Moldy FF cultures - What can I do ?

[cornelius]

My current fruit fly cultures have gone moldy. I also keep flour beetles as a food supply. Are the flies in the moldy cultures completely unusable, or can I use them to start a new culture safely ? I want to ensure that I do not make my little froggies sick.

There is a store in my area that sells fruit flies in small vials, however, they seem to take a longer than normal to establish a culture. My next chance to get a large culture of flies is about 12 days away.

Would it be unhealthy to feed the frogs flour beetle larva supplemented with a few flies from the vials here and there (assuming I dust my food with vitamins and calcium) until I can get a good culture, or should I be worried enough to chance shipping one express in the blazing summer heat ?

[Cindy Dicken]

Do not use the moldy cultures to set up new cultures, all you will do is transfer mold spores to the new cultures and the problem will perpetuate.

You can use the flies in those cultures to feed your frogs.
You will need to start with fresh fruit fly cultures in order to restart your culturing production .
Try to find someone in your area to get fruit flies from, it's really too hot to ship right now, this time of year. Some Petcos / Petsmarts carry small vials of fruit flies, you might check, and use the fresh flies to start your new cultures.
Worst comes to worst, you can order them but they will have to be shipped overnight.

[Philsuma]

Yep...Mold begets more Mold.

Mold / Bacteria can come from a multitude of things, but one thing is certain. If you have any amount in a given culture and use that culture to make new ones...you'll get Mold - 100%.

Mold can come from certain "bad" batches of excelsior - which is nothing more than wood shavings, but even they can attract and generate spores.

Some natural Mold inhibitors to add to your fruit fly media to help stop mold issues:

Vinegar
Cinnamon
Blueberries
Possibly Honey

The exact amount to add cannot really be stated. I would start by adding a teaspoon of any one of the above and then step back, assess and gauge if you want to add more or not.