Fruit fly problem.

[xenuwantsyou]

I have a slight dilema. I ordered some fruit flies for my H. grandis ooth that I expect to hatch in about two weeks. Just wanted to make sure I had a good head start in case anything went wrong. Well I poured about 40 into the medium cup and left them to do what they do best. Today I go to check on them and thet're all dead, including the ones not in the medium. I would like any theories on what went wrong so I can prevent it from happening again. Also, any emergency feeding teqniques are welcome in case the ooth hatches before I can restock. I remember when I was very little and raised chinese mantids I used raw meat, but the more suggestions the better.

 

[Rick]

What did you use for medium? I put some in a cup with about a half inch of commercially made medium and leave em be. Couple weeks later I have millions of flies. They are usually easy to rear.

 

[xenuwantsyou]

I got them from here:

http://www.buyfruitflies.com/shop_ffm.html

The container with them medium had no air holes, though, so I'm thinking I should have poked a few .

 

[infinity]

How long between you last opened it and the day you checked to find they were all dead? - If it's a day (even two) I highly doubt it was due to air- these are tough lil guys! - besides, if it was sent in the post like that, I doubt the company would be very popular if the package (which can take up to a few days to be delivered) - all ended up dead. If you left it for more than 3 and there were thousands of flies- then yeah- it was probably air because flies are very active.

Highly doubt it was the media- unless it went mouldy or was too runny- which traps the flies... Perhaps a hot night?

 

[Rick]

I use the deli cups that have the vented lid. The lid has round holes covered by a thick fabric. If there was absolutely no way for air to transfer then thats probably what happened.