need to know how to maintain a culture of fruit flies

[alex21]

HI,

I was wondering if someone good give me some advice as to how to maintain a cutlure of fruit flies for several weeks, or even months. I have heard some people say that with a small vial of fruit flies, you could take care of it and grow a large family and maintain reproducing them for several weeks to even months. That way, you could have a nice supply of fruit flies for spiders or other types of invert pets for a long period of time. how can i do this? i have purchased several times fruit fly vials from reptilefood.com but the vials don't last me more than a couple of weeks. can someone let me know how i can make the supply of fruit flies last longer than that?

Let me know, thanks

 

[david31337]

I've heard that if you mush up banannas then put them in the vial they will lay there eggs in it. They will also use it for food. Hope this helps.

 

[JPD]

Originally, I purchased 4 vials from The Wormman and would let them dwindle down to 4 or 5 flies and then leave them alone for a few days to one week. I continued this until the medium turned dark at which point I used up the remaining flies, washed out the vial, added new medium, (also available at The Wormman), and dropped in 4 or 5 more flies.
The original vials that I received lasted about 1 month without having to do anything.
I think that alot depends on the species that you are growing. I have had the best luck with Hydei.
I wouldn't reccomend the mashed bannana.....it will mold over really quick!

 

[Hedorah99]

I used instant mashed potatoes as a medium to keep them on. Just use equal volume water to mashed potatoe (i.e. on tablespoon potatoe to one tablespoon water). It also helps if you use really cold water. I have found that this helps keep the mold from forming for a lot longer. If you use a commercial medium its basically mashed potatoe with a mold inhibitor that turns blue when you add water. I am keeping my cultures at room temp in test tubes with foam stoppers and some plastic mesh for them to climb on. This is good for a starter colony. If you want to make a larger one, you can use a glass jar like the ones spaghetti sauce comes in. With the glass jars you don't need to put something for them to climb on, the glass seems to be easier for them than the plastic. Just use a paper towel and a rubber band as a lid. I have had some colonies last a month or so before just dwindling out, but once you get a good colony started, you pretty much have a self sustaining food source.Just remember to create a new colony once the medium starts getting discolored and don't start feeding out from the new colony until you see a good amount of the pupae on the sides of the tube.

 

[NRF]

mold inhibitor?

Is there anyone who knows the name of the mold inhibitor? I have problems with mold, especially now in summertime.

 

[Ythier]

Hi,
You can add some drops of antifugus (ex. Methyl Paraoxybenzoate) in your mixture.
Cheers

 

[NRF]

Hi,
You can add some drops of antifugus (ex. Methyl Paraoxybenzoate) in your mixture.
Cheers

Thank´s! I will try to find it at a local pharmacy. Do you know if it is safe for people and spiders?

 

[Ythier]

Yes, no problem, it's usually used for people, and I use it for 15 years now and I've never got any problem with my arthropods.
Cheers

 

[NRF]

I could only find Methyl ParaHYDRoxybenzoate (E218). It´s some kind of preservative but I didn´t buy it yet. Do you know if it also works?