LIVE FOOD? NEED HELP...

[KarenB]

I used to culture fruit flies for dart frogs, so I was already familiar with them. When someone mentioned feeding them to the finches, I thought hey, what a deal. They really are easy, and yes, they are flightless! There are two different types that are commonly cultured, and I raise the larger of the two. Melanogaster, I think is how you spell it.

As far as the culture media, I get it from Repashy dot com. They cater to herps keepers. But their media is chock full of great stuff, and is very good for raising the flies which are in turn fed to your birds. All you do is add boiling water, stir, add a bit of excelsior to it, cool, add flies, and wait about three weeks while your flies make more and more flies. I usually have two cultures overlapping at any one time, and I dump flies several times a day, in addition to the wax worms, when there are babies to be fed.

You could probably get everything you need from Repashy = culture cups with lids, and the media, along with a starter culture of flies and extras to feed right now. If you need more info, let me know.

[KarenB]

Also, there are lots of YouTube videos out there on culturing flies. A Google search would also net you a ton of info on them.

[lovezebs]

KarenB
Thanks, will look it up.

[lovezebs]

KarenB
Ok. There are several stores in my city that carry Repashy products, just not sure if they have our bugs . They have gecko diet, gut load, veggie dust, and some other stuff that I can't
remember off the top of my head. My favorite pet shop carry their products, so will have to pop in there and check this stuff out. What on earth is gut load? Don't know if I like the sound of it.

[MiaCarter]

Okay, if you go online, you can get flightless fruit fly cultures.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... ly+culture

I would do that. (Except I don't have the heart. I'm too soft. I'd grow fond of them. LOL)

I tried the rotten pineapple trick and it didn't work. I got a stinky, moldy pineapple to show for it. I was shocked, as Florida is a bug mecca! But my bird room is an interior room with doors that always remain closed. So I think they just couldn't find the pineapple?
If I tried it again, I'd put it outside and hope to get a few flies to stick around as I carefully brought it inside.

Actually, that's a lie. I'd just do one of those fly culture cups. Way cleaner. I don't like rotting things.

Lots of PetSm@rt and Petco stores have live food. They always have crickets, but they hop away and don't work well for a cage; you really need a terrarium for those.

Sometimes they will have other live stuff like flies and mealworms. It really depends on the precise store. Not all have a very robust reptile and insect section.

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs -- Gut loading sounds gross, but it's just a fancy term for the practice of feeding nutrient-rich foods to insects.

It's mostly used to refer to feeder insects, but some who keep tarantulas and other insects as pets use the same approach, especially when they're shedding skins and so forth. (I had an awesome tarantula named Fred. He was the coolest little guy EVER! Love spiders. How can you not love this sweet face? https://sp3.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608025 ... d=15.1&P=0)

Gut loading uses the logic that you 'load' their gut with super nutrient rich food in the week or two before you feed them to your bird, reptile, etc., so they're a richer source of nutrition.

It's also used to help keep captive bugs in good shape and to prevent disease, as most really suffer malnutrition in captivity due to a very limited diet.

[Rox]

What are we talking about, when we speak of live food? Worms? Bugs? Unfriendly neighbors?

Hahahaha, that just made my morning. I have a one neighbour that immediately came to mind

Good luck with the bugs, we all seem to end up with the live food problem at some stage or another of bird keeping

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
-Hi and thanks for all the information. I will have to go Pet Shop hopping ( such a hardship ) and really look around. I prefer to buy in the store rather than on line. We shall see what we'll find. Need to get to the Pet Store for bird food anyway (have to really practice self control when I go in there )

-As for Fred... uhhhemmm. I guess that as tarantulas go, he is very handsome. You and my grand nephew would hit it off well . He so wants one, and my niece, his Mom, suffers from Aracnaphobia (spelling?). Poor Kaydan will never have his spider while he lives at home, or any other pets, because nephew in law won't allow it. Can you imagine, three boys growing up without any pets? It's a sin, if you ask me.

[lovezebs]

Rox
Hi Roxanne.
We all have at least one neighbor that comes to mind. LOL. How are your guys doing ? Birds, not neighbors. Any news in the breeding department, since I asked my birdies to send some hormonal vibes in the direction of South Africa???

[MariusStegmann]

lovezebs To start a maggot farm, you take full cream milk powder mix mix it 50/50 with bran. Add water and mix into a paste. Leave outside for the flies to lay their eggs. Spray some water over every day to keep it moist. You will have maggots in about a week's time. To keep it under control, you have to build a flybox with sieve mesh. Basically the adult flies can't escape and breed more maggots.

[KarenB]

KarenB
Ok. There are several stores in my city that carry Repashy products, just not sure if they have our bugs . They have gecko diet, gut load, veggie dust, and some other stuff that I can't
remember off the top of my head. My favorite pet shop carry their products, so will have to pop in there and check this stuff out. What on earth is gut load? Don't know if I like the sound of it.

The product I have says "Superfly Fruit Fly Culture Media", specifically for culturing the fruit flies. LOL, gut load is what the media does for your culture; it feeds them good stuff, which in turn feeds your birds well.

There are definitely other products out there which will work for you. I order mine online, and if I get desperate, there is an exotics pet store within driving distance I can usually get flies. There's another place @ Joshsfrogs.com that can also get you set up. Also the Dendro Board has a lot of helpful info about culturing critters. It's like the Finch Forum for frogs and other herps.

[Rox]

lovezebs

All good this side thanks Spring is definitely in the air and the evening's are getting longer. I can at least see my birds for about
30min when I get home after work now - woohoo!! I gave the aviary's a spring clean today and offered the first dish of mealworms for the season. Aviary 1 dived in with gusto, while aviary 2 thinks the worms are going to eat them The waxbill's are definitely feeling the love in the air. Lots of dancing going on with feathers in the beak. It's too cute!

The gould's are busy finishing their molt and then I have about 28 young gould's to catch. I'm not looking forward to that part...

Good luck with the bug search! I have my mealworms going great, need to start with maggots next. Think I am just going to buy those on bulk and freeze them. The mealworms keep me busy enough as it is!

[Betrue2yurself]

KarenB I'm curious, do the flightless fruit flies crawl frantically out of the food dish when feeding them to the birds? I've been keeping birds for about a year and want to start giving live food, i'm just scared the bugs are going to crawl out of the food dish, spread throughout the cage and then spread into my apartment.

[finchmix22]

I bought the flightless fruit flies before and they were eaten so fast, they didin't have time to reproduce! So, they probably won't have time to anywhere. The finches love them.

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs -- I hear ya! Pet shops are tough! LOL

Poor Kayden! No pets? That's awful! My kiddos will never want for pets!
"Mommy, can I have a kitten?"
"Sure! In fact, let's get two so he has a friend!....Oh, there's three? Well you can't leave one lonely one behind! We'll take the lot!"

I was never arachnaphobic, but I didn't always love spiders. Then I started looking at photos of them super close up and they're adorable. All fuzzy with cute little eyes! And others with gorgeous colors and patterns. Then I started learning about them and fell in love! (Good thing, as Florida has TONS of spiders! Including huntsman spiders, which have the leg span of a dinner plate! I had to catch one for my mom last week using a bucket! Took a while as those long legs make them FAST! LOL.)

@Betrue2yurself -- They do walk around.
I believe you can chill them with a couple minutes in the freezer to slow them down. Bugs like that go into a suspended animation in cold. So you could just chill them before serving and they'd stay put for a couple minutes - enough for the birds to find them and get interested.

I'd be sure you serve them in a cage with a covered or removed grate so the birds can get them. Otherwise, they could end up below the grate where the birds can't get them. (Or at minimum, a big paper plate!)

I've seen them served and they snap them up very quickly.

@finchmix22 -- I've read that you need like 5 or 6 of those little plastic containers for a sustainable population.