Bug buy not for the skeered,lol..

[Killerdrgn]

Nice, I wonder if they found food in the laundry room...

mmmm tasty tasty lint.

 

[inkblue]

I uSed to kiLL them insects in nigeria fReaked me out

SWAT!!!

 

[Bob 1000]

Did you use your marker to commit that crime???lol

 

[Bob 1000]

mmmm tasty tasty lint.

LMao..

 

[jejton]

Dont bother with Petco ( except in emergencies ) as they sell only vials. You can buy the culture material ( media, containers, etc ) online for pretty cheap. Go to the sponsors on dendroboard. This way you can make larger cultures and keep two or three going at a time in case of crashes (they are prone to it). If you're in my area, I could always set you up with one to get you started. Its very easy - mix equal parts of media ( which is mostly potato flakes, baby food powder and anti-fungal stuff) with warm water ( distilled preferably ), sprinkle little brewer's yeast on top and let it solidify. Add some kind of material for the flies to crawl around on ( mesh, cofee filters, shredded paper ) and presto - within a couple of weeks you have a teeming fruit fly culture. Now make sure not to pull one of my moves - wild flies somehow got to my culture ( if the material on top is thin enough, they can mate through it ) and when I didnt realize there was a crack in the cup, and lots of family was over for that thanksgiving - lets say I almost added to the homeless statistics in this country.

 

[Domboski]

Petco now sells cultures. I bought a pretty big culture at the petco in union sqaure on Sunday. It was a culture that lasts 3-5 weeks. I think they may have upgraded their offer

 

[jejton]

oh thats good to know. I rarely see fruit flies in Petco and they are always vials. I wonder if any out here will carry the full sized cultures.

 

[Bob 1000]

Okay so I ordered a ghost and a orchid mantis...

 

[DontXtripNfall]

Okay so I ordered a ghost and a orchid mantis...

Nice choices Tobin! If my mom only liked them I'd go for that combo... :splitspin

 

[Bob 1000]

Okay I got my bugs today and I need help,,lol.. The fruit flies will be able to fly in a couple of weeks so how do I keep them from flying all over the place when I open the container..

 

[jejton]

Why didnt you order the flightless variety? They are a staple and sold by every vendor in the hobby.
A trick we did in genetics was to use CO2 to knock out the flies but if you dont have that, stick it in the fridge for a couple of minutes. That will slow them down until they warm up but if you leave them in too long, the flies will die.

 

[jejton]

Also note - flightless fruit flies will revert to being able to fly if they are kept at warm enough temp. Wingles flies can never regain the ability. However most lids have mesh thin enough that wild flies can mate with the captive ones through the mesh. If this will happen, the offspring will be wild ( flighted ) type.

 

[Bob 1000]

Sorry about that she finally got back to me told me they were the flightless ones... What temp should I keep them at to keep them flightless???

 

[Bob 1000]

Okay so here's an update: I order 2 mantids the Ghost mantis, the Orchid mantis, and they sent me a mystery mantis.. It was supposed to be unknown... Turns out the mystery mantis is the Violin mantis... These things are the coolest pet I have ever had.. I could seriously give up my reef to breed these things in a 55 gallon tank( well maybe I could give up the reef)... They are the size of the biggest pod you see.. Very small in other words, but grow to be between 2 and 4" between the 3 I have.. These people are really patient and gave me a nice freebie too,,lol.. I will definetly be ordering more.. They seem to be very easy to keep I keep them in the chinese soup containers with a paper towel between the lid and the bugs with a hole cut out in the middle for ventilation on the top of my tank to give them the heat they need.. I feed them about 8 flightless fruit flies that I ordered as a culture for $10 which should last me about 6 months or more.. I mist the containers once a day really good and the heat from my lights raises the humidity the way they like it.. I watched them eat today and wow it's sick the way they catch the flies... Talk about low maintenance I forgot about them almost today..
Smaller pic is the Violin Mantis..

 

[DontXtripNfall]

expensive freebie!

 

[Bob 1000]

Yeah it's something they do now and started with me.. I made an order of about 25 to 30 mantids... I got a couple of friends to get into this hobby with me.. Everyone of them also received a free mantid also..

 

[Bob 1000]

Orchid mantis molted today!!! Ghost eats about 8 fruit flies a day.. Violin is a slow eater only takes about 2 a day..

 

[jejton]

Sorry about that she finally got back to me told me they were the flightless ones... What temp should I keep them at to keep them flightless???

Verify if they are flightless or wingless. Its a big difference.

 

[jejton]

Also, a culture, even the large ones I use wont last more than a few weeks because a.) the media runs dry, gets mold or just eaten up
b.) after a few generations, the flies start reproducing as fast
c.) cultures are prone to crash from mites, bacteria, mold

Try to keep a couple cultures going at a time.

 

[Bob 1000]

How can I keep the cultures going?? Can I take some of the flightless flies and put them into a new container and get them to multiply??? What would I need to put into the container to feed them and keep them in breeding condition?? They have wings but just jump they don't fly...