Fruit fly cultures

[chris]

hi all,

how do you keep them and where do you get the fruitflies from? i'm thinking about getting a few going for the weavers so would like to know how and what's what

thanks for any advice

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

hi chris

all you need is a few ripe bananas and put them in a container then the little brown flies lay their eggs thats the start of your culture and it just needs leaving somewhere warm and then you will need a net of some kind if you dont want them all over the place but if you want them all over your birdroom just leave the net off the container

ken

[chris]

hi ken,

would it work if i were to place the culture in the aviary with a few holes in the lid for the flies to escape out of, but small enough to keep the birds out of the culture?

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

hi chris
that would be ideal because if you leave it in your birdroom and they can get out you will go in one day and find your bird room full of fruit flies,if you leave it in your aviary and put some netting on the top that will let them out and stop the birds from getting in that would be great.

ken

[dave85]

hey chris n kenny,

May also give that ago when i have my weavers :D

How much fruit do you need? and do you think the colder weather coming will stop breeding at all?

Or will i have to wait til nxt year?

Thanks
Dave H

[Waxbillman]

hello Dave

fruit flies will not breed if the temperature is too low, also feed them when throughout the breeding period. you can buy cultures from livefood companies or start your own with wild fruit flies.

matthew

[kenny]

hi dave

as matt says the weather has to be warm so the bananas are exposed to as much heat as possible,the smell from them is sometimes rank but they seem to like the smell a bit like maggots like dead meat,i was raking round the greenhouse last night as my fruit flies are a bit scarce at the moment so i found an old plant with some sciarid flies on it (compost flies) and if you gig just below the surface you will find some tiny little worms as long as you havent been feeding the plant i just take the old compost off the plant repot it and put the whole lot on the floor for my quail to have a rummage,you must have seen these matt working in a garden centre.

ken

[Waxbillman]

i have seen these many times Ken.

matthew

[kenny]

hi matt,

so how do they get there in the first place i know where they are and i know the name of them but where do they come from and why do they always get in the compost,

[Waxbillman]

hello Ken

well i thinks theres all eggs somewhere unless the area is sterilsed and, if there is rotting fruit about the flies are naturally attracted there, and want to breed.

matt

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

I use Wild Fruit Flies and the larger Flightless Fruit Flies that are available from Rob Harvey Specialist Foods, Peregrine Livefoods, Livefoods Direct etc, I use over ripe Bananas as the bulk of food for the Flies, but uneaten Fruit from the Softbills is also placed in the cultures.

I use large Ice-Cream and Margarine tubs with most of the lid cut out, I then fix a piece of 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch mesh over the cut out lid area, this allows the Flies to breed and a few will escape, but when I have chicks in the nests I remove the lids so the Adult Birds can access the Flies (and Magotts) easily.

The larger Flightless Fruit Flies are a far better meal for the Birds being double the size of the Wild ones and of course it is much easier for the Birds to catch their meal.:grin:

The Birds I have seen feed on Fruit Flies range from Orange Cheeked Waxbills up to Japanese Waxwings, I have noticed that the white (Urea) part of Seedeaters droppings turns a peach colour when they have been feeding on Fruit Flies.

If you heat your Birdroom over the Winter period you can keep your Cultures alive by covering the lid with a fine mesh to prevent the Flies escaping, and place the cultures near the heat source.

Also culures can be offered to Birds in cages, all you do is scale down the containers size to a small Butter or Margerine container.

Kenny,

I'm pleased you have mentioned the Compost Flies, I intend on using these as Livefood next year, we had a plaque of the things in the Conservatory one year, but I will place some trays/tubs of moist Peat in the aviaries next year with the hope of another free Livefood.:grin:

Paul.:wink:

[kenny]

hi paul

the compost flies seem to multiply more if you put something in the compost,i always buy fresh pineapple and i cut the top off and put it in the compost and usually the plant does not grow but the compost seems to get more flies in it and i usually have it in a shallow pot and sometimes there are little worm like things in the botom and a few eggs my quail like to have dig through the whole lot compost the works as long as you dont water the plant with any plant food there is no harm done i did this only yesterday and before i moved the plant i put the top half of a pair of tights over the plant otherwise you lose half the flies in moving it,

ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Kenny,

Great tip mate, I will try this out for next years breeding season, you never know I might start mine at the same time as everyone else.:lol:

Paul.:wink:

[chris]

Hi,

i've just started up a FF culture now, my question is how long do i need to leave it out for the wild FF to colonise it? i've seen a few landing on it, by that i mean 2 or 3 at most:lol: so it could take a while........

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

hi chris

i live in the north and i put some bananas out on saturday and already i already have loads of flies,just leave it out as those flies will lay their eggs on the fruit and they will just keep coming that is as long as you can stand the smell of rank bananas

ken

[chris]

Hi all,

the culture seems to be attracting loads of fruit flies, but there aren't any eggs, maggots or anything in the mix! i've started up another one right next to it, this one contains mashed banana, apple, damson, and some chick crumb to soak up the excess moisture. the previous culture contains apple and plum, with some oats added to soak up the moisture, however this seems to have gone to a mushy soup in places which i why i believe there are no eggs/maggots in there.

any advice on what i should/shouldn't be doing?

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

hi chris

just make sure that you put a mesh over it so the birds dont get access,if the stuff has turned to a watery mush i personally would dump it if you cannot see any signs of the flies reproducing,seeing as you have started a fresh one .ia am being cursed at the moment for talking about fruit flies as we have them in the houde round decent bananas in the fruit bowl.my wife thinks i have brought them in to the house

ken

[laurab]

Hi Kenny

I think the plums are what is turning your culture to mush:? They are predomately made up out of water. Try to stick with banana skins.

After leaving a manky banana in the garden and seeing how many flies it attracted, I have started to leave them in the aviary now, after all bananas nver go off (so I am told).

[kenny]

hi laura

thats what i was thinking the plums are to watery,bananas rapidly ripen any fruit that they are kept near the skins when dried make great fire starters something to do with the gas they give off

ken

[Waxbillman]

hello Chris, like what laura and ken says, bananas a perfectly fine, all you need to do is stand on them and leaves them in a bag or summut outside.

matthew

[chris]

Hi all,


i went and bought 1.5Kg of bananas yesterday and have got 3 cultures ready to go now. funny thing is the bananas don't seem to be attracting half as many Fruit Flies as the apple and plum mix does:?

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

hi chris

you could just do the apples and end up with some maggots aswell

ken

[chris]

Hi again,


i think i've got it now, there's hundreds of the things!:grin:

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

hi chris

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLL be SOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRY:grin: :grin:

ken