Who are the current best fruit fly suppliers?

[agent A]

I'm on a tight budget nowadays and try to make my own cultures. Usually I do OK for about for 7 - 8 months and then end up having to buy more fruitflies if I have an explosion of nymphs and can't keep up. Like ismart, I recommend the Silkworm Shop (aka the Fruit Fly Shop). I've purchased from them 3 times in the past 1.5 years and have been very satisfied. Now I've also purchased their media twice. It's kind of expensive. And it looks like just plain potato flakes or something. I've purchased a 10 pack that comes in bags, and I use it when I'm too busy to mix my own media or if my cultures seem to be crashing. I don't know what the heck is in there, but I end up with larvae in a short time and lots of flies. Usually it saves me from having to buy more flies.

I also purchased fruitflies and media once from Josh Frogs. I had the same experience with mites...huge ones. His media was nice though, and it smelled good. I got a little worried though when I exchanged emails with him about the mites, and he said something about the mites being in the media. I kept the un-used media in the freezer and then put it in the microwave when I was making cultures.

Ok wat bothers me is why we spend so much $$ on premade mixes when we can make perfectly good cultures inexpensively

For like $4 at stop and shop (probably less at shoprite or price chopper) I can get enough plain oatmeal for 40 cultures

For the same price I can get enough vinegar for the same # of cultures

A carton of orange juice can yield almost 20 and is like $3

And a medium apple is like $1

Wat u do is chop up the apple and put it in a blender with 1/4 cup vinegar and blend into a saucy texture

Mix 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1/2 cup oj

Mix the 2 together and put in a deli cup

Smooth in a paper towel to absorb excess moisture

Let it sit ~4 days then add flies

In a week or so u see maggerz and u soon have a long lasting prolific culture

 

[angelofdeathzz]

I'm on a tight budget nowadays and try to make my own cultures. Usually I do OK for about for 7 - 8 months and then end up having to buy more fruitflies if I have an explosion of nymphs and can't keep up. Like ismart, I recommend the Silkworm Shop (aka the Fruit Fly Shop). I've purchased from them 3 times in the past 1.5 years and have been very satisfied. Now I've also purchased their media twice. It's kind of expensive. And it looks like just plain potato flakes or something. I've purchased a 10 pack that comes in bags, and I use it when I'm too busy to mix my own media or if my cultures seem to be crashing. I don't know what the heck is in there, but I end up with larvae in a short time and lots of flies. Usually it saves me from having to buy more flies.

I also purchased fruitflies and media once from Josh Frogs. I had the same experience with mites...huge ones. His media was nice though, and it smelled good. I got a little worried though when I exchanged emails with him about the mites, and he said something about the mites being in the media. I kept the un-used media in the freezer and then put it in the microwave when I was making cultures.

Yeah I've heard many times over that Josh's cultures are a mite nightmare, but the media it does smell good, resist mold, and ff's do very well in it! As far as running out of flies, I just make a new culture every 3 weeks or so, 2 if needed? And I boil the water first so the mix can't have any pests that live.

 

[twolfe]

Yeah I've heard many times over that Josh's cultures are a mite nightmare, but the media it does smell good, resist mold, and ff's do very well in it! As far as running out of flies, I just make a new culture every 3 weeks or so, 2 if needed? And I boil the water first so the mix can't have any pests that live.

I actually start new Hydei cultures every week. I had a lot of wahlbergii babies in the spring and now rhomodera nymphs. Anyway, I do agree that Josh' media resists mold. It must have a mold inhibitor like the Fruit Fly Shop.I actually but some mold inhibitor to use in my cultures but since I started to add vinegar to my media, I've only had mold in one culture in the past four months. I'm guessing boiling the water has the same affect as microwaving the media?

 

[frogparty]

Remember that quality of media makes a huge difference in the health of your bugs. Flies grown on a basic potato flake media without the added xanthins and vitamins will be less nutritious. You cannot "gut load" fruit flies due to be nature of their digestive system, but you can definitely provide a superior growth media for pupae development so the adults start out loaded with all the goodness possible.

 

[twolfe]

Ok wat bothers me is why we spend so much $$ on premade mixes when we can make perfectly good cultures inexpensively

For like $4 at stop and shop (probably less at shoprite or price chopper) I can get enough plain oatmeal for 40 cultures

For the same price I can get enough vinegar for the same # of cultures

A carton of orange juice can yield almost 20 and is like $3

And a medium apple is like $1

I bought the media from Josh' Frogs almost two years when I was new to the hobby and was not making mixing my own. Back then I was still working and made decent money. It was a matter of convenience as I was working a full time job and doing photography on the side.

So, I had to buy some fruit flies in the spring because I had over 600 nymphs to feed and my cultures couldn't keep up. Since I already had to pay for shipping, I bought some more media from the Fruit Fly Shop. I still make most of my own cultures with my own mix, but their media has saved me from having to purchase new flies on more than one occasion. I have not done a scientific experiment or anything but I have made my own mix and one with their media at the same time because I was low on potato flakes and only had enough to start one culture. I used flies from the same culture to start new cultures. I ended up having to use the flies in both cultures to keep mine fed and left them both sit with larvae. I ended up with flies in the culture with the media from the Fruit Fly Shop first, and there were lots of them. It just makes me wonder if there is something that can increase egg production or prompt them to lay sooner???

To be on the safe side, I also use the anti-mite shelf paper just in case.

 

[angelofdeathzz]

OK Wat bothers me is why we spend so much $$ on premed mixes when we can make perfectly good cultures inexpensively

For like $4 at stop and shop (probably less at shop rite or price chopper) I can get enough plain oatmeal for 40 cultures

For the same price I can get enough vinegar for the same # of cultures

A carton of orange juice can yield almost 20 and is like $3

And a medium apple is like $1

Wat u do is chop up the apple and put it in a blender with 1/4 cup vinegar and blend into a saucy texture

Mix 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1/2 cup OJ

Mix the 2 together and put in a deli cup

Smooth in a paper towel to absorb excess moisture

Let it sit ~4 days then add flies

In a week or so u see muggers and u soon have a long lasting prolific culture

I find ff media one of cheapest best investments I get as far as mantis breeding and nymph care, etc, !2 bucks worth lasts a whole over a year? sounds cheap and better nutrition to boot, I ad honey(5-6 drops) and a pinch of vinegar, the culture count is in the l,000's per deli for a 3-4 weeks?

 

[frogparty]

Yup. If you can't afford a good ff media maybe you need to save money in this hobby some other way, like fewer animals. I make 4 melanogaster and 2 hydei every 2 weeks. Not that expensive. Would you feed your dog or cat the cheapest food possible? Or would you want to do the right thing and do the best you can for your pets and give them the bed food possible?

 

[frogparty]

Best.... Not bed. Damn autocorrect