and easy to make. Honestly moving flies from one culture to the next to keep them going is the hardest part. This doubles in difficulty as soon as you are breeding the wild flying variety.
Crickets - these have been the hardest in my opinion and they take forever. You have to have some manner of heating pad or light if you want the eggs to hatch. I have not had a single egg hatch at room temp. Also keeping the laying dirt moist is a bit of a hassle. I tend to wet my laying trays twice a day. I also have a separate container to hatch the eggs in so I can keep the sizes sorted. I accidentally fried my first batch of babies by leaving the heating light on too long after they hatched. The second hatch are doing well but they are growing much slower then I expected. In the end my personal opinion on crickets is they are not worth the hassle if you can just buy them.
Black Solider Flies - Still working on this one but the phoenix worms to get it started are a bit pricey and the adults only live about 8 days or so. There is also a good amount of set up to get a proper container for them to live and breed in.
Roaches - These are illegal in Canada so I can't speak to these.
Wax Worms - Seem similar to the BSF in setup and care but also perhaps less finicky. I will likely try these some day.
Mealworms - easy as pie to keep and breed. Oat meal and some potatoes (or mine LOVE cauliflower) and minimal life cycle sorting and you can quickly have more worms then you will ever know what to do with.
Fruit Flies - Just as easy as meal worms but a bit more upkeep. Basic culture medium (there is a massive sticky thread on all of the recipes) is dirt cheap and easy to make. Honestly moving flies from one culture to the next to keep them going is the hardest part. This doubles in difficulty as soon as you are breeding the wild flying variety.
Crickets - these have been the hardest in my opinion and they take forever. You have to have some manner of heating pad or light if you want the eggs to hatch. I have not had a single egg hatch at room temp. Also keeping the laying dirt moist is a bit of a hassle. I tend to wet my laying trays twice a day. I also have a separate container to hatch the eggs in so I can keep the sizes sorted. I accidentally fried my first batch of babies by leaving the heating light on too long after they hatched. The second hatch are doing well but they are growing much slower then I expected. In the end my personal opinion on crickets is they are not worth the hassle if you can just buy them.
Black Solider Flies - Still working on this one but the phoenix worms to get it started are a bit pricey and the adults only live about 8 days or so. There is also a good amount of set up to get a proper container for them to live and breed in.
Roaches - These are illegal in Canada so I can't speak to these.
Wax Worms - Seem similar to the BSF in setup and care but also perhaps less finicky. I will likely try these some day.
Sarah K
Well-known member
The best way to move fruit flies from one location to another is by stunning them into stillness right before moving them to a new location. To do this, you can actually put your entire fruit fly culture into the freezer for 2-3 minutes. This is not long enough to kill them, but just long enough to give you a short window of a few moments (usually less than a minute) where they will not be able to move very quickly, or at all. You should transfer the fruit flies to the new culture while the fruit flies are still groggy from the short stint in the freezer. This works during feeding time as well.
Teamonger
Well-known member
@Sarah K
I have had so much trouble flash freezing my flies that I just gave up on it all together. 50% of the time I killed the darn things no matter how much I timed it and tried to find the optimum time. Maybe I'm just bad at it! Also with a culture if you freeze them you may end up shaking just as many already dead flies as alive but chilled ones into the new culture.
Either way frozen or not they are a pain to transport around.
I have had so much trouble flash freezing my flies that I just gave up on it all together. 50% of the time I killed the darn things no matter how much I timed it and tried to find the optimum time. Maybe I'm just bad at it! Also with a culture if you freeze them you may end up shaking just as many already dead flies as alive but chilled ones into the new culture.
Either way frozen or not they are a pain to transport around.
Zeppy44
Well-known member
And another newbie chimes in. When I started shaking dead FF , I stunned them in dorm frig. Then shake into empty 32 oz. with net lid. Live ones walked up to top rest got trashed. Not great but worked till they got to flys and crickets.
I must admit feeding live food is not one of the areas I planned too well in advance. Learning as I go.
Must say, living in horse and beef cattle here in the Arkansas River Valley, when it gets warm the flys come out. Last 2 days with door open to bedroom porch, been getting my exercise catching snacks for the mantis.
I must admit feeding live food is not one of the areas I planned too well in advance. Learning as I go.
Must say, living in horse and beef cattle here in the Arkansas River Valley, when it gets warm the flys come out. Last 2 days with door open to bedroom porch, been getting my exercise catching snacks for the mantis.
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Zeppy44
Well-known member
Like your sense of humor. :clap:
Bought some meal worms just to see what they are like. And emergency food if needed. Six weeks and many are starting to pupate. Minimal care at room temperature so far.
