Raising Drosophila hydei

[GiantVinegaroon]

I recently purchased a vial of Drosophila hydei from Petsmart. I'd like to raise these guys myself so I never have to pay a ridiculous price for a vial ever again lol. If I simply Just tossed some in with a banana, would that work or do they NEED a specific medium with more than just banana?

 

[spydrhunter1]

you need rearing media, I buy it from Carolina.com. all you do is add water and yeast.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

you need rearing media, I buy it from Carolina.com. all you do is add water and yeast.

I understand you can make your own, and it seems yeast has been a common product in most of the make your own medias i've seen

 

[Matt K]

I reuse glass spagetti sauce jars with micromesh lids, and get excelsior from the craft store for cheap. But the media I buy from Flycafe.net. I get the most yield of flies from it, and the price per bag is relative to the price of buying the ingredients and mixing it yourself but its already done. VERY easy.

 

[spydrhunter1]

Forgot to mention that over a couple of generations, hydei sold at Petsmart will mutate back to being able to fly.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

Forgot to mention that over a couple of generations, hydei sold at Petsmart will mutate back to being able to fly.

I don't mind. I'll just chill 'em before offering. I was hoping to start one for my friend and I can guarantee he won't mind either.

 

[Widowman10]

you can use dope fly or fly nap or whatever they call it. knocks out the flies quickly and you can work very easily with them that way. tiny bottle lasts forever. works better than the freezer IMO/E.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

Just got some medium and yeast from my professor today! Woot woot!

 

[skips]

you can use dope fly or fly nap or whatever they call it. knocks out the flies quickly and you can work very easily with them that way. tiny bottle lasts forever. works better than the freezer IMO/E.

You use fly nap on them and then feed them to your animals? I thought about that for a quick minute when I started and then decided not to risk using chemicals where my dart frogs were concerned. Would you mind telling me what you feed? It obviously hasnt had ill effects.

I'd just buy media. there are a million recipes onling for the stuff but the price of buying it is pretty comparable to the price of making it. I get mine from either joshsfrogs.com or saurian.net. I like saurian's best because you get more, but josh's has a bit better yield. make sure to mix in some distilled white vinegar or methyl paraben to inhibit mold or else you're likely to have your cultures crashwithout warning once mold gets them.

 

[skips]

Just got some medium and yeast from my professor today! Woot woot!

or that works too. make sure it has some kind of mold inhibitor in it.

 

[Widowman10]

You use fly nap on them and then feed them to your animals? I thought about that for a quick minute when I started and then decided not to risk using chemicals wear my dart frogs were concerned. Would you mind telling me what you feed? It obviously hasnt had ill effects.

skips, i haven't fed them off after using flynap, but i figure it would be allright :? just have used flynap quite a bit in the lab.

 

[skips]

skips, i haven't fed them off after using flynap, but i figure it would be allright :? just have used flynap quite a bit in the lab.

hmm...well, Here is an MSDS sheet for it. It says it can cause some serious problems but doesnt say anything about if it's retained in the flies. I might stay away from it, but that's not to say it would definitely be a problem.

http://www.carolina.com/text/teacherresources/MSDS/flynap.pdf

 

[Widowman10]

yeah, you're probably right. might be a good idea to stay away from it. i don't know if it's retained in the flies or not. my guess would be not very much as the effects wear off fairly quickly. but there is always the potential i guess.