I thought I'd share this letter I wrote to Tommy (bassist) to share with you all one of the very few glitches with the "auto-feed" strategy I've been using lately with fruit flies. I figured it might be more entertaining, and it says it all... without me having to write it up again, lol.
Hey Tommy,
Just wanted to let you know the A. formosana ooth you sent me in our trade hatched today.
Trying to remember how many nymphs (without going upstairs and checking... as I wrote it down on their net cube label, but don't remember now exactly how many).
I think it was 27? lol
Anyways, I'm very pleased with the hatchout, and thank you again!
Oh....
I guess I'd better tell you. I didn't want to, as I felt like a complete idiot.... but I accidentally killed one of the two poor little Orchid nymphs the first night I got them.
I've been trying an experimental way to not have to chuck ff's in the containers every other day.... and it's been working pretty darn great! Well, with a few glitches....
I'd been putting a blob of ff media in the bottom of the individual nymph containers. It was working really well at keeping the ff's alive... and I even had them reproducing in some of the containers. All I had to do was mist! But I turned this particular cup on its side for some reason. And the next morning when I looked in the cup, the blob of media at the "bottom" had slid to the "side" (which was now the bottom)... and the nymph was nowhere to be found. It was like he just disappeared! I'm assuming the blob of media engulfed him like a moving lava flow, even though it wasn't runny at all.
Live and learn, I guess.
But the other nymph has molted, and is doing great!!!
Becky
PS.... I'm re-thinking and trying to refine my autofeed strategy!
Hey Tommy,
Just wanted to let you know the A. formosana ooth you sent me in our trade hatched today.
Trying to remember how many nymphs (without going upstairs and checking... as I wrote it down on their net cube label, but don't remember now exactly how many).
I think it was 27? lol
Anyways, I'm very pleased with the hatchout, and thank you again!
Oh....
I guess I'd better tell you. I didn't want to, as I felt like a complete idiot.... but I accidentally killed one of the two poor little Orchid nymphs the first night I got them.
I've been trying an experimental way to not have to chuck ff's in the containers every other day.... and it's been working pretty darn great! Well, with a few glitches....
I'd been putting a blob of ff media in the bottom of the individual nymph containers. It was working really well at keeping the ff's alive... and I even had them reproducing in some of the containers. All I had to do was mist! But I turned this particular cup on its side for some reason. And the next morning when I looked in the cup, the blob of media at the "bottom" had slid to the "side" (which was now the bottom)... and the nymph was nowhere to be found. It was like he just disappeared! I'm assuming the blob of media engulfed him like a moving lava flow, even though it wasn't runny at all.
Live and learn, I guess.
But the other nymph has molted, and is doing great!!!
Becky
PS.... I'm re-thinking and trying to refine my autofeed strategy!