Feeding BB

[Mystymantis]

Hello, so I got some blue bottle flies, and due to warm weather a lot of them were already hatched when they arrived, is there anything I can do to keep them alive for a few days so I can still feed them? What do they eat?  Though I am not planning on culturing them, just keeping them alive for now.

 

[Sarah K]

here is a blog post iI wrote about keeping live BB alive for feeding purposes: 

https://www.panterrapets.com/blogs/news/tips-and-tricks-to-prevent-flying-insect-escapees-at-feeding-time

 

[Zeppy44]

I used sugar water soaked cotton balls for food and water for flies. Few hours out to eat and get warm then back to frig for later. Hatch pupae before 3 weeks cause hatch really drops off after 2 1/2 weeks or so. Cold stun flies gave me time to separate what I wanted to feed very easily. Hope this helps along with Sarah K's above link.

 

[Mystymantis]

Yes, that helps a lot, thanks so much, @Zeppy44 and @Sarah K! I will try putting them in the fridge. So to feed them take them out for a few hours and give them sugar water soaked on a cotton ball?

How often do they need to come out to feed?

 

[Zeppy44]

Not sure on last question. I only used bought flies when I could not catch wild here in Arkansas. Even in winter if the temp got above 50 for a few hours, we had flies. So maybe ordered flies twice to supplement for winter.      I was surprised at how bothered buying house flies got to me, LOL.

I would think if healthy should last up to 10 or more days, feeding every 2 or 3 days. Experiment and see what works for you in your situation.   Have fun with it, they are just flies.

 

[Mystymantis]

Yep, thanks. I will experiment to see what works.