# OMG wingless mel frustration!



## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

Ok so I've got some thumbnail froglets on their way so I started working with wingless melanogasters. I used to have mostly flightless mel cultures which are great until they take flight once in a blue moon. (yes I have springs & ordering some isos soon) The flightless mels just pour out of deli cups, it's so nice.
But will someone for the love of god please share with me how you get those #$#@$*! wingless mels out of the friggin deli cup?! I dealt with it for a while but after making a mess just now now I need advice! When my cultures boom I've gotta feed them out so they don't crash but beating the deli cup against another deli cup to knock them out doesnt work so well bc they're like little ants and just cling to the side! Not to mention I can only beat the cup at an angle for so long before the media starts to creep up the side and swallow the flies or make the side even more sticky so then they REALLY wont come out! They just climb up at all angles and when I beat the cup what few I can knock free will fall out at all angles. I dont know how I would scrape them out either without squishing them. I haven't tried a razor or a rigid piece of plastic yet but my finger sure doesnt work and I dont want to take all of the little cocoon things off the sides either until the culture is pretty old!
omg I am so frustrated right now.....


----------



## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

I put the deli cup on a 45 degrees angle and tap all my fingers, fast and alternating, against the side. Once they lose their footing, they just keep rolling out.


----------



## scoy (Jan 22, 2013)

You may want to use more media when mixing so its thicker and dosent end up in your supplaments. Also when you start you gotta wack the top with your hand, HARD, they'll come loose. When there at the bottom you have to move QUICK and take off the top, tilt the cup at a 45° angle and tap them out moveing the cup in a 360°. But your always going to have escapees. But I've found t+is to work best for me.


----------



## jdooley195 (Oct 19, 2009)

Here you go...



How to Feed Fruit Flies to your animals - YouTube

If you're using excelsior, it is harder to remove flies from the cup. But even then, during a boom a lot should still just fall out when you tip it.



.


----------



## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

Whitneyd88 said:


> But will someone for the love of god please share with me how you get those #$#@$*! wingless mels out of the friggin deli cup?! I dealt with it for a while but after making a mess just now now I need advice!


The trick I finally learned is to squeeze the cup so that I pinch the media in, and then I can tap it as hard as I want against the feeding cup without dumping the media out with the flies. That, plus the occasional banging it upright on the table seems to get them out fairly well for me. 

I'm using paper plates in my cultures now, but the same trick worked for coffee filters and even excelsior, although the later would still drop small broken pieces, etc.


----------



## whitethumb (Feb 5, 2011)

exactly what jp said. tilt the cup and tap with all fingers. they'll come rolling out into the feeder cup. switch sides and tap on the other side.


----------



## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

so tap with my fingers from the bottom side they're all sticking to? haven't tried that. I've just been hitting the cup upright once to knock them down then tilting it and tapping the edge to the edge of another cup.


----------



## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

If your media is coming out when your harvesting flys, its too wet.. The angle and tap method does work great!


----------



## jdooley195 (Oct 19, 2009)

And too much moisture in there will keep them in...Does the side of the cup where the casings are appear wet?


Haha, I've never heard of such frustration on this subject yet


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

I agree that your mix shouldn't be soupy at all. the larvae soften the media so don't expect the consistency to remain the same as the culture ages. environmental conditions can affect the media as well (heating and ac can greatly affect the humidity)

as far as feeding a culture that does become slightly soupy there is a trick to getting flies out and leaving the media.

start by smacking the lid with enough force to release the flies (as the tend to migrate towards the top of the CX) then open the culture and tilt, holding it over a good size dusting cup. position one hand towards the mouth and hold the bottom with the other. now spin the culture letting it drag along the hand closest to the opening in a way that makes the culture sort of stick as it turns (creating small vibrations in the CX). the flies will fall out and the circular motion will keep the media from sagging down one side.

james


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Using a large funnel that is dusted also makes removing them easier. As noted above, if it is damp enough this enables the flies to maintain a stronger grip. One of the ways this can occur is if the cultures are stacked one ontop of the other as this reduces the evaporation in the cultures. 

Ed


----------



## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

Thank you all for the helpful responses! 
The media isn't soupy, I try just hitting the cup on the other cup so hard & so much out of frustration that the media eventually begins to come up the side. I've never had a problem with the media pouring out. But maybe the humidity is holding them in. I don't stack my cultures but the humidity varies in my house (bring in FL) & the cultures are on a rack next to the washer & dryer (the warmest part of the house) I don't let the house get above 75 though
But when I make the cultures & use boiling water I mix the media, put the lid on (I use the plastic lids w/ holes & fabric, the ones you'd buy from neherp or Josh's frogs or Saurian) and there's a lot of condensation in the cups while its cooling. But it has a few weeks obviously before I'm trying to get flies out!


----------



## GP dynamite (Feb 19, 2013)

I put my dusting(calcium, vit) in another deli cup, tap all around the cup while its tilted about 30-45 degrees and swirl them around in the dust. They fall out pretty easily and the dust keeps them from climbing the sides of the cup long enough to feed them off into the viv.


----------



## polishpower (Dec 25, 2012)

I just tap the cup on the ground pretty hard to get them off the sides and top. Then crack the top so they are not jumping all over. Then i will hold at a 45 degree angle and either tap the sides or shake (might get some of the med in their) Good luck they are fast little things


----------



## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

GP dynamite said:


> I put my dusting(calcium, vit) in another deli cup, tap all around the cup while its tilted about 30-45 degrees and swirl them around in the dust. They fall out pretty easily and the dust keeps them from climbing the sides of the cup long enough to feed them off into the viv.


That's exactly what I do. Except I don't tap around the cup with my fingers I've just been tapping the rim of the angled fly cup to the rim of the cup with the dust in it. Gotta try this tapping lol


----------



## jdooley195 (Oct 19, 2009)

You gotta give us a pic of these resistant cultures 

If it's not wet, and it's booming, I can not imagine why flies would not come out


----------



## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

Ill do you one better! I'll post a video! I'm out right now & my husband has duty tomorrow so if I can't record it later tonight it won't be until Sat night, but I will post one!


----------



## jdooley195 (Oct 19, 2009)

Lol, I'll stay tuned for this...sooo curious


----------



## Yuley (Feb 14, 2013)

Im from uk before i start.. My Mels are in a plastic Container... The media is thick... you could turn it upside down and it wouldnt move...

The lid has a hole cut and i put a cloth/jay cloth underneath my lid.
Your right they are fast...and i guess cos its plastic its easier. 

I get a plastic chinese container and fill with rapashy...

I then firmly Smack the tub... slightly open the lid...let them run up the side into the container.. and tilt my container back up (some will fall out) then firmly tap again..lid back on... any that fell out get finely inspected, picked back up and into the container with repashy! 

job done


----------



## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

Sorry I never posted a video guys! I haven't been on here much the past month. Switched jobs & now we are going to get stationed in Mobile AL in a month or two so its been hectic. I did come to the conclusion that it was the humidity in the cups though. I don't stack them so I don't really know why that is, but oh well. I found tapping underneath the flies gets them out pretty well! Thanks for all your help everyone!


----------



## imzenko (Feb 2, 2013)

to slow them down a bit put them in the refrigerator and then they will slow down and not really run out to the container. they might look dead but let sit for a while. they will revive. 
also this might sound funny but practice.
also if you are having problems with the melos don't buy Turkish gliders.  they are quick.


----------



## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

I made a super custom lid that fits over the deli cup, and has a notch cut out. I rarely have an escapee this way.


----------



## packer43064 (Nov 30, 2010)

Put them in the fridge for a few minutes. Problem solved. They are still moving....if that so their easy to knock into the frog cage or into another cup.

Sent from my SGH-T839 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Daleo (Jan 31, 2012)

OMG! Nobel prize for the dart frog hobby!!



aspidites73 said:


> I made a super custom lid that fits over the deli cup, and has a notch cut out. I rarely have an escapee this way.


----------



## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

aspidites73 said:


> I made a super custom lid that fits over the deli cup, and has a notch cut out. I rarely have an escapee this way.


Wow. Lol!! Perfect!


----------

