Best way to attract flies?

[Marc10edora]

Does anyone know the best way to attract flies outdoors? I was thinking of putting up some fruit in my outdoor chameleon cage to try and attract some flies. That way they would be gut-loaded and ready to eat while my cham is in the cage. But I'm not sure what fruits or veggies will attract the most flies. Any suggestions?

 

[desultadox]

I usually don't shower that often, so I have no trouble attracting flies.

 

[Syn]

As far as flies go, I'm not sure how quickly they can clean themselves out, but rotting fruit not only attracts flies, but some other nasties as well. Just get some clean flies from one of the site sponsors, I think Tiki Tiki just got some in.

 

[Miss Lily]

I usually don't shower that often, so I have no trouble attracting flies.

Ha ha!! That's funny!! I was going to suggest not washing for a few days then standing outside!! Ha ha, great minds think alike!

 

[Kent67]

Dog poop or spoiling meat? Not sure I'd want my guys eating them, though

.

 

[Malicious]

www.mantisplace.com has great feeder flies for sale at reasonable prices aswell. I would try not to feed wild caught insects unless I know what they have been consuming, and that they were parasite/bacteria free. The few dollars spent on flies is well worth the piece of mind it brings.

-Jay

 

[jannb]

Another cheap place to buy flies: http://spiderpharm.com/feeders/feeders.htm

Don't feed you cham flied from outside.......just asking for parasites.

 

[warpdrive]

I have to agree with Jay and Jann, just buy them online.

personaly, I just buy the pupa stage.
toss them all in a large container that has some paper towels (or toilet paper rolls) in them for them to not be too crouded together.

while most places just say to use powdered sugar/powdered milk, and wood chips soaked in water.
I personaly like to gutload them with a mix that I've made in the past.

1) soft boild egg
2) 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt
3) 1 tablespoon of honey
4) enough baby rice cereal to thicken it a bit. (I've been using kashi heart to heart cereal lately as it has plenty of vitamins and extracts that will help our chams better...I just crush it up into a powder first)

the yogurt will have tons of calcium. the egg is for some protien.
the honey is to make it tasty to the flys. the cereal is for added vitamins.

just put the flys into the fridge for 5 mins to keep them from flying.
then add a small amount of the gutload to the side of the container.
reclose the container fast, and in 10 mins or so, your flys will be gutloaded with something far more healthy then just sugar and dried milk.

no real need to offer water as they will get plenty of moisture from the gutload.
feed the left over gutload each day...should last about 4 or 5 days before it starts to go bad in the fridge.

Harry

 

[codiwatkins]

I just bought some blue bottle flies and made your little recipe(i saw you post it on another thread) and they love it!!!

I have to agree with Jay and Jann, just buy them online.

personaly, I just buy the pupa stage.
toss them all in a large container that has some paper towels (or toilet paper rolls) in them for them to not be too crouded together.

while most places just say to use powdered sugar/powdered milk, and wood chips soaked in water.
I personaly like to gutload them with a mix that I've made in the past.

1) soft boild egg
2) 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt
3) 1 tablespoon of honey
4) enough baby rice cereal to thicken it a bit. (I've been using kashi heart to heart cereal lately as it has plenty of vitamins and extracts that will help our chams better...I just crush it up into a powder first)

the yogurt will have tons of calcium. the egg is for some protien.
the honey is to make it tasty to the flys. the cereal is for added vitamins.

just put the flys into the fridge for 5 mins to keep them from flying.
then add a small amount of the gutload to the side of the container.
reclose the container fast, and in 10 mins or so, your flys will be gutloaded with something far more healthy then just sugar and dried milk.

no real need to offer water as they will get plenty of moisture from the gutload.
feed the left over gutload each day...should last about 4 or 5 days before it starts to go bad in the fridge.

Harry

 

[Syn]

You need to watch the amount of protein in the egg and cereal etc. (Gout)

I know they're small but over time if flies become a major part of the diet, it could make a difference.

 

[warpdrive]

You need to watch the amount of protein in the egg and cereal etc. (Gout)

I know they're small but over time if flies become a major part of the diet, it could make a difference.

Oh, I agree to a point.

the Flys should not be a major part of any chams diet...but they will get far more protein from the fly's "meat" then from the belly of the fly.
trust me, plenty of feeders contain lots of protien...it's why we should gutload more with veggies and fruit, then food containing high amounts of protien....think dog food.
yet in this case, what the flys "could" have inside him is sooo small, it's not going to make a huge difference.

the amount of protien in the cereal I choose has so little protien in it, it's almost nothing. 4g per 1.2 ounces (that's a "normal" sized bowl)...you'll only need about 1/2 an ounce at most crushed up into powder.

but yes, we should watch what we feed our feeders.

Harry

 

[warpdrive]

I just bought some blue bottle flies and made your little recipe(i saw you post it on another thread) and they love it!!!

glad to hear it.
it's been used by many people in the past and I'm not the first to try it.

when I just got my fist chameleon in the past 3 weeks, he loved the flys too.
all gone now, and maybe soon I'll get some more.
sadly I forgot to feed the flys for 2 days, and some of them died.
but the rest lived for as long as they could last in the cage...and that was not long.

Harry