escaping fruit flies from making new cultures

[phishingpete]

When transferring fruit flies from an old culture to a new one; how do you stop the fruit flies from escaping ? Am I missing something ? You just pour some of the old culture fruit flies in the new culture, right ?

Thanks,

Pete

[AceKing]

yeah, sometimes fruit flies just get out. You just learn to live with it. It is not that big of a deal unless your culturing fruit flies in your kitchen or something.

[pastorjosh]

A few tricks I have used:

1. pour over a top opening tank with the tanks lid up. Any flies that escape become food for the frogs.

2. Transfer over the sink. Wet the sink down first (I think they crawl less when the sink is wet, which is why I mist before feeding).

3. Take a cookie sheet and put enough water in it to cover the bottom. Set your new culture in the middle and pour into it. Any that escape will drown.

4. Learn to live with it and stop cleaning cob webs.

[DartFrog]

Yea, this is just part of it.

Spiders are your friends.

[phishingpete]

I am however transferring the fruit flies in the kitchen. It is the only place to do it in my apartment.

The spider thing is funny, that is the first thing I said to my girlfriend.

The water ideas are good I will try them.

Thankyou everyone for all your help.
Pete

[kleinhanz]

I use a funnel which is similar to what you would use to add oil to a car. Don't get the one with the long stem because it will not sit down into position onto a culture. Get one with a shorter stem. I use 32oz plastic containers, I set the funnel on top (the bottom does not come into contact with the media) and then I dump the FF's from the other culture into the funnel and down the "shoot" to the fresh culture. Give it a little bump to knock down any remaining flies and walla!!

[cornelius]

Fruit flies are a pain to keep from escaping, but I've found a pretty efficient way to feed them to my froglets as well as dust them with vitamins, without having many get out.

Gather these supplies:
- one quart mason jar
- one half pint mason jar
- two lid rings to fit the jars
- one coffee filter
- the finest plastic screen you can find
- tape


I culture the flies in the quart jars with a coffee filter on top and the ring holding it in place. As long as there are no rips it is very safe, and the flies cannot get out.
Then I taped two layers of fine screen to the inside of the second lid ring to fit on the small jar.

This is how it works:
I put calcuim or vitamin dust in the smaller jar and pour the flies from the big one to the small one over a sink. The slightly tapered neck allows you to get your hand around the opening to block most of the extra space. Once the flies are in the powder, I shake it lightly from side to side to coat them. Once they are coated, they can't jump very well at all. Then I put the lid with the screen in it on the jar and shake the powder out into another container. If your screen is fine enough, you are left with dusted flies in the jar. Turn it over and unscrew the lid over the cage and tap the flies in.

This is the best method I know. Good luck to you.

[Quaz]

wow! I've got to try that.

I've learned one leason doing this. "not all flightless fruit flies are FLIGHTLESS!"

I bought a starting culture from Petco and I made one more culture. when transferring the flies they started flying all over my office. I've found them clear on the other side of my house, buzzing all over my window and everything. errgh!!!

They are the little hopper flies with slightly developed wings that usually just flutter a bit. I actually want the bigger flies with the red eyes. they are darker in color too. Does anyone know what kind those are or where to get them ?

[Philsuma]

100% of fruit fly culturing is all repetition and resulting confidence. The more you do it, the more confident and "good at it", you will become.