feeding flightless fruitflies (say 3x fast!)

[skadiwolf]

okay...first off, i hate these little bastards. they may be flightless, but they are zippy and they jump like hell. plus, they are tiny and when you open the evil container like ten+ make a break for it.

suggestions for feeding and not losing them/having a colony in your home? :/

heeeelp. :8o

 

[nemesis6sic6]

Hi, I hate them too

Hi,

Don't feed your slings fruit flies
I really hate thoes after that happened to me so I switched to pinheads or very small cricks. It was hell and yeah they will make colonies in your home and will breed and OMY it just really makes you frustrated. Well yeah I hate them too!

Geo :8o

 

[conipto]

There is also some evidence that diets of fruit flies lack something required for healthy growth. Often causing molting defects, etc.

Just squish crickets

Bill

 

[skadiwolf]

okay...so you're basically telling me that the only thing they will rapidly and happily eat that i paid $4 for a bottle of i shouldn't feed them?

but...WAH! any other suggestions? heh. :?

 

[DiStUrBeD-OnE]

Some friends told me not to even mess with the freakin things..
Pinheads are so much easier, or if the slings are big enuff just squish the heads of like 2-3 week old crics..

Ian

 

[RugbyDave]

here we go:

take the flies...
1) put them in a bag.
2) put the bag in the freezer. leave them for A LONG TIME.
3) Any time you're ever angry at life, open the freezer, and thank whatever you pray to (or don't pray to) that you're not a flightless fruit fly. I'm not saying they dont mean as much as any other animal, but.. uh, i kind of am. Its my opinion huh
4) rationalize that $4 really isn't that much (its easy! at least thats $4 that wasn't spent on fast food or pop or any mood-altering-substance if thats your thing)
5) enjoy the fact that you get to go to a new pet store.

take $1 and buy 15 very small crickets.

and then, if youre having a problem with them too, and youre going to be feeding all at once, take a plastic pop bottle, make sure its clean and dry, and put all the crickets in there. Either put the pop bottle top back on and make a hole wide enough for a cricket to fall out of (real easy) -OR- just line them up without the lid and dump one out.

Personally, i don't have too much of a problem feeding the very small crickets. You just get into a rut after a while i think. I keep all my crickets in a big cage with water gel and cricket food. Yeah the chirp, but they're above the fridge and i don't notice

good luck!
peace,
davvvvvvvve

 

[skadiwolf]

okay. hmmm..

well, crickets are, at least, no problem. i breed them for my (now) five geckos and my bearded dragon.

i am an ancient asian master of pinhead cricket capturing. i even have a tiny vial that i use OR i can use my bare hands! (wiggles fingers of mad cricket-catching skill)

 

[genious_gr]

Well, you just cant say that and give no advice....... How the
%@#* do you catch pinheads!?!?!? Do you have some kind of mutation??? I'm about to get my hands on some slings and .....
Ow, what cricks are considered pinheads? the new-born ones? Those are TINY!!!! the ones of 2 weeks or more I guess I can handle but those newbornes......

Hey we have a lot in common, both live in Athens.....both have quotes of Al.Einstein.......both like arachnids.....we should search that

 

[Frostbyte]

I do this for my dart frogs .. I actually breed the flies. Are they Hydei or Melanogasters? The Hydei are a little bigger with big red eyes
. What I do is take a 16 oz plastic cup . Take a Tsp of REPTICAL and a Tsp of HERPIVITE ( found in most pet stores ) mix the 2 ) Tap the container the flies are on in on the floor , ground , table , whatever ( this knocks them all to the bottom . Then open the flies tilt them over the 16 oz cup tap them into the cup easy . After you get about 10 or so in swirl the 16 oz cup so the flies get coated ( like shake -n- bake ) then til;t the cup and tap then in your containers where your ts are. Try not to get the powder in , but if you do a little its ok ( its just calcium and multivitamins ) Its actually good for the T cause they get these , and it coats the flies and slows them down ALOT ! Good Luck !

 

[minax]

uuummmmmm?

Actually, the fruit flies are safe to use, if you vary the diet to something like crickets half the time or so............what the flies lack is an amino acid which is crucial for development of arachnids, but if they like them so much , ( the flies) I would keep using them, and just vary the diet a little.

 

[chid]

I tried the fruit flies once,when I first had my slings - never again they got everywhere when I first took the top off .I was finding them for ages afterwards. I would stick to the micro crickets ,allot easier and supposedly better for the T's than just fruitflies.
Chid

 

[TarantuChimp]

When I worked at my local zoo as a volunteer in the Invert House, part of my job was catch the pinheads and play rodeo with the adluts :}
before they got eaten....muahaha

 

[Mendi]

Skadiwolf, I tried the fruitflies myself and found them too much a problem to feed, ot at ;east they are what baby tarantulas are concerned. SO I went out into my garden and dug around until I found a nice termite colony and started feeding my tiny babies these things. Termite are pretty much full of fat and the things that young spiderlings need to grow, All you need to do is make sure the area hasn't been sprayed with insect killer, maybe even going onto a national or state park if you are most comfortable there. My mini=Ts love the termites

 

[Mendnwngs]

LOL.. I too, have falle prey to the "Lets buy flightless fruit flies!!"

I tried feeding them once.. Never again..

I use my hemostats to crush pinhead crix, and toss them in with the sling.

-Jason

 

[Frostbyte]

backyard bugs can be bad also .. remember pesticides .. anyways Fruit Flies arent that bad at all Ive been doing them for 2 years and find a stay maybe once a month at most .. besides theyre instantlly attracted to water . So u find them in bathrooms or kitchens etc. But do whatever works 4 U .. best wishes

 

[Midwest Art]

fruit flies

Yep, I occasionally use fruit flies in a pinch when out of pinheads. I refridgerate the whole container, empty out a small quantity into plastic cup and distribute... quickly! I've got a few red widow babies that like to web on the top of the container, while pinheads sometimes burrow.

N-Joy
Art

 

[skadiwolf]

well, catching crickets is not easy exactly. however, when you breed them and then you order about 1000 every month to replenish your supply for your lizards, you become very, very adept. catching adults in cups is easy, or plastic baggies, but the sides are so flexible it can be annoying.

i use a little plastic vial that my slings came in to catch the tiny ones...just move it along the bottom and heard in the little suckers. it does require patience however.

ah, alas...if only we were slightly closer in age. (grin) that is definitely neat that we live in the same city and the other similarities. nice. feel free to drop me a line in aim, msn, or yahoo. i become bored very easily.

i also succumbed to utter frustration with tiny little bastards hopping everywhere (so WHAT if they don't fly, like that helps at ALL!) and stuck mine in the fridge.

dunno if they're still alive, but they aren't hopping away anymore!