Fruit Flies - Oh, My!

[monotwine]

Rox is some ways we are lucky. We don't have to pay for our feeder insects . They come to you!
You can get flightless fruitflies, but they will cost you an arm and possibly a leg to keep up the volumes to feed finches.

[Ash]

I know this thread's a few weeks old, but I thought I'd add some stuff!

Flightless fruit flies are actually a lot easier and cheaper to get than you might think. =) They're also extremely easy and cheap to maintain.

I build dart frog terrariums as a hobby, and dart frogs are some of the other pets I keep (besides finches). Here's a picture of one of my tanks:


Because the frogs eat fruit flies I culture them myself. Setting up a single culture takes approximately five minutes, and after about two weeks that single culture will produce hundreds of flies daily and last up to a month and a half. Forget those little tubes! Fruit fly cultures should look like this:



You can also use typical canning/Mason jars for them if you want to be environmentally friendly. When the cultures die, scrape out the goop, wash them, and viola! Ready to reuse.

If you want to get all the supplies for culturing fruit flies from one place for a really great price online, you can check out http://www.joshsfrogs.com/ or http://www.neherpetoculture.com/. Both are reputable vendors among the dart frog community (froggers have a forum just like this one, with just as much chirping -- frogs sing too!) and provide great service.

Don't want to culture your own bugs? No problem! Both of the sites above offer producing cultures, already prepared so all you have to do is open the lid and feed the flies out. You can also buy producing cultures at your local Petco sometimes. They'll be in the reptile section and will look like this:



They're about $10 apiece. They'll last you around a month or so if you get them fresh. =)

But you're probably wondering, okay, sure, is feeding my finches really worth having flies all over my house?

Fear not! There's a way to keep the flies from getting everywhere. They have a hard time climbing slick surfaces. They have an even harder time climbing slick surfaces when they're covered in calcium powder.

Here's my process:
1) Tap flies from culture into a slick cup.
2) Dust flies with calcium powder. Make sure the powder you're using is avian-safe!
3) When flies are coated with the white dust, tip them into a shallower cup or bowl. Again, make sure the cup or bowl has slick sides.
4) Put the cup/bowl in the finch cage. I clip mine down so it won't tip over when the finches perch on it.
5) Watch the finches gobble up the flies like it's Christmas and the cookies are fresh out the oven. =)

I hope this helps anyone who's interested in trying out flies for their birds. I have lots of experience with flies, so if anyone needs help with them, please ask... I don't know much about birds yet but I do know my bugs. =)

Also, if anyone wants to try out flies and lives within a few hours of central NC, just let me know. I'd be happy to offer over a culture, no charge.

Best,
Ash

[Sally]

Great information! It is time to start setting up my birds for breeding, and since I have mostly waxbills, I really need some live food. I am going to try this again, maybe I will finally have some success with my Purple Grenadiers.

[Sunbay]

THANKS so much for the additional info. I just happened to receive a delivery of FF from Josh's Frogs yesterday. Packed well, and ALIVE despite the heat.

I usually put some in a baggie and put them in the freezer for a minute or 2 - slows them down enough so they don't go hopping all over the place.

Is that ok, do you think? Sounds easier than the calcium, which I have never heard about.

Thanks again - LOVE your collection! Poison Dart frogs are amazing!

[Martie]

What great information - thank you so much! I don't raise waxbills as Sally does, but do raise Owls, Shaft-tails, and Green Singers, all of them loving live food! Lots of people are dedicated to getting these species to breed and rear young with egg food alone, but I don't have an aversion to live food and my birds really, really appreciate it!

You have inspired me to try culturing fruit flies. Thank you again for a great post.

[Perfex]

I'll give these a try. I just bought 1000 1/8 crickets and I'm finding them difficult to deal with. They are hard to contain and they smell. Not fun.

Ash, your terrarium is enviable!! Truly stunning. Nice selection of bromeliads too.

[Ash]

I'm so glad I've managed to be of a little help.

Sunbay: putting the flies in the freezer for a couple minutes does slow them down significantly, but they can recover from that before you know it. The calcium powder isn't so much for the birds as it is to keep the flies from crawling everywhere -- with their feet coated it's harder for them to climb, and in dry environments like our finch cages the powder doesn't come off easily. That makes it easier for the birds to pick them off. Also prevents too many escapees!

Speaking of escapees: if you start feeding out flies, you're gonna have a few that get away no matter what you do. There's a simple solution to keep them from migrating to your trashcan, though. You can put the cup/bowl with the flies in it in a tiny pan of water a few millimeters deep (I use a lid from an old small plastic butter container), and any escapees will drown. When you want the prisoners to stay where they are, build Alcatraz.

Thanks so much to those who commented on my tank as well. I'm glad y'all like it! If only I could make my finch cage look as nice I'd be on to something.

Best,
Ash

[kyubi]

hi guys...about the calcium powder supp.? Do u recommend any brand?thanx..this topics is great..look like fruits flies r next on the menu..and just fyi ppl that live by chicagoland area there is a reptile swap in wheaton ,DuPage County Fairgrounds 2015 Manchester Rd,wheaton il..u can get live food for cheaps like mealsworm to pinsize crickets and definitely fruits flies
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