# Help with feeding my first Dart Frog!



## Guest (Sep 11, 2006)

hi everybody i got my first Poision Dart Frog today..i have practiced culturing them in the past but haven't 4 a while..Im goin 2 use Pinheads and buy FF's til i get more experienced w/ culturing them. Where is the best place to buy them and get a culturing kit perhaps? what do i feed them and how often do i feed them so the culture doesn't die? thanx


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

hottielover14 said:


> so the culture doesn't die? thanx


Yeah, worry about the cultures first. Get it right, then get the frogs.
Pleeease! Don't rely on other sources, other than your own.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2006)

i got it today..im just gonna buy them while i become experienced w/ culturing them. how do u keep the culture goin after u feed the frogs some of the flies?


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

hottielover14 said:


> i got it today..im just gonna buy them while i become experienced w/ culturing them. how do u keep the culture goin after u feed the frogs some of the flies?


You have to keep making, more and more and more and... more..... cultures.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2006)

ok but how do u keep making new cultures? do i take some out to feed and then put some in another container w/ some media, is that what u mean?


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

See the following....

http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13426

Bill


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2006)

ok thanx


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2006)

ok im kinda figuring out this culturing FF thing..ok so when u start a new culture, you put flies in the new jar and then wait a day or so cuz they should leave eggs by then right? then u use the flies that are already in there to feed your frog and use some to start other cultures. and u keep doin that over and over again, is that correct?


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2006)

is my thinking correct?


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## Anoleo2 (Feb 1, 2006)

Your on the right track... It takes more then a day for the flies to breed, lay eggs, and morph out. It usually (in my experience) takes one week or maybe more.
But you should start out with two or three cultures in the beginning so you have enough flies to feed your frogs until the new culture starts to produce. 

Then you just make one or two cultures a week and that should supply you with enough.

I hope thats clear...


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

hottielover14 said:


> is my thinking correct?


You have to keep flies in the culture at all times to continue production.
Don't wait to start a new culture with old, dead, dying fies or failing cultures.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2006)

hmm ok so when i make my first culture i wait about a week til they make larve then do i feed the intial flies to my frog and some to make new cultures? then i use the new flies to make another culture and when they make other flies i feed some of them to my frogs and keep making more cultures with the other flies that are already in there. is that right?


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

Wait until the once/now larvae become adults and begin to start their own procreative work. Then feed out all but 20 or so flies. Keep the adult population below 100 at all times and you should be fine.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2006)

ok so when the initial flies make larve and then when they become adults then feed out all but 20 or so flies right? ok but then how do i make new cultures if i feed out all but 20 or so flies.


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

50 flies per new culture, made about week- week and a half after the last cultures. Depends on the media and media type, if the medias healthy and productive you can use those flies till it's no longer producing new ones.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2006)

what do u mean in that last post? sorry i didn't really get it..i got the one b4 tho lol..sorry im new to this FF culturing


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

hottielover14 said:


> what do u mean in that last post? sorry i didn't really get it..i got the one b4 tho lol..sorry im new to this FF culturing


Practice. Do some experiments along the way while not invoving the frogs to get it right.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2006)

ok so here's what ive got so far, when i get my initial culture and wait about a week til the larve are adults then i take 50 and put in another cup for another culture and wait til the larve turn into adults from the 2nd culture and then i feed all but 20 of the new cultures in both cups to my frogs, is that the jist of it?


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

I guess. I usually wait till the second generation (if the culture is still healthy) to harvest breeder stock. Don't feed out until the new flies until they have matured and have started to lay.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2006)

oh ok i will wait til the 2nd generation as well if its still healthy. ok so when there mature and have laid eggs i will feed out..and i should leave about 20 or so in there right ..would it just b better to buy another culture and just keep that one goin as my 2nd culture?


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

hottielover14 said:


> oh ok i will wait til the 2nd generation as well if its still healthy. ok so when there mature and have laid eggs i will feed out..and i should leave about 20 or so in there right ..


Right. But I would say no less.
If you want to keep the genetic lines strong, longer, make additional cultures for that speices at seperate intervals (one older/newer) Then when new cultures need to be made add say, 20 from one and 20 from the other to reintroduce genetic diversity.


> would it just b better to buy another culture and just keep that one goin as my 2nd culture?


Do what you please but make damn well sure it's a reliable source. Always be prepared to feed and having fed.

You should buy new stock each year or so.


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Oh my God!!
Am I glad I'm not a nube. My frogs would be dead by now. I am so confused by this post. 
If you just read the thread that Kyle told you to read in the beginning of this post, you will be ok.
Just make sure that you have something else to feed your frogs besides FF in case your cultures crash.
You failed to mention how many frogs you have? You will need at least 1 culture for each 3 frogs plus 1 culture just "in case".


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2006)

i did read that post and i was still confused but now i think i got the jist of it. i have 1 frog right now but im getting another one soon. ok thanx stchupa 4 all ur advice even tho it was prolly confusing at times lol


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

a yeah]


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## Guest (Sep 15, 2006)

hi everybody, i got my FF culture kit today from fruitflystore.com and they were in the best condition ive eva seen..there really professional! i order the beginners culturing kit w/ 100 files and "The Producer" culture as well that is already producing flies. I cooked the media and everthing and i made a new culture and i put about 20 or so flies in it. is that enough 4 a culture?


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

20 will work, but I usually put as many flies as I can come up with to start the culture...more flies in...more flies out.

At least that is the theory, I would imagine if one were to start with a pair of flies (don't ask me how to sex them cause I don't know) one could have a real slow producing culture that would last longer than one started with more flies, but I don't care about that, I want a lot of flies, as soon as possible.


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## Guest (Sep 15, 2006)

ok maybe tomarrow i'll add about 10 more. so it takes about a week til they hatch or is it 2 weeks?


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Most strains of melagonaster take a little under two weeks from fly to fly.
You may want to experiment, and leave the culture you set up as is, and maybee make another with more flies, just to see firsthand what happens.


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## Guest (Sep 15, 2006)

ok, but then how can i make a new culture every week if they take 2 weeks to fully hatch and stuff? cuz i can't take flies from the previous culture then after a week if they haven't fully hatched.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Because the culture will usually produce for around a month. If you have a hatching culture now, keep making cultures with it untill the cultures you set up are hatching.
You don't necessarily need to make cultures every week either, that depends on need. 
I do recomend to make new cultures soon after you get a first hatch (make the new cultures with the new flies)...younger flies will carry less mites, the fewer mites you're cultures have the better they will produce.


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## Guest (Sep 15, 2006)

ok thanx that helps clarify it ..but another question,if i use my hatching culture to make new cultures then will i have enough to feed from it at the same time? cuz your supposed 2 keep at least 20 or 30 flies in there at all times too. so how would that all work?


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2006)

ok ive made 2 cultures from my "Producer" culture already, how long does it take for them to leave eggs or w/e?


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## topherlove (Jul 14, 2006)

are they hydei or melanogaster?


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2006)

there melanogaster topherlove


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## 311_dart (May 20, 2006)

Here is a good thread that helped me
Fly Culture Routine


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2006)

ok thanx a lot 311. thats a really informative thread


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## 311_dart (May 20, 2006)

hottielover14 said:


> ok thanx a lot 311. thats a really informative thread


  glad i could help


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## topherlove (Jul 14, 2006)

i usually notice my melanogaster produced larvae and castings 10 to 14 days after ive made it


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2006)

ok topherlove, i have made 3 cultures from my intial culture. 2 have been about a week and still no larvae or eggs and 1 i just made 2day. this is normal right? 

and another thing, some of the flies in my first 2 cultures have drowned in my media so i only have about 18 flies in my first culture and about 20 in my 2nd culture and about 30 in my third one that i just made yesterday, should i add some more flies to my first 2 cultures?


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