# Fruit Fly Media all over Cup Can't get FF out



## justwoot (Nov 26, 2014)

I ordered a culture of FF online recently so that I could start my own cultures for my frogs (new frogs, new to pdf). However when I got the culture the media was all over it on the inside. It wasn't producing just yet and the paper said the media would fall to the bottom. However after a week it is producing but the media is still all over the place. I am having a very hard time shaking FF's into the Viv without media flying all over the place. It's sticky so the FF's are very hard to get out. I did manage to get about 40 out to start a new culture however it'll be 10 days or so before I get anything out of it.

I can get about 10-20 FF's out at a time otherwise they are all down in the media covered excelsior. I have three Leuc froglets about two months out of the water. Is this enough flies for them per day? Should I just keep struggling until my other culture produces then throw this one away? Is there anyway to get the media to drop down to the bottom so that I can actually shake the flies out? It also doesn't appear to be producing many fruit flies but I think that may have more to do with shipping in the cold then anything.


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## AZimm (Nov 9, 2013)

You should pitch cultures that reach the 30 day point (producing or not) any ways. Look up mites and mite prevention if you aren't sure why 30 days is the limit. So you probably only have like 15-20 days left on it. I would just not worry about it too much and make sure the new culture looks good. After a few days the media stuck in the excelsior will likely dry out and get less sticky. Media that falls in with the frogs shouldn't hurt, your micro fauna should take care of that. And if any of the maggots fall in the frog tank, they will probably love them! Just in case of ff culture problems, I always keep a bean Beatle culture going too. Best of luck


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## justwoot (Nov 26, 2014)

Closer to probably 15 days left on it I'd imagine. I guess I'll just try to keep getting as many flies out of it as possible. Just wanted to make sure the small amount I am getting is enough or if I should head to petsmart and pick some more up while my other culture gets started.


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

Its good that you started another culture right away, me I avoid excelsior, I stick with coffee filters, their cheap and if doubled up like I do it they last a while and produce flies for a good month plus not to mention their easier to dump out anyway, I keep my flies on the top rack of a 72" so mites havent been a huge problem, but I treat the entire house minus the frog room with anti mite stuff and the frog room has wood floors that I steam mop once every 3-4 weeks or so


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## justwoot (Nov 26, 2014)

I have wood floors in the room I keep the flies, that helps keep the mites down? 

So I decided to put some more excelsior in the cup at the top. Hopefully the flies crawl up it and decide to stay where it is dry. For my next culture I think I'll try the coffee filter trick as I have an abundance of those around due to my love of coffee.


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

If your worried about mites run to your local pet store and buy anti-mite bird spray, don't go willy nilly on your frog room though, spray it around the exterior door frame and along the threshhold/carpeted area. in the frog room steam mop it if you have one available. my frog room is also my home office and PC's attract dust so I treat the house with anti-mite spray and avoid the frog room, than for that I spray the exterior door with the bird stuff but you can also spray paper towels and keep fruitfly/springtail cultures on them, just spray the towels and let them dry out first, good for a month per or so 


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

Most of my house is wood floors, I have area rugs and some carpet though, and dogs ...they add to the mites. You will never be fully rid of dust mites, they exist in every climate in every culture! all you can do is lessen or contain them so that they are not a huge problem. they are worse in moist climates from what I learned, but the benefit is if you suffer from dust allergies treating that problem is not only beneficial to you but also to your frog room! 


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## justwoot (Nov 26, 2014)

I'm actually not too worried about mites. I live in a super dry climate and will just make sure to throw out my cultures when the time comes. If I do have a problem with them I'll get some mite spray. I was just more curious about the statement about wood floors. It makes sense to me I just hadn't heard of that before.


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## stimpson65 (Apr 25, 2010)

justwoot said:


> I ordered a culture of FF online recently so that I could start my own cultures for my frogs (new frogs, new to pdf). However when I got the culture the media was all over it on the inside. It wasn't producing just yet and the paper said the media would fall to the bottom. However after a week it is producing but the media is still all over the place. I am having a very hard time shaking FF's into the Viv without media flying all over the place. It's sticky so the FF's are very hard to get out. I did manage to get about 40 out to start a new culture however it'll be 10 days or so before I get anything out of it.



I wanted to let you know how I solved this problem. I call this method "herding flies". 

I've never liked the idea of turning my cultures upside down for any reason, even to feed. The media turns runny in parts of the culture and you end up dripping runny media all over the place, it makes an unholy mess, and you end up with a significant number of flies stuck in the media that runs down the sides of the culture to boot. 
I didn't like the idea of just leaving an open culture in the viv either due to the need to dust the flies with supplements.

But, since we need to get them out of the culture, I decided there had to be a better way. So, after mulling over the problem, I had a flash of insight and I decided to let the flies do the work for me!
(I use this method anytime I need to get flies out of a culture, either for feeding or for starting new cultures)

Here's how I do it:
1) NEVER tip or turn the culture over. NEVER. With the method I'm about to give you, it should never be necessary.

2) Get a large glass mixing bowl. One with a flat area at the bottom big enough to let a culture sit flat on the bottom inside the bowl (preferably with some flat area left over as it will make things easier).

3) Take some Turtle Wax or Rain-X and wax or treat the entire inside of the bowl. Do it just like you were waxing your car. Buff the bowl until you have a nice slick-smooth interior in the bowl. Be sure to let the wax job "cure" for a while so that any vehicle or solvents in the wax have plenty of time to evaporate and the wax can harden. Letting the wax cure overnight is best. There should be no wax smell of any kind.
I have only tried glass but this might work on smooth metal mixing bowls too, I'm not sure. We are just shooting for a surface that the flies can't get a good grip on.

4) Get a bright desk or table lamp (with no shade, you want a bare bulb) and set it on the table next to where you are going to remove some flies from the culture. You can also put your work surface next to an unblocked window during a sunny day but I find the bright lamp works best. What you want is a single bright source of light. 
Why? 
Fruit flies are "phototactic" in that they tend to move toward the brightest source of light just like moths and many other insects. We are going to use this natural tendency (plus one other) to "herd" flies.  
They are going to crawl to where we want them to all on their own, no tipping, no inverting, no dumping!
Place the lamp next to where you are going to do the work. Anywhere you like that is close but out of your way. Remember, your flies are going to go toward that light so you need to be able to keep an eye on that side of the culture.

5) Take the culture you want flies from and rap it on the table a few times to knock the flies down as best you can. Remove the lid and set the lid (inside facing up) and culture in the bottom of the bowl. (Be sure everything is dry, the outside of the culture and the inside of the bowl).
Be sure you don't place the lid directly between the culture and the light but don't put the lid behind the culture either. We want any flies on the inside of the lid to crawl off the lid toward the light on their own.

6) Watch the lid and culture while standing over it looking down. When all the flies have crawled off the lid and in to the bowl, remove the lid from the bowl and set it aside. Be careful with the lid as it will probably have many unhatched pupae on it and we still want those flies to hatch. Now, keep watching the open culture. The flies not only move toward light naturally, they also have a natural desire to crawl UP (away from gravity).

7) Watch the open culture. We are going to simply watch the flies crawl out of the culture on their own. They will crawl right over the edge of the container and fall in to the bowl. Not only that, most, if not all, of them will only crawl out on the side where the lamp is, making it easier to control where to grasp the culture when it's time to remove it. If we have made the inside of the bowl slippery enough, the flies can't crawl out of the bowl without sliding back to the bottom. If necessary, tap the outside of the bowl with a wooden spoon to keep the flies knocked down.
As soon as all the flies we want have crawled out of the container and fallen in to the bowl, simply grab the lid with one hand, grab the culture with the other (from the side opposite where the lamp is), tap the bottom edge of the culture against the inside SIDE of the bowl to knock any remaining flies inside the culture back down and any flies on the outside of the culture in to the bowl, and then replace the lid on the culture and set it aside. (Don't rap the culture on the bottom of the bowl where the flies are, we don't want to squash the flies in the bottom of the bowl).

Now, we have a bowl full of flies, a fly culture that continues to produce and is still neat and easy to maintain, and no mess! Also, the bowl is ready to use for many more fly transfers. Just wipe it out with a soft clean dry cloth and your are ready to go!

With a little practice, this has become so easy, it's almost no work at all and I rarely lose a fly. I've got a friend that does it basically the same way but uses a gallon zip top bag instead of a bowl. I find the bowl easier.

I hope this helps and let us know if it work for you!


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## justwoot (Nov 26, 2014)

That is certainly a clever way to get flies out. I'll have to try that in the future. For now I just dumped the culture once my new one was ready. What you say about dumping the cup upside down is so true, when it's runny it's just so gross.


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

justwoot said:


> I'm actually not too worried about mites. I live in a super dry climate and will just make sure to throw out my cultures when the time comes. If I do have a problem with them I'll get some mite spray. I was just more curious about the statement about wood floors. It makes sense to me I just hadn't heard of that before.


I live in a really dry climate too, mites arent horrible but they DO exist everywhere, its only a super problem in moist climates from what I have read, I still take precautions though, I run a humidifier in my frog room though so I like to be proactive about it even if it means just minimalizing a smaller problem.


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