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I think a general discussion would be beneficial.
I saw a recent post and did not want to hijack so any others input is welcome.
All ffy's are "flightless" (unless mixed with other species of Mel's then you will have fliers) the Mel's I use are Turkish gliders and wingless. The Turkish gliders are quite a bit more "jumpy" than the wingless (no wings obviously), I will say (for me) they do produce more ffy's per culture in the long run than the wingless but my wingless cultures bloom faster. I feed all my frogs Mel's even my terribs and BYH they do fine. I have found the hydei to be a pain and culture slower but if you have the patience they are fine but will climb and escape IMO more than Mel's.
-Beth
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Gliders are also far better at escaping vivs than wingless mels, at least for me...
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Wingless- Poor production compared to others, but feed them to newly morphed froglets.
Turkish Gliders- Very good production and get fed out to older froglets and adults.
Hydei- Excellent production and are my "go to" fly for keeping my larger Tincs well fed.
FF larvae- Used up to 3 times a month.
Glenn
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Glenn,
For me the wingless boom at first then trickle off. The TG boom longer, I feed both to all my pums including juvies. You'd be surprised how fast they can eat ffy's .
With your large tinc collection I agree that hydei are a necessity, I just have the terribs, Auratus and BYH they have been fine on Mel's (just feed more mels to them).
-Beth
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Worth mentioning....Hydei come in 2 different flavours. Regular - the 'black' guys, and more of a brown, regular looking FF - the 'golden delicious' , i think.
I think i remember Jeremy H. saying those 'brown' hydei culture much better.
I never had great luck with the larger black H. I stick to melas.
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I was culturing Black and Golden Hydei together (They came that way) and eventually the Goldens disappeared. Recessive gene?
I culture between 75 and 78 in the summer months with 55-60% + humidity in the room. I never let the humidity go below 55% all year round or 72 ish F.
Glenn
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I culture both hydei and golden separately. The golden seem to be more steady for me in production. The regular hydei are feast or famine - sometimes they are just astounding as to the volume of flies they produce for me. My goldens are a bit smaller, as Beth said.
I keep the flies in the utility room where the temps are in the high 70's. The humidity is higher downstairs where the cultures are - 50% to 60%. We have a dehumidifier upstairs and it's set to 50% so it's pretty steady. I seem to lose hydei cultures within the first two weeks after making them over the summer. I may button up the cultures a bit - I keep them in large plastic containers lined with mite paper - I have vented tops for the container, so I may cover them more tightly and see if that helps. I guess I have a new location for my next data logger project :lol:. Maybe I'll up the water content a bit more and try that out too...fly chowder.