Merc
Active member
Hope no one minds me reviving this thread since it's a month old but I was just thinking about this!
I've lost several violin mantises due to not being able to keep a constant, good supply of flies in stock. Supplies that are supposed to last a month last a week and then I have to supplement with "crickets on a stick" (more like "on a needle" but that didn't have as much of a ring to it) until the next batch of flies hatches and feeds, and one by one the violins have been dying off, which I've heard of happening with a cricket diet, even partial - I can't decide whether this or them starving to death is "better", as I have tried looking for other alternatives but there's nothing good locally and nothing to catch outside at the moment.
Since I also keep snakes, and feed them thawed frozen rodents, I was feeding my boas this evening and the idea hit me - why not freeze flies? Hatch them out, feed them well, and drop them in the freezer, then take what you need when you need it and thaw them out for a half hour. Do you think the nutritional value would be too affected by freezing? For snake food, supposedly if only frozen once, there is little nutritional value lost (something like >2%, I believe?) in rodents or birds. I understand that flies or invertebrates are much smaller but if kept in a freezer-appropriate container, could this be a sustaining source of food?
I've lost several violin mantises due to not being able to keep a constant, good supply of flies in stock. Supplies that are supposed to last a month last a week and then I have to supplement with "crickets on a stick" (more like "on a needle" but that didn't have as much of a ring to it) until the next batch of flies hatches and feeds, and one by one the violins have been dying off, which I've heard of happening with a cricket diet, even partial - I can't decide whether this or them starving to death is "better", as I have tried looking for other alternatives but there's nothing good locally and nothing to catch outside at the moment.
Since I also keep snakes, and feed them thawed frozen rodents, I was feeding my boas this evening and the idea hit me - why not freeze flies? Hatch them out, feed them well, and drop them in the freezer, then take what you need when you need it and thaw them out for a half hour. Do you think the nutritional value would be too affected by freezing? For snake food, supposedly if only frozen once, there is little nutritional value lost (something like >2%, I believe?) in rodents or birds. I understand that flies or invertebrates are much smaller but if kept in a freezer-appropriate container, could this be a sustaining source of food?
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