Bought a culture from Josh's Frogs, and used this method to continue the culture. Cut the paper strips super thin, doubled the recipe, and used cheesecloth for the top. Worked perfectly, culture is thriving, and saves a lot $$$ when raising baby mantids! Thanks so much!!!
You weren't kidding about easy. I didn't have to buy a thing, just substituted rice vinegar because that's what I had on hand. I've made this culture a few times now and even after leaving the tub completely alone while away for a week I've got over 50 flies living and lots of larva still going, no mold ever. Thank you for this video. My mantises grew very quickly thanks to the easy abundance of cheap home-bred fruit flies, and I've got 2 more mantis nymphs on their way who will benefit from your system.
❤️ this is exactly what I needed I have a tree frog and she has quite a bit of an appetite. She goes through these little fruit flies like candy and of course it's costing me an arm and a leg to buy flies from the pet shop. Thanks so much!!!
Gonna use this recipe to continue a store bought ff culture for my jumping spider slings 😁 Thank you so much! It was difficult to find a truly homemade recipe. Others used ff food powder that I'm not going to waste my money on.
I found something really useful out. I kept having mould issues unless i added excess vinegar (and then it stank!). But looking at other guides they all suggested bakers yeast would solve mould. However only a few said how to actually use the yeast correctly. Do the same mix here (its perfect). Then in another cup add warm water (not boiling!) a little sugar and a teaspoon of bakers yeast. Give it a stir and let it sit for 20mins. Come back and take a teaspoon of the liquid and just put it on the top of this mix once its all made up. Dont mix it in, just drop it over the top. This will stop mould :)
Thanks! I needed an easy source of food for my emerging ant colonies and fruit flies seem to be the best option for me. Thanks for using every day materials and not all the stuff the “pros” use, it makes it much easier to breed them.
From Texas: Thanks for this video. Trying to relocate a mantid whose in a not so good state. I will buy a cukture to get started but propagate with this method. You rock!!!
Thank you so much! I've been researching keeping dart frogs for about a month now because I'm planning on getting some and was intimidated mostly by the culturing of their flies. This was a simple and easy break down of the process and gave me the confidence to say "I can do that!". Thank you.
Hey been a year now. I'm THIS CLOSE to bringing in my giant aquarium, cleaning it, and starting my own dart frog habitat. Did you go through with it? Whatcha think?
Thank you so very much for taking the time and everything to create this video and teach how to do this. I just set one up myself with fruit flies I already have who need a larger dwelling area. I have a jumping spider and two orb weavers. 😃👍
@@patrickmcleod111 I don't use them so I don't know much of them but I however do know there a good live food culture for fish as I also do my own live cultures like mosquito larva
You're so right that so many people overcomplicate this. These things literally pop up anywhere there's rotten fruit, so it doesn't take a degree in biochemistry to get them breeding. Just an old banana.
This works amazingly. It's been about a month now and absolutely no issues. Reproduction rate doesn't seem to be quite as high as my store bought culture (which grew mold after only two weeks...) but that's okay as I don't really need that many. Thanks for this, everything else needed so many complicated ingredients but this I can quickly whip up in my kitchen without even needing to buy anything.
You have to buy the starter wingless flies from somewhere. Sometimes Petco will have them. Find one of the reptile shows that travel around. Always find them there. That is where I get them.
Hi David, I am from India where the initial culture to start with is not available so could you do a video of how to create live food without any starters for my fish. I got infusoria culture successfully after seeing your video. In our country live feed is not available. Kindly help.
I just bought some at PetCo. In a tiny plastic container. There are a lot of dead ones in here. I think they suffocated. I'm gonna move them into a big jar like this.
Thank you! I just wanted some fruit flies for my beta they love them. All these other people on youtube are like buy this and this and this fly blah blah. I just had my first baby 6 months ago i definitely have bananas and an abundance of baby cereal so thank you! Sadly the reason people like plastic more is because usually they cant be bothered to wash out a glass container or its cheeper to ship. (If they are shipping)
I buy swamp cooler pads for cheap at Home Depot , they are loaded with excelsior I got good results .. I tried your recipe it’s awesome and simple it works for my frog and save me money…thank you .. Happy Holidays
I whole heartedly agreee Bananas just before ripe or bang on ripe tastes completely different and awesome love them like that, when they go over ripe pappy i call it they taste i can only discribe as chemically obviously a reaction of some kind and whatever it is i cant stand them like this Yessss just before ripe nice and firm "WOW" perfect
Ohhhhh thank you for this!! I love your videos. So easy to follow! If I don’t have the fruit flies yet how do I grow them? I have a baby house gecko to feed and he’s too small for anything else. Help please!
You will need to get the first fruit flies from someone. You want the ones that can not fly, preferably wingless. Usually can be found at a Petco or a independent pet shop that has frogs and reptiles.
I ordered some off Amazon. I’m hoping they are alive when they get here. Thank you so much. I wasn’t sure what I should do or if I could culture my own. I appreciate the help!
05:10 Mold? I thought if it went moldy it was bad. I'm thinking of culturing some for my ghost mantis (so they don't eat a LOT) since they need clean food & it's spendy to buy a culture every 2-3 weeks at the pet shop, just to make sure they aren't eating their own fecal matter thus becoming toxic to my mantis. How often do you 'change bedding' for your cultures?
A couple of weeks and it is time to get a new one going. I want them to overlap so there is no break. When there are really a lot of flies it is time. A lot of flies means the media is really getting covered in fly poop and that is where the problems will start. So I keep them moving.
@@djrramsey Heading to Hobby Lobby tomorrow for some wood wool! Already got me a jar & fixins for food! Quick question: how do you dispose of the leftover flies you may not trust to be clean enough for feeders?
You can reuse those plastic tubs. I either leave them to dry completely or freeze them and sometimes you can just tap them hard and must of it comes out in one clump. Stick a bit of bleach and liquid soap and fill them up with hot water. Leave them to soak for while and empty contents in the toilet, rinse and repeat etc. I hate wasting plastic too and it's actually easier than you'd think to reuse these. 😊
@@Tismesue not sure what that means but I'm not just making it up. Most plastic is not recyclable and wastes more energy to recycle than make. If you want to be environmentally friendly use glass.
@@earlspencer7863 I'm cleaning them and reusing so they don't have to be recycled or go to landfill after each use. You come across as a little confused tbh. Your second comment seems to be at complete odds with your first. The memo I was talking about was referring to landfills being a huge problem hence why I reuse instead of adding to the problem.
Great video! I've got several egg-sacs due over the next few weeks and am looking at other sources of feed, as my mealworm farms are stretched to the limit. Been a great help, Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for making me feel better about that banana I wish I had eaten ahaha :P And the video was really helpful for preserving my spider baby food thank you :)
Thanks for this info. I was looking to find how to start from scratch. I put out a couple of nana peels in a jar in the sun - instant colony. My question though, if you want to feed them to a pet, how do you safely pull a few out of your jar?
@@djrramsey Brilliant, thank you, until I get my hands a flightless colony to expand on. I was also considering an aspirator, which I've experimented with. Love the refrigerator idea though.
@@fredknox9406 I've got the bulb syringes from having a baby at the hospital I'm thinking that's what you mean by aspirator? If not what do you mean by that and if so does that work ok? Suck em up and puff them out with a squeeze?
Thanks a lot! And also, I resently started another culture following your recipe, I have about 7 cultures made by following your recipe, but this eighth one is starting to mold! Should I be worried? Is there anything I could do to help them? Please reply! (And it's okay if they don't have another option. Thanks in advance!) (And one thing I changed with this culture is I used cardboard for the walking ground instead of excelsior or anything else) please help me! Thanks a TON!!!
@@jl-wf4jq Several people have told me to use the cardboard from egg cartons. That increased the mold for me. So I would take some of the cardboard and microwave it to help sterilize it. That helped. The vinegar is used to change the pH and discourage the mold. Other than using chemicals that you don't want to use, if it molds, I would make another one.
I have some larvae, which I'm fairly certain are a common fruit fly, but I want to confirm. Would this work for raising them to adulthood from larvae, so I can accurately ID them?
Funny banana peel and background looks like a bird on a piece of paper awesome video though very knowledgeable I keep fruit flies for my two little spiders
I followed this process. I added the apple cider vinegar and also threw in some cinnamon to help avoid fungus. I thought the vinegar and cinnamon were supposed to prevent mold. After a few days I had a film of mold on the top of this mush at the bottom of the jar. Maybe I didn’t use enough vinegar?
So, could I do a live gnat/fruit fly trap, and then move them into this culture? I don't mind that they fly, in fact my mantis prefers they do. Apparently putting them in the freezer for a couple minutes slows them down enough that they shouldn't be able to escape during feeding. I just found a nymph today, L1 I'd say, and it's my first time raising a mantis. I definitely wasn't prepared, I found it right at sunset, but I'm going to set up a gnat trap tomorrow and try to get it's food supply started. I'm really excited! I think they're so cool. Can't tell if it's a male or female yet, but I'd really love to have a female.
Sure that would work. We always have a problem with them around the compost if I do not keep any veggies covered over. They really like cantaloupe rinds if that helps.
A little trick to sexing a mantis: Their little butt area? It's segmented. 6 sections denotes female 8 sections denotes male. Sometimes you have to wait for them to molt a couple times for them to get large enough to accurately count the segments. edit: and since this comment was 2 months ago...how is the lil guy doing?!
I’d like to know how you got the fruit flys to start the process in the first place, ie did you trap some first to lay there eggs then keep them going with the fly culture. .?
The fruit flies you can easily trap can fly. Real problem. These are a wingless bred strain. Here in the USA they can be purchased in Petco and other pet shops for frog and other critter food. I got mine at a reptile show.
Hloo....m also doing research on culturing fruit fly bactrocera dorsalis....during research m facing problem of hatching of larvae from eggs....cn u pls help me why dis problem arises
Could someone help me? --- I have tried to do this (with another basic recipe on TH-cam), and I had heaps of white worms come up the side of the container, and also on plastic scrap 'filler' in the middle . But they were quite small, about half the size of the shop culture worms. They eventually died and went brown, and there are no pupa, so something is wrong. The original flies are still alive in there, and the bottom mix looks fine, with no mold or darkening...The top is ventilated nicely, and temperature has always been moderate. No sunlight, just room lighting. Thanks!
@@matthewbeasley2869 They're definitely little brown curly dead worms...I've bought quite a few healthy cultures from pet shops ,and watched all the big healthy white worms turn into pupae and later hatch out. The pupae go 'clear' instead of brown, once empty. I might have used too much cinnamon as it smells strongly of it..! The poor wee worms might have fled up the side as soon as they were able to...?
+georg cantor I got a jar, and I decided to use a recently used styrofoam cup and plate that I cleaned. I cut the cup and plate into strips and put them in the jar. I used your formula for the culture, and the wingless fruit flies seem to be happy as clams so far. :D
A culture of mine is doing something I wasn't expecting. The flies seem lethargic. I am feeding them to praying mantids and a surprising number of mantids are dying. Could the 2 problems be related?
@@GrowAndEatThis Now, my fruit flies are dying. I have 5 Melanogaster and 2 Hydei cultures and they've all crashed. I keep them close to each other. Could the same thing be killing them all? I don't see any mites. I used Repashy. Could I have done something wrong with that? I keep them at room temperature, which is 81 degrees. Is that too hot? Could air freshener kill them?
@@tomrobertson6747 You are definitely getting an outside pollutant that is doing the damage. Probably something in the air. I have fed my fish Repashy for years. I know the guy that owns it. A trustworthy product. Is spraying the air freshener near the cultures something new? Or any pesticide spray for bugs, even around the walls will get it in the air. This can be really tough to figure out. Trial and error replacements and removal of things.
That is probably just from the oxygen in the air on the banana. Remember this has basically no preservatives or color enhancers. Like a sliced apple will turn brown from the air.
You can add Calcium propanoate to the medium too to inhibit mold and add calcium to the flies. It's the same stuff they add in grocery store bread. You can buy it off amazon.
Can I feed them to my spider? He's a small boy that I caught in my house that I fell in love with and would feed fruit flies around my house but its cold now so I don't have flies but i want to feed my spider.
Hi ! i make fruit fly media the same you ! but there was a trouble ! there was fungus on a top media ! , in Vietnam i cant buy mashed pơtato in store, so i bought fresh potato , boil them , and mash ! i want to ask you about fungus ! is it ok ? thanks Sir
You do not want the fungus. Try adding a little more vinegar to change the pH away from the pH that the fungus wants. Maybe boil the potato mash to be sure no fungus remains on the potatoes.
I love sweet old men on youtube who explain how to do things. You're all my honorary uncles.
I love ageist idiots with meaningless usernames. You're very likely not sentient but I'm bored so here's a reply.
Bought a culture from Josh's Frogs, and used this method to continue the culture. Cut the paper strips super thin, doubled the recipe, and used cheesecloth for the top. Worked perfectly, culture is thriving, and saves a lot $$$ when raising baby mantids! Thanks so much!!!
Thank you. I don't need enough fruit flies to justify buying the bags of stuff everyone sells. This is much more in my budget.
This is my kind of way to do things. I learned a TON. I am feeding baby praying mantis. Thank you so very much!!
You weren't kidding about easy. I didn't have to buy a thing, just substituted rice vinegar because that's what I had on hand. I've made this culture a few times now and even after leaving the tub completely alone while away for a week I've got over 50 flies living and lots of larva still going, no mold ever. Thank you for this video. My mantises grew very quickly thanks to the easy abundance of cheap home-bred fruit flies, and I've got 2 more mantis nymphs on their way who will benefit from your system.
"Everybody has a banana they wished they had eaten." #Truth
@Matt Hill same I thought I was the only one
❤️ this is exactly what I needed I have a tree frog and she has quite a bit of an appetite. She goes through these little fruit flies like candy and of course it's costing me an arm and a leg to buy flies from the pet shop.
Thanks so much!!!
Gonna use this recipe to continue a store bought ff culture for my jumping spider slings 😁 Thank you so much! It was difficult to find a truly homemade recipe. Others used ff food powder that I'm not going to waste my money on.
7 years lady. This is still a fantastic video. I was going to buy more deli cups. But i have several mason jars i can use and olenty of cheese cloth.
I found something really useful out. I kept having mould issues unless i added excess vinegar (and then it stank!). But looking at other guides they all suggested bakers yeast would solve mould. However only a few said how to actually use the yeast correctly. Do the same mix here (its perfect). Then in another cup add warm water (not boiling!) a little sugar and a teaspoon of bakers yeast. Give it a stir and let it sit for 20mins. Come back and take a teaspoon of the liquid and just put it on the top of this mix once its all made up. Dont mix it in, just drop it over the top. This will stop mould :)
Great tip for everyone with mold problems. Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks! I needed an easy source of food for my emerging ant colonies and fruit flies seem to be the best option for me. Thanks for using every day materials and not all the stuff the “pros” use, it makes it much easier to breed them.
LordMightyTrousers ikr
From Texas: Thanks for this video. Trying to relocate a mantid whose in a not so good state. I will buy a cukture to get started but propagate with this method. You rock!!!
Thank you so much! I've been researching keeping dart frogs for about a month now because I'm planning on getting some and was intimidated mostly by the culturing of their flies. This was a simple and easy break down of the process and gave me the confidence to say "I can do that!". Thank you.
Hey been a year now. I'm THIS CLOSE to bringing in my giant aquarium, cleaning it, and starting my own dart frog habitat. Did you go through with it? Whatcha think?
Just do it make sure to make a glass lid with 3 inch ventilation or so@@jasonxhx7854
Take your time
I love how his dog is just chilling under the table waiting for ANYTHING to fall so he can snatch it lol.
Thank you so very much for taking the time and everything to create this video and teach how to do this. I just set one up myself with fruit flies I already have who need a larger dwelling area. I have a jumping spider and two orb weavers. 😃👍
Did you use paper like him? Is it regular paper? I have 2 jumping spider slings as well.
crushed up nanna
oatmeal or dry potato flakes
pinch of yeast
teaspoon of apple cider vinagar
right?
No the vinegar is for vinegar eels not the fruit flys
@@cuddleshobbies6642 what in God's name are vinegar eels?? Lol
@@patrickmcleod111 its basicly a small worm it's for a fish food farm live food
@@patrickmcleod111 I don't use them so I don't know much of them but I however do know there a good live food culture for fish as I also do my own live cultures like mosquito larva
The vinegar is for the fruit flies, helps with mould. He said just half teaspoon. :)
You're so right that so many people overcomplicate this. These things literally pop up anywhere there's rotten fruit, so it doesn't take a degree in biochemistry to get them breeding. Just an old banana.
Old video but thanks very much! I'm in need of a quick, non-professional/expensive DIY and your tutorial is very useful. :)
LOVE the dog under the table! Great video.
This works amazingly. It's been about a month now and absolutely no issues. Reproduction rate doesn't seem to be quite as high as my store bought culture (which grew mold after only two weeks...) but that's okay as I don't really need that many. Thanks for this, everything else needed so many complicated ingredients but this I can quickly whip up in my kitchen without even needing to buy anything.
If it gets enough airflow it usually won't mold and you can mix something packed with starch and anything fruity and it will work every time
Just tried this with dry lentils instead of potatoe flakes. Hopefully it works
You have to buy the starter wingless flies from somewhere. Sometimes
Petco will have them. Find one of the reptile shows that travel around.
Always find them there. That is where I get them.
David Ramsey petsmarts usually have the small vials by the crickets.
Hi David, I am from India where the initial culture to start with is not available so could you do a video of how to create live food without any starters for my fish. I got infusoria culture successfully after seeing your video. In our country live feed is not available. Kindly help.
Karthik Muralitharan you can try to find them from science supply stores or laboratory. The wingless fruit flies are used in biology a lot.
I just bought some at PetCo. In a tiny plastic container. There are a lot of dead ones in here. I think they suffocated. I'm gonna move them into a big jar like this.
1:20
"everybody's got a banana they wish they'd eaten." 😂
Thank you! I just wanted some fruit flies for my beta they love them. All these other people on youtube are like buy this and this and this fly blah blah. I just had my first baby 6 months ago i definitely have bananas and an abundance of baby cereal so thank you! Sadly the reason people like plastic more is because usually they cant be bothered to wash out a glass container or its cheeper to ship. (If they are shipping)
I buy swamp cooler pads for cheap at Home Depot , they are loaded with excelsior I got good results .. I tried your recipe it’s awesome and simple it works for my frog and save me money…thank you .. Happy Holidays
This was awesome! I will remember to “step lively!” Thank you mister!
nice video, I will be using your technique with the first flies I got from the pet store to grow more. thanks!
Love this video and the way you explain things 😊
Excellent love it, No Bullshit. Straight to the point.
I whole heartedly agreee
Bananas just before ripe or bang on ripe tastes completely different and awesome love them like that,
when they go over ripe pappy i call it they taste i can only discribe as chemically obviously a reaction of some kind and whatever it is i cant stand them like this
Yessss just before ripe nice and firm "WOW" perfect
Thanks brother! I love your live feed videos.
thanks a lot for the video. it worked great without any mold issues. was having mold with ones bought
So finally! I can make fruitfly culture successfully! Thanks special your help !
that dog is really hoping and wishing that something gets dropped(besides wood).
Finally doing this today! Took FOREVER to find yeast. It's sold out everywhere I go. Lots of baking during quarantine lol?
The yeast can be omitted but the culture may not function as well.
I was thinking about crunching up a snack cracker and adding that to the mixture?
This really makes it so easy! Thanks for posting this video!
Dave, are you still using this same mix? Have you changed any ingredients? LOVE your videos!
Same mix. Just too easy to mess with making changes. Use egg cardboard for them to climb around on.
@@GrowAndEatThis Oh! I never thought about egg cardboard! And I have TONs for our dubia. Thanks! Keep up the great work.
you make this look so easy. thank you!!
You have a cute dog there sir, and thanks for the info. Going to make one of these for my baby jumping spider xD
Ohhhhh thank you for this!! I love your videos. So easy to follow! If I don’t have the fruit flies yet how do I grow them? I have a baby house gecko to feed and he’s too small for anything else. Help please!
You will need to get the first fruit flies from someone. You want the ones that can not fly, preferably wingless. Usually can be found at a Petco or a independent pet shop that has frogs and reptiles.
I ordered some off Amazon. I’m hoping they are alive when they get here. Thank you so much. I wasn’t sure what I should do or if I could culture my own. I appreciate the help!
05:10 Mold? I thought if it went moldy it was bad.
I'm thinking of culturing some for my ghost mantis (so they don't eat a LOT) since they need clean food & it's spendy to buy a culture every 2-3 weeks at the pet shop, just to make sure they aren't eating their own fecal matter thus becoming toxic to my mantis. How often do you 'change bedding' for your cultures?
A couple of weeks and it is time to get a new one going. I want them to overlap so there is no break. When there are really a lot of flies it is time. A lot of flies means the media is really getting covered in fly poop and that is where the problems will start. So I keep them moving.
@@djrramsey Heading to Hobby Lobby tomorrow for some wood wool! Already got me a jar & fixins for food!
Quick question: how do you dispose of the leftover flies you may not trust to be clean enough for feeders?
This is a fantastic video! ❤
You can reuse those plastic tubs.
I either leave them to dry completely or freeze them and sometimes you can just tap them hard and must of it comes out in one clump.
Stick a bit of bleach and liquid soap and fill them up with hot water. Leave them to soak for while and empty contents in the toilet, rinse and repeat etc.
I hate wasting plastic too and it's actually easier than you'd think to reuse these. 😊
You're wasting more energy cleaning it than to make a new one. Landfill space is plentiful.
@@earlspencer7863
Look out for an oversized memo you should have received quite some time ago... 😉
@@Tismesue not sure what that means but I'm not just making it up. Most plastic is not recyclable and wastes more energy to recycle than make. If you want to be environmentally friendly use glass.
@@earlspencer7863
I'm cleaning them and reusing so they don't have to be recycled or go to landfill after each use.
You come across as a little confused tbh.
Your second comment seems to be at complete odds with your first.
The memo I was talking about was referring to landfills being a huge problem hence why I reuse instead of adding to the problem.
With you on this sue, I've been reusing my 4-5 plastic tubs for months no problem!
Great video! I've got several egg-sacs due over the next few weeks and am looking at other sources of feed, as my mealworm farms are stretched to the limit. Been a great help, Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for making this video it helps me a lot. I have fruit flies because I have poison dart frogs.
Thanks for making me feel better about that banana I wish I had eaten ahaha :P And the video was really helpful for preserving my spider baby food thank you :)
Great video yet again! I really enjoy watching your live food culture video's, Keep them coming :)
Thanks, brother. Going to use your method.
Awesome, just spotted the dog under the table
thank you for this video very helpful and you are a great man!
Love it Dude! I keep ants and they love these buggers!
@@anon63747 Solenopsis would shred anything lol
I can use regular vinegar instead of apple cider to prevent from growing of mold in the culture media?
Regular vinegar is still acidic so should work
I might just give this a try. Getting fruit flies from the pet shop is a pain sometime.
Thanks for this info. I was looking to find how to start from scratch. I put out a couple of nana peels in a jar in the sun - instant colony. My question though, if you want to feed them to a pet, how do you safely pull a few out of your jar?
Put the jar in the refrigerator. The cold slows them down. Then they can be shaken out for the fish to eat. Floating plants messes it all up.
@@djrramsey Brilliant, thank you, until I get my hands a flightless colony to expand on. I was also considering an aspirator, which I've experimented with. Love the refrigerator idea though.
@@fredknox9406 I've got the bulb syringes from having a baby at the hospital I'm thinking that's what you mean by aspirator? If not what do you mean by that and if so does that work ok? Suck em up and puff them out with a squeeze?
@@fredknox9406 Thank you!!!!
Love the simplicity.
So do you need to water the cultures? (With anything?)
I did not water any. The mashed up banana provided enough moisture.
Thanks a lot! And also, I resently started another culture following your recipe, I have about 7 cultures made by following your recipe, but this eighth one is starting to mold! Should I be worried? Is there anything I could do to help them? Please reply! (And it's okay if they don't have another option. Thanks in advance!) (And one thing I changed with this culture is I used cardboard for the walking ground instead of excelsior or anything else) please help me! Thanks a TON!!!
@@jl-wf4jq Several people have told me to use the cardboard from egg cartons. That increased the mold for me. So I would take some of the cardboard and microwave it to help sterilize it. That helped. The vinegar is used to change the pH and discourage the mold. Other than using chemicals that you don't want to use, if it molds, I would make another one.
My fruit fly culture is like an infestation inside their jar, there are sooo many! I'm definitely gonna try this!
What these yeasts for? Thx for video.
Just came across this video. was wondering how or where you made up the starter culture?
had a couple of escapees haha....can you do a fish room tour? would love to see what you are keeping at the moment
I have some larvae, which I'm fairly certain are a common fruit fly, but I want to confirm. Would this work for raising them to adulthood from larvae, so I can accurately ID them?
This will work with any fruit fly type.
Funny banana peel and background looks like a bird on a piece of paper awesome video though very knowledgeable I keep fruit flies for my two little spiders
I followed this process. I added the apple cider vinegar and also threw in some cinnamon to help avoid fungus. I thought the vinegar and cinnamon were supposed to prevent mold. After a few days I had a film of mold on the top of this mush at the bottom of the jar. Maybe I didn’t use enough vinegar?
Be sure the jar is super clean. Could have been a little too wet also. I have patted the banana with a paper towel after mashing to dry it a little.
if the fruit fly culture grow a moldy will make the fly die?
If it starts to mold start up a new culture. As the mold grows it will keep the flies from reproducing and growing.
So, could I do a live gnat/fruit fly trap, and then move them into this culture? I don't mind that they fly, in fact my mantis prefers they do. Apparently putting them in the freezer for a couple minutes slows them down enough that they shouldn't be able to escape during feeding.
I just found a nymph today, L1 I'd say, and it's my first time raising a mantis. I definitely wasn't prepared, I found it right at sunset, but I'm going to set up a gnat trap tomorrow and try to get it's food supply started. I'm really excited! I think they're so cool. Can't tell if it's a male or female yet, but I'd really love to have a female.
Sure that would work. We always have a problem with them around the compost if I do not keep any veggies covered over. They really like cantaloupe rinds if that helps.
A little trick to sexing a mantis:
Their little butt area? It's segmented.
6 sections denotes female
8 sections denotes male.
Sometimes you have to wait for them to molt a couple times for them to get large enough to accurately count the segments.
edit: and since this comment was 2 months ago...how is the lil guy doing?!
@@shotgunbettygaming id love an update as well on the mantis. I am here cuz I'm breeding regal jumping spiders.
I’d like to know how you got the fruit flys to start the process in the first place, ie did you trap some first to lay there eggs then keep them going with the fly culture. .?
The fruit flies you can easily trap can fly. Real problem. These are a wingless bred strain. Here in the USA they can be purchased in Petco and other pet shops for frog and other critter food. I got mine at a reptile show.
what about using sprouts?
10:36 "and then you can feed them to anybody"
wait..what?
any fish, frogs or other reptiles that will eat fruit flies. Not people.
Gonna try it soon i have fruit flies for my sling tarantulas got 4 of them and 2 adults but the adults won't eat lol
Thanks, gonna us this to feed me praying mantis, mantis
I do same for my mantis
@@wjmofficial its so small , the mantis can catch it? might as well breed dubia roaches
This is a big help thank you
6:42 don't forget the high mixing movement! :)
I love bananas that are mostly green in color.
oh ya how do you feed the fish the flies that fly???🤔
Thanks for sharing really helped!
Excelsor sucks, I use cheap coffee filters and they work like a charm.
Hloo....m also doing research on culturing fruit fly bactrocera dorsalis....during research m facing problem of hatching of larvae from eggs....cn u pls help me why dis problem arises
Hi ! Do they need to spray water everday ? And can they live in 30 c degree ? How about temparatureb?
I watch carefully for signs of drying out before spraying. Too much moisture encourages mold to grow. Not what we want.
So no need to boil water for the instant potatoes?
I have never boiled the water. Might mix up faster but not a problem for me.
How long does it take for this to start producing more fruit flies?
once the females start laying eggs, you will have fruit flies in 1-3 weeks depending on the temperatures.
The banana being smushed was like asmr
Could someone help me? --- I have tried to do this (with another basic recipe on TH-cam), and I had heaps of white worms come up the side of the container, and also on plastic scrap 'filler' in the middle . But they were quite small, about half the size of the shop culture worms. They eventually died and went brown, and there are no pupa, so something is wrong. The original flies are still alive in there, and the bottom mix looks fine, with no mold or darkening...The top is ventilated nicely, and temperature has always been moderate. No sunlight, just room lighting. Thanks!
Are you sure they died & you aren't seeing newly hatched flys & the brown things are their little pupa casings? Or the old dead flys?
@@matthewbeasley2869 They're definitely little brown curly dead worms...I've bought quite a few healthy cultures from pet shops ,and watched all the big healthy white worms turn into pupae and later hatch out. The pupae go 'clear' instead of brown, once empty. I might have used too much cinnamon as it smells strongly of it..! The poor wee worms might have fled up the side as soon as they were able to...?
I wonder if you could use the shredded paper from the paper shredder...
+georg cantor I tried using shredded paper. The moisture made it all collapse and smother everything. Cardboard will hold up though.
David Ramsey
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience! Great video! :D
+georg cantor I got a jar, and I decided to use a recently used styrofoam cup and plate that I cleaned. I cut the cup and plate into strips and put them in the jar. I used your formula for the culture, and the wingless fruit flies seem to be happy as clams so far. :D
Hello! I'm from the Philippines, and instant mashed potatoes aren't really available in our stores. Are there any alternatives I can use?
Use regular potatoes. Sweet potatoes should work also
A culture of mine is doing something I wasn't expecting. The flies seem lethargic. I am feeding them to praying mantids and a surprising number of mantids are dying. Could the 2 problems be related?
Do you have mold in the cultures? Maybe need to start fresh ones? No idea. Only time my fruit flies are lethargic is if they are cold.
@@GrowAndEatThis No, I don't see any mold.
@@tomrobertson6747 don't know of anything that would be a problem with the food.,
@@GrowAndEatThis Now, my fruit flies are dying. I have 5 Melanogaster and 2 Hydei cultures and they've all crashed. I keep them close to each other. Could the same thing be killing them all? I don't see any mites. I used Repashy. Could I have done something wrong with that? I keep them at room temperature, which is 81 degrees. Is that too hot? Could air freshener kill them?
@@tomrobertson6747 You are definitely getting an outside pollutant that is doing the damage. Probably something in the air. I have fed my fish Repashy for years. I know the guy that owns it. A trustworthy product. Is spraying the air freshener near the cultures something new? Or any pesticide spray for bugs, even around the walls will get it in the air. This can be really tough to figure out. Trial and error replacements and removal of things.
So helpful thanks so much 🤗
Great video it really helped me👍🏻
I have tried 4 different commercial fruit fly food methods, none have worked as well as this.
Thank you very much. I only need small amounts and the commercial is always a big bag.
Anyone know if I could use Spanish moss instead of paper, coffee filters, excelcier etc? I've got a huge bag of it and it seems like it would work??
Mites? i always get them in my cultures.
I used your recipe and it's producing flies, but the top layer turned a grayish brown. Is that normal??? Thank you for the recipe 😊
That is probably just from the oxygen in the air on the banana. Remember this has basically no preservatives or color enhancers. Like a sliced apple will turn brown from the air.
Is the yeast a must?
I think it is required. Might get some out of the air. But really, a little packet of baking yeast will last for a long time and cost very little.
Aight thanks
Glad I subscribed your channel 👍🏻
Will quick yeast work or do you need the dry kind?
I use the yeast that comes in the little packets or small baby food size jars.
You can add Calcium propanoate to the medium too to inhibit mold and add calcium to the flies. It's the same stuff they add in grocery store bread. You can buy it off amazon.
What's the difference between that and the calcium powder sold to sprinkle on insects you feed your inverts and such?
@@rebelicious4076 that’s calcium carbonate
Whats the reason for using yeast ?
I think that is what the fruit flies actually eat.
Can I feed them to my spider? He's a small boy that I caught in my house that I fell in love with and would feed fruit flies around my house but its cold now so I don't have flies but i want to feed my spider.
yeah you can, I found a spider as well and he loves them fly's
@@MrMrPopols can confirm my spider gobbles them up:)
Hi ! i make fruit fly media the same you ! but there was a trouble ! there was fungus on a top media ! , in Vietnam i cant buy mashed pơtato in store, so i bought fresh potato , boil them , and mash ! i want to ask you about fungus ! is it ok ? thanks Sir
You do not want the fungus. Try adding a little more vinegar to change the pH away from the pH that the fungus wants. Maybe boil the potato mash to be sure no fungus remains on the potatoes.
I add soft strawberries and soft bananas to my cultures to keep them going longer.
I did everything like you did and my turn black in a couple of hrs
2:19
My dad likes them the same way.
I've never tried them that way because I want to save them all for my dad.
Is it okay even when u dont add yeast?
I really do not know. Try and see. Maybe you can get some wild yeast settle in from the air to cover for you.
@@djrramsey thanksss