The Fruit-Fly Auto-Feeder!

[lectricblueyes]

Absolutely agree. I was worried you were going to try your hand at breeding and raising nymphs in those big fancy cages. I have long had a desire for a fancy cage but it just never seemed to work well. Have a nice little ecosystem that happens to have a mantis in it is a fine idea but like I said keeping many mantids isn't going to work that way. I do look forward to what you come up with. Don't let me or anyone else discourage you, we just want to throw out our thoughts so you can avoid any pitfalls.

Glad you agree Rick. There is a possiblity in the future, that I might collect more than mantids making my big fancy enclosures into better homes for bigger bugs/frogs/scorpions/small children. But for now, I have just the (1) 12x12x12 Exo-terra until I have more adult specimen. The cabinet is coming along nicely. My father and I are having some good ole father/son time working on it together.

I'm not discouraged by the advice/warnings you guys give me. I mean, last night after reading some of the naysayer stuff... I kinda.. starred at a bottle of pills for a while and.. was.. well... then I realized.. "Who would take care of my nymphs" and then I put the bottle away. K, I'm crying now.. time to get get some tissues. Can't type with tear-wet finggerrs..

 

[nasty bugger]

When I was at a frog show a pet shop employee told me that when you're away you just put holes in the lid of a 32 oz deli container, big enough for ff's to exit, then invert the container so they have to find their way out. That's his idea of a timed release ff container for feeding dart frogs while you're on vacation.

No, I don't have dart frogs, yet. I do have some reed frog tadpoles though I'll be back into the fruitfly feeding frenzy once these guys go to froglets, and my next ooth hatches.

I'm reluctant to hatch anymore chinese ooths since I'd like to get some native species and introduce them outside after they get large enough to survive on their own. Haven't been hunting for ooths yet, but it's getting nicer, and I have the feeling that the ooths will already have been hatched now, so It'd be hunting for mantis to breed for the ooths, but I could be wrong.

 

[rensallar]

Hey, so did you end up building this auto-feeder? I wanted to know if it worked.

I have some containers that have holes in them that I can attach tubing to connect them. I'm thinking of starting a FF culture in one and hooking up the hoses to a couple other containers that I can house mantids in.

But if your ff's didn't climb their way through the straws, maybe I should just pass on my contraption too.

 

[PhilinYuma]

Hey, so did you end up building this auto-feeder? I wanted to know if it worked.I have some containers that have holes in them that I can attach tubing to connect them. I'm thinking of starting a FF culture in one and hooking up the hoses to a couple other containers that I can house mantids in.

But if your ff's didn't climb their way through the straws, maybe I should just pass on my contraption too.

Hey Guys!

I got a ff feeding outfit designed and manufactured to my own design at Minimal Cost! I found a lady right here on the forum, who does that kind of thing. I can't give you her name, for obvious reasons, but it sounds like a happy flower. I had her draft and manufacture a prototype of a graduated cyllinder, 24cm (91/2") tall and with an ID of 2.8cm (1'1/8") and a capacity of 110ml, with a small lip. It is made of hard translucent polyethylene, so that I could see what is going on inside. I also wanted a 0.5L (16oz) conical funnel of the same material and a bristle cleaning brush (the final product looks suspiciously like a baby bottle brush with a nipple brush on the end, but that's O.K.).

Method: I place the funnel in the top of the cyllinder, tap a pot of ffs to show them who's boss, and shake them into the funnel and recover the ff pot. The slick material and angle of the funnel are cunningly designed so that a measured number slide helplessly into the cyllider. I plug it with one of those foam stoppers that come with PetCo ff cultures, though you coud use a wadded paper towel, open the feeding port of the nymph pot and shake a few in. I can remove the feeding port sponge, moisten it, spritz the pot, wave to the nymph(s), pour in the ffs and stopper the port and the cyllinder in about 30secs. Most importantly, I get to inspect each nymph closely at least once a day and see how well it is feeding. Inevitably, a few dead ffs accumulate in the bottom of the cyllinder and get cleaned out with the brush.

Pretty cool, huh? The prototype cost about $350, but now that it's in production, you can get it for less than $18! That's OK, no need to thank me. :lol:

 

[Katnapper]

Hey Guys!I got a ff feeding outfit designed and manufactured to my own design at Minimal Cost! I found a lady right here on the forum, who does that kind of thing. I can't give you her name, for obvious reasons, but it sounds like a happy flower. I had her draft and manufacture a prototype of a graduated cyllinder, 24cm (91/2") tall and with an ID of 2.8cm (1'1/8") and a capacity of 110ml, with a small lip. It is made of hard translucent polyethylene, so that I could see what is going on inside. I also wanted a 0.5L (16oz) conical funnel of the same material and a bristle cleaning brush (the final product looks suspiciously like a baby bottle brush with a nipple brush on the end, but that's O.K.).

Method: I place the funnel in the top of the cyllinder, tap a pot of ffs to show them who's boss, and shake them into the funnel and recover the ff pot. The slick material and angle of the funnel are cunningly designed so that a measured number slide helplessly into the cyllider. I plug it with one of those foam stoppers that come with PetCo ff cultures, though you coud use a wadded paper towel, open the feeding port of the nymph pot and shake a few in. I can remove the feeding port sponge, moisten it, spritz the pot, wave to the nymph(s), pour in the ffs and stopper the port and the cyllinder in about 30secs. Most importantly, I get to inspect each nymph closely at least once a day and see how well it is feeding. Inevitably, a few dead ffs accumulate in the bottom of the cyllinder and get cleaned out with the brush.

Pretty cool, huh? The prototype cost about $350, but now that it's in production, you can get it for less than $18! That's OK, no need to thank me. :lol:

Thanks for the info, Phil! But hey... it doesn't sound very "automatic!" :lol: