So...how do I start breeding blue bottle flies?

[patrickfraser]

It happened. A lot of them made their way out last night and more were still coming this morning.

Here you can see the trails left and some on the move. There are still a lot more to come out.

Here you can see the bucket and the inside of the trashcan holding the corn meal with the new maggots,

 

[sueb4653]

I put dog food outside today to try my hand at getting some flies, guess we will see how it goes

 

[sueb4653]

haha I checked my dog food today and I have tiny maggots and lots of flies in and out, question is how long now do I have until they try to crawl out?

 

[patrickfraser]

They will make the move when it's time. Depending on temps 3-5 days once they really get going. My batch has just about finished and I have a net cage of blue bottles laying eggs in some new dog food now. I have a batch pupated and waiting to hatch, some fresh mags out of the fridge to pupate, and a butt load of mags in the refrigerator. Only problem is I have no flies to feed!

 

[sueb4653]

do you use a separate fridge nline2long: don;t know what hubby would think of maggots in the fridge :gun_bandana: lol thats him shooting me LOL

 

[patrickfraser]

If you don't keep them in the fridge you will have A LOT of unneeded flies. I just hatch out what's needed.

OH...I have a drawer in the refrigerator reserved for feeders.

 

[sueb4653]

when they pupate how long are they good for if you keep them in the fridge vs maggots in the fridge?

 

[patrickfraser]

Here is what I have going.

These are the maggots collected so far. There are more to come, but this is what is "chilling" in the salad drawer for now. :lol:

These are the maggots pupating. Once I catch a hatch or 2, these go in the fridge. When I need flies, I know these will hatch fast and just take them out of the fridge and into the net cage.

These are the pupae waiting to hatch in a pyramid net cage.

These are the last flies I have from previous crop. These are laying eggs on dog food (and shrimp!).

Once the eggs are laid, it's back to the first pics and the cycle is complete.

So...You see how I could not hatch all these at once. I guess it just depends on what kind of "crop" you get. I might even sell some spikes and pupae to pay for the dog food used. FREE FEEDERS!

 

[patrickfraser]

when they pupate how long are they good for if you keep them in the fridge vs maggots in the fridge?

I believe the maggots or "spikes" keep for up to 2 months in the fridge.

The pupae are good for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

It's a balancing act, but if I end up with too many flies, I have a pair of chameleons that love to gobble them up.

 

[sueb4653]

you must have alot of mouths to feed cause that sure is alot of maggots pupae and flies

 

[patrickfraser]

you must have alot of mouths to feed cause that sure is alot of maggots pupae and flies

TOO MANY! :lol:

 

[sueb4653]

So here's my little experiment to produce flies, I have maggots hubby thinks I'm absolutly crazy with the whole bug thing LOL

 

[twolfe]

Here is what I have going.

These are the maggots collected so far. There are more to come, but this is what is "chilling" in the salad drawer for now. :lol:

Wow! That is a lot of larvae! If I tried that here, I'm sure the critters outside would raid the pile.

 

[aNisip]

I'm trying to culture blowflies, since they are a little bigger than bbs...they love shrimp and the dog food

 

[angelofdeathzz]

TOO MANY! :lol:

My wife would kill me! or fill my shoe with some... :lol:

 

[Saebjorn9]

So I see a lot of pictures of maggots in what look like plastic bins. I just ordered some blue bottles and they came in a little plastic salad dressing sauce cup like you get alongside your salad in a restaurant. They're all just crammed in there. I have them in the refrigerator to slow them down so I can open the lid and take some out while they're still chilled from the cold. Yet this can't be how I do it every time, how do you guys store the flies to make sure they don't all escape when you go to remove a few for feeding? I was thinking of going to home depot and building a cage of sorts with wood and some mesh screen as the top lid, but maybe you guys know how to store them better!

 

[Crazy4mantis]

Sure they can eat mealworms. My reasoning for doing this is COST. I can't remember the last time I purchased feeders. I am cheap and hate to spend money. When you figure in shipping costs it gets expensive over time. I am saving tons of money, because I have A LOT of hungry mouths to feed.

This is my latest batch from last night. I took 2 pictures. The second pic shows them dispersing due to the flash. They like it dark. I got a BIG batch brewing.

is that a piece of kimchi in the medium? :huh:

 

[Norlin]

shrimp tail

 

[sueb4653]

SCORE look at all the eggs I have got today plus another batch going with maggots and some maggots in the fridge (shuuuushhh cant say that to loud. :clown:

 

[Mime454]

This is really gross, but I need some flies. How do you get the maggots out of the dog food? You certainly don't use your hands.