Long time lurker, figured I'd post and introduce myself since I got my first mantids today (AHHHH SO FRIGGIN EXCITED!!!). I started out with Sphodromantis "Blue Flash" (I got five of the little buggers from mantispets.com, and they are bea-utiful). I was hoping to pick a few of your guys' brains for some info on this and that, lol. Do any of you have any good methods for moving fruit flies from their culture container into a small mantid container without releasing millions of fruit flies upon my unsuspecting roommates (not to mention teeny-tiny L1 nymphs)? I tried a small hole with air hose cut to fit but the fruit flies wont go up the tube on their own prerogative (angrily shakes fist at ceiling with a "meh"). The flightless jerks... anyways... HI! Nice to meetcha!
Hi! Nice to meet you!
- Thread starter DJ_deejay
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WElcome!
Bryce08
Well-known member
welcome aboard
WELCOME!!! if u tap the bottom of the fly culture a few times u can jostle them off the lid and tap them into the cage and recap the culture quickly enough to avoid too many escapees 
happy1892
Well-known member
Welcome.
happy1892
Well-known member
This might help you.
patrickfraser
Well-known member
Welcome. You will learn pretty quick. I've been at it a little over a year and I'm still learning new ways to do things.
dlemmings
Well-known member
you will find this group a great help....as for the fruit fly thing, I tap fruit flys from the culture down against the counter to send them to the bottom, then open the lid and when they climb up towards the light i tap the required amount into a 16 or 32 oz delicup and close with fabric lid. ( I washed and cleaned some old FF culture containers for this purpose) then I pop the 2nd cup in fridge for a few minutes so they scramble less as I sort them into the proper containers through a hole in mantids enclosure that allows a kitchen funnel to slip in. then foan plug fits into hole in mantis enclosure to plug it up. if I have alot of mantis containers I may have to pop FF's back in fridge again if they start clinging to the sides of delicup. (it is easier for me to sift the right amount into each mantids container instead of constant tapping, so the fridge makes this a snap)
angelofdeathzz
Well-known member
Welcome and enjoy!
Precarious
Well-known member
Welcome!
I have a hole in the lid of all my nymphs cups. I take the foam plug out and insert a plastic funnel I got from the dollar store. Crack the lid on the FF container just enough to allow some to drop into the funnel then let it seat back on the cup, but don't push it shut or you crush all the FFs still in the groove of the lid. Tap the funnel until all the FF go down then replug your feeding hole. Line up all your cups and do them one after another. Then tilt the FF culture and tap the rim as you lift the lid a little bit so the FFs fall back in, then push the lid shut. You may get some escapees but the more you do it the better you will get.
I have a hole in the lid of all my nymphs cups. I take the foam plug out and insert a plastic funnel I got from the dollar store. Crack the lid on the FF container just enough to allow some to drop into the funnel then let it seat back on the cup, but don't push it shut or you crush all the FFs still in the groove of the lid. Tap the funnel until all the FF go down then replug your feeding hole. Line up all your cups and do them one after another. Then tilt the FF culture and tap the rim as you lift the lid a little bit so the FFs fall back in, then push the lid shut. You may get some escapees but the more you do it the better you will get.
Psychobunny
Well-known member
I do pretty much the same thing.
Except I put a lid on a 32oz ff cultue container with the same hole and foam plug as I have on the mantis
jars.
I tap the top of the ff container, stick a plastic powder funnel (which fits snug in the lid hole) and turn the
ff's on the side and give a few shakes.
I use a 1/2'' wide paint brush to herd the ff's into and down though the funnel.
Unless the culture is over loaded with ff's, I hardly ever loose any.
For BB's, I use Rebecca's "Cup 'o flies" method, but with a attached tube on the side which connects to
a plugged hole in the mantis jar. The flys just walk it!!
Sometimes I put the flies in the freezer for 2 minutes, take them out, open the lid, and use my pooter
to vacuum out what I need.
I posted pics of how I do all this sfuff somewhere in the feeding section.
These ideas are awesome! I definately need to change around my method, lol. First time I tried a feeding I squashed like a dozen of the ff's in the rim of the lid (yuck) and now I have to sadly look at their poor little bodies perfectly preserved in plastic on plastic. I put a hole in the ff lid though and this morning I opened the mantid cups, pulled out the mantid, cleaned the enclosure, misted, replaced the mantid and then shook in 3 flies each before slapping the lid back on roughly at the speed of light... yeah... definately need to invest in a funnel...
happy1892
Well-known member
Are you using flightless or wingless fruit flies? They are easier to move around.
sinensispsyched
Well-known member
Welcome!
