Dart Den

Okay, THANKS everyone!
Fran

its much much cheaper to culture your own flys. i find that once you get the hang of culturing flys you save 5 times as much because one 11 dollar bag of media can make 50 to 60 cultures instead of getting cultures iv seen small tubes for 12 dollars and the bigger ones for 15 or having them shipped is even more. its better to get the media in bulk and its cheaper and make extra cultures in case some fail or a local frogger needs one. and its always better to over feed then under feed.

Culture your own flies. Less an issue of expense than having food independence for your frogs. Too risky - taking chances having to order shipped flies during times of extreme heat and cold or having shipping losses due to other reasons.

Jack

I also buy Josh's culturing kit and make my own. I have tried many other medias, but Josh's is the best !

Do you prefer beetles or fruit flies to feed to the PDF?

Fruit flies are easy to do. What kind of beetles are you referring to? I also culture springtails and tropical woodlice. The springtails multiply like crazy, but I don't know how much food they provide, since they are so small. They are good for the tank though. Fran

Stick to Fruit Flies over beetles. If you are referring to flour beetles only feed them the larva not the beetles.

2 items to keep in mind with fruit flies -
Make sure your Fruit Flies are very healthy (pumped up on brewer's yeast to maximize protein content)
Dust occasionally with good vitamin or calcium (rotate between the 2)

I actually rotate mine on Wingless D. Melanogaster, Flightless D. Hydei (the black ones) and Golden Flightless D. Hydei all from www.FlyCafe.net as they are always large and active compared to other sources. Plus they have stuff to make your own cultures with their ultimate media that is maxed out on brewer's yeast.

I get my springtails and flourbeetles from Joshsfrogs.com

Ditto Porkchop--even with the excelsior I get, I'm still running about $.38 a culture.

even with Excel....always use it....

I'm shooting for under .20 cents a culture.

Buy bulk baby....

If you are making your own cultures, is it better to use brand new ff containers each time or clean them out after each use. I've also heard that some people microwave their media before adding flies to try to kill any pests in them. How long do you microwave the media ?

Nuke the media for 2 mins....

Be careful not to nuke the plastic cups...some types melt pretty easily.

I use "just about boiling" water to add to my media mix.

and yes....it's at least 50% cheaper to make your own media, when you have it down pat and are able to locate bulk food stores and discount ingredients. More fun, actually too.

I would recommend that new hobbyists take 6 months or more and stick with with a premade media at first, then branch out into making it yourself.

Mad science = Fun !