# Store bought flies



## sampson1269 (May 4, 2010)

My fly cultures crashed. I ordered flies, but, in the mean time needed a few cultures til they came in. Only place within 75 miles that sells fruit flies is Petco. In Harrisonburg, va. the cultures were all dead. In Staunton, Va. power was out due to the storm, but, they had 4 cultures. In the half dark store i took one that still had flies in it however i couldn't tell how many. Normally anyone can order flies online for around $5 if you buy more than 1 or 2. Petco advertises online 4 cultures for $24. at the store they are $10. I asked why the big difference and they said online you have to pay for shipping. also they are not 32 ounce containers, they are 8 ounces with less that half an inch of culturing media. I brought them home to feed and there were about 10 flies still alive. The cultures had done ran the cycle and crashed. I called Petco help line and reached someone in a foreign country who tried to call the Staunton store twice after i had told him that the power was out and the Harrisonburg store was unable to reach them due to the power. After the half hour on the phone with zero help i went online to look up {The Fruit Fly Company}, They made the cultures however trying to contact them was only available by e-mail. Every time you try to e-mail them the page won't load and they have no phone number available. Today i took the flies back to Petco. All the other cultures they had were dead and she was throwing them away. she tried calling the Charlottesville store to locate flies for me and they were out as well. I understand paying a little more at a store than online, but, double the price for a quarter the amount? Never will i buy from a store thats helpdesk is in another country and buys supplies from companies that can't be contacted in any form.


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## snake5891 (Dec 10, 2009)

You can't really rely on Petco, Petsmart, or any pet store really because all they carry for fruit flies are tiny little vials and they're usually all dead. Unless they specialize in frogs you're not likely to find the 32oz cultures.

When I first started out and only had a few frogs I did find myself running out of flies a couple of times because of crashes or the weather being too hot or too cold and causing my new cultures to fail or what not. Fortunately I thought ahead and kept a couple backup foods just in case that happened which could hold me over for a week or so until I was able to receive some cultures from some of the sponsors of this site. I currently breed a few hundred crickets which have given me an endless supply of pinheads which my frogs really like, as well as a couple shoeboxes of flour beatle cultures. The beatles are easy enough to culture, just set them up in a shoebox with some whole wheat flour and a few pieces of carrot or potato and forget about them, although I like to add a good amount of unmedicated poultry mash and a teaspoon of brewers yeast, really think it boosts production.


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## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

Keeping bean and flour beetles as backup food has really helped me out a few times, as well.


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## froggirl (Jul 1, 2012)

Petsmart is bad about always having died bugs.


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## pgravis (Dec 29, 2010)

I must be lucky. My local petco sells the bigger containers of flies. My first batch I bought didn't have any hatch out after 3-4 days, so I took it back and got a booming culture no questions asked. They did seem a bit on the expensive side though.


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## froggirl (Jul 1, 2012)

the last two i got must were died.


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## reptileman79 (Aug 8, 2010)

I have had actually had great experiences with Petco cultures in emergency situations. They carry FF cultures from ED's Fly Meat Home . Its hard to get a bad one, i mean you can see it for yourself. Its a clear container. Granted I make my own 90% of the time so I dont always buy them, but they work in a pinch.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Thoughts on store bought cultures, based on my purchases from petco and LLL
1. They bring mites into my home
2. The nutritional value is obviously less than the media I use, as when I use it for extended periods my frogs lose weight then put it right back on when I switch back to Repashy. 
3. It's always better to stay in the habit of keeping up on your cultures and emergencies notwithstanding I think it's just better to make more cultures than you need


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Also, I've never had ALL my cultures fail. Mites and mold have never hit all my upturned all at once


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## jdooley195 (Oct 19, 2009)

I think that Petco might bring in different brands of FF depending on location or season...I just bought the fruit fly co. flies for $9.99 a couple of weeks ago.

1. Yes, they are expensive

2. Yes, you have to search for a good culture.

3. I bought a timely culture to start new ones at home and have made over twenty so far.

4. Overall, I think it's a good last minute buy (if they have good cultures) to keep your frogs feeding until you're back up to speed. I definitely wouldn't/couldn't buy the 15 cultures a week I need to get by though, because of price...but it's nice to take the pressure of my stash every once in a while.

Tommy


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

It`s funny, some Petco`s sell the bigger cultures and some don`t. I have 3 petco`s within 5 miles of me that all sell the bigger cultures, and I can tell you they`ve come in handy more than once.

John


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## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

My advice,

Learn to make cultures and make them on the same day every week. Don't forget.

With PDFs, good feeding is good breeding. Feed your frogs as often as possible and with plenty of well-supplemented flies.

Richard.


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