# Flyers



## Ashli (Aug 28, 2005)

Ugh..

So today I opened my closet to feed my little guys, and I noticed that one of my cultures is overrun with flying fruitflies. When we made then ew culture a regular fruitfly must have somehow got in.

So my question is, is it okay to use these guys as long as I'm -very- careful not to lose any(I'm sure myl andloards would be thrilled..)? I'd hate for the culture to go to waste.

It seems like it's about half and half. Half fly when i pick up the jar and are smaller than my hydei and the other hald look just like normal hydei's.


----------



## AZDR_A (Mar 20, 2004)

Ashli-

Cut your losses and just get rid of the culture. It's inevitable that some will get out, and then you are taking more of a chance of flyers getting into your other cultures. And being a pain around your home.


----------



## beeswaxx (Feb 17, 2005)

You could let all the flyers out, and then feed the walkers to your frogs.
-Beeswaxx


----------



## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

Ashli,
I would throw it out unless you are desparate for FF. I think this is unlikely that one stray flying FF got in. did you mix FFs from different culture strains? Even if it is the same type of FF you can get flyers for mixing strains.


----------



## Ashli (Aug 28, 2005)

Nope, they're both made from the same strain.

And I'm pretty desperate. The guy I get flies from won't have any until' Monday, so until then I'm sol. I have other cultures, but they're still pupating.

I'll salvage what I can from other cultures and springtails.

I may try letting the flyers fly away. I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner.


----------



## Blort (Feb 5, 2005)

Ashli,

You can also slow them way down by putting them in the freezer (for just a little bit) or the fridge for a little longer. Frozen flies are stunned until they reach room temperature. Just make sure you don't leave them in ther too long. If you are using superior cups or something similar, you may want to check that the filter that glues to the top doesn't have any gaps. I have found that like 1 in 50 have a gap either from manufacturing or from damage during handling. I had fungal gnats get in a culture this way. I could tell from the instar that it wasn't d. mela, so I fed out the remaining flies and larva to the frogs.

Good luck and don't forget that it is really easy to make a escaped fly trap with a cup with vinegar and a drop of soap.

Marcos


----------



## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

how about getting rid of alot of the fliers by taking the culture outside, and letting the fliers fly out, and keep on knocking the crawlers back into the cultuer. You're bound to get more fliers, but it should help until monday.


----------



## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

I wouldn't use the flying flies...been there, done that, and they are hell to get rid of in the house.
As far as letting the fliers go outside, and trying to separate the non fliers to feed, that is irresponsible from an ecologic standpoint, and you will still get fliers mixed in. 
If you really need to use them, do what blort said, and throw them in the fridge for a while, and very quickly dust them and feed them out, and don't open the viv anytime soon after, the frogs will get some exercise chasing the fliers.
When was the last time you're frogs ate? If they are older and decent sized, you might not have to worry about a week with just springtails.
You could also get some larvae from you're newer cultures and feed those instead, while you wait for flies.


----------



## Ashli (Aug 28, 2005)

Blort said:


> Good luck and don't forget that it is really easy to make a escaped fly trap with a cup with vinegar and a drop of soap.
> 
> Marcos


Funny thing is last year at my old apartment (before i had any frogs) we had a hugggee fruit fly problem, and we did that. It cleared up within a week, so if worst comes to worst I can do that.

And I never though of the freezer method, I'll try that at feeding time tonight. Trying to get them into the baggy to dust them last night was horrible lol


----------



## Ashli (Aug 28, 2005)

Dancing frogs said:


> When was the last time you're frogs ate? If they are older and decent sized, you might not have to worry about a week with just springtails.
> You could also get some larvae from you're newer cultures and feed those instead, while you wait for flies.


I just have 4 baby Auratus..so I feed them at least once daily. I have a frsh culture coming by Monday, so I'll just do the fridge method for now. So far no escapees from last nights feeding.

And these cultures are from applesauce jars that I had left over. When we left them out to air a fruitfly must have gotten in.

I wont be doing it that way anymore obviously


----------



## whydoidothis (Jul 28, 2005)

I just recently bought a couple 24 oz. containers of mels. I made 2 cultures from each container I bought. Its been about 2 weeks and I now have flying flies in every culture I made. Can it be possible that the 10 new cultures from the originals got corrupted? I was very careful making the new cultures, making sure that only the flies from the originals made it into the 2 new containers. I am stumped..... Thank god I had a couple other (different flies) cultures going or I would be not so happy right now. Is it possible that they came from the supplier that way? I didn't notice any fliers while making the new cultures. Anyway, I now need to figure out what I did wrong if it wasn't where they came from. So I know where you're at, good thing you didn't open the container in your kitchen.
Liz


----------



## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

I leave my cultures out for a night before putting flies in. The next day, I had noticed some flies in there. Those cultures turned to fliers. Now I put lids on them when I leave them out.


----------



## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

I play it safe, and set the culture up, (minus the flies) put the cover on, and throw them in the microwave for a minute or two, then I let them cool, then I add the flies, keeping the covers on the containers as long as possible.


----------

