I bought a culture from a local pet store one time and they were a different kind of fly then they and other stores usually have.
Since my frogs are getting bigger and or hungrier I'd like to find out what these flies are called and where to get some. It'll probrably also benefit to have a varied diet.
Those are probably hydei. They are bigger than the melanogaster, take a while to culture. Melanos are ready in 2 weeks, they are closer to 4 (roughly). Bigger, a little tougher to culture, mainly due to mold and media.
Check out ED's flymeat, flyculture.com fruitflies.net or fruitflyspecialties.com
If you are looking for azureus, my friend is selling some. Post here or PM me and I can direct you to him if you are interested.
I've a lady at the Tulsa zoo that breeds and sells them. Thanks though.
Heya Quaz - I'm *REALLY* sorry about your auratus getting out. I had one of mine do a skydive the other day when I was feeding them. He seems to be doing well, thankfully... but I was still quite upset.
I am however very paraoid about switching my 2 to their 10 gallon - because they are very adventurous, and very small. Only about a month plus a few days really.
Is there any details you can give to help newbs like me avoid the pain you had to go through? How big an area, and how big was the frog? Really, I hate to have you recall the experience, but any info you can give might help save somebody a frog down the line. What would you have done different? (Was the top just not sealed for a while?)
(If you're interested, the friend I got my auratus from has a good stock churning out which I doubt he can sell all of locally. If you don't have a local inexpensive hook-up, I'd be happy to see what kind of deal I could cut for you.)
notice the hygrometer in the upper left corner. Too close to a small gap.
I see...
I'm really doubting I made a good decision having a background that isn't fixed to the back of the tank. I've got a few pieces of corkbark, removeable so I can get to the back to put water in for the mister, and get water out from the false bottom when it builds up too much. Behind that I have a layer of screen siliconed up the sides to prevent frogs from getting in the back.
I've upgraded the background after my puppy found a small lizard (common where I live) in my house. I figured the 3 inch lizard would enjoy the terrarium while my PDFs were too small for the 10 gallon. Well... the lizard found my design flaw, and the next morning I found him floating in the mister pool, where he wasn't supposed to be able to get to. I do not want to see that happen to my frogs...
Attention newbs... little critters can and will find your design flaws! Think those tanks through before adding animals. It really sucks finding dead pets!
sniffle, sniffle... my auratus, whom the bigger flies were for, found a gap in the top of the terrarium, jumped out and became frog jerky.