Fruit flies - Worth it or no?

[Transient]

I'm going to be receiving five slings ranging from .5" to 1"+ on Wednesday, and I want to know if it's better (less hassle, less money) to buy a fruit fly colony, or just keep buying crickets and yanking the legs off of them. The slings are B. albopilosum and G. pulchra.

 

[Grin]

i have 3 slings that are .5" right now.
i don't mess with the fruit flies cause they tend to be a hassle and get away alot.
you can order pinhead crickets online or ask local pet stores if they carry them.
but personally, i just get small crickets and break them in half for the little guys or give them the legs.
also you can buy a thing of small mealworms and break them as well.

 

[ImDeadly]

I currently use FFF (flightless fruit flies). I purchased an already started colony and ingredients for three more colonies. One colony can feed up to probably five slings for a month or so. Takes 2 weeks for a new colony to hatch so plan accordingly. While they don't fly, they do jump fairly well and tend to lose a few when extracting for feeding but they are quite cheap IMO so no biggie. Not always but sometimes, it takes some practice. Some slings will eat them alive and some prefer them to be pre-killed before feeding, at least while they are small slings. FFF will live longer than crickets for sure. Where I'm at, I can buy around 50 crickets for a few bucks but they die somewhat quickly and you waste alot of the cricket with slings. FFF may cost slightly more but they live longer, don't eat each other (crickets can/will eat each other), much greater numbers, and most importantly will get more moisture from a whole small fly than with a cricket leg.

 

[Transient]

Crickets in the pet stores around here are insanely expensive (12 cents for each pinhead) so I think I'll order some online. I just wish fruit flies got a little bigger, 1/8" seems small for a 1.25" T...

 

[Grin]

oh goodness. that is alot.
i just stick with breaking small crickets.
my .5" N. chromatus & .75-1" A.purpurea both are amazing eaters and take a prekilled small cricket.

oh and almost forgot about dubia nymphs.

 

[BQC123]

Crickets or dubia nymphs are what I always feed. I have fruitflies, but save for the really small babies. I have never used for tarantulas.

 

[Tann]

I personally use FFs, pinheads, and cut up mealworm. I only really use the FFs for the very small guys (.25inch), and that's mostly when I don't have time to properly butcher some insects.

I have read that FFs, while fine occasionally, are not good as a staple diet since they have low nutritious value. So, if your very smallest slings refuse pre-killed or mutilated parts and hear the call of the wild to be true hunters and take down live prey, then go for the FFs. Otherwise I think it would be best you go for dubia/crickets/mealworms and pieces thereof.

 

[catfishrod69]

i prefer cricket pinheads/cut up cricket, and lateralis newborns...FFF are nasty, they mold, rot, stink, die easily, impossible to catch 1 at a time...this is like the 100th time if said this recently but FFF suck..

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I ordered FFF once.. I hate them... never buying them again... pinheads & Nimph Roaches are 10x better ...sooo much better

 

[Transient]

Pinheads it is!

 

[Amoeba]

I've got 5 Ts ranging from 3i to mature and it's easier to just buy adult crix so I can rip off what I need and not waste crix. Wish I could keep roaches though.

 

[vickywild]

My guys getting on fine with small crickets and meal worms (already dead for the MW) but alas, hes probably bigger than yours.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

baby Ts love cricket legs also btw.. give em adult legs & pinheads some times for variety.. they like roaches also

 

[wesker12]

the size of the flies depends on the species of fff you are getting. D.hydei are perfect for tiny slings and I find quite easy to deal with. Just refrigerate (10 -15 mins) them if your reflexes are slow that day!

D.hydei are up to a 1/4 an inch


The perfect feeders aren't crickets for a multitude of reasons but most importantly unless your prekilling, crickets even tiny ones can injure a sling. I use dubia nymphs (just hatched) and those are perfect for slings. I'm currently feeding some obt slings (.5 - .75) with those and they take them down easy.

Cricket legs are ok as well but don't provide enough moisture in my opinion although I have seen keepers raise slings on them.

 

[Transient]

The thing is I don't want to have my own colony, but I've looked online and I can buy small (100) amounts of pinheads for cheap, and as they get older I can just mash them up or give the to the larger slings until they're depleted and then the process repeats! And I don't have to deal with breeding crix and having a million crix that'll go to waste.

 

[wesker12]

hmm sounds like you have a pretty good plan!

where are you getting your pinheads? Thinking about varying my tarantula diets,so far its dubia, and blaberus roaches and I just ordered some mealworms!

 

[Transient]

Fluker's website! 100 crickets, your choice in size, $8.95 shipped. It sounds like a lot, but considering it's $11 per 100 at the pet store, I can deal with it

 

[Le Wasp]

I posted a method I use for harvesting fruit flies quite a while back: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...aise-sling-food-a-brief-guide-for-fruit-flies

It looks like the pictures are gone, but the concept is still there. Personally, I like using fruit flies because they're free and easy to gather at feeding time (if you use the aspirator and sponge method).