BSFL to BSF

[listen2justin]

So I think my panther has started to lose his taste for Phoenix worms but he is digging the black soldier flies they turn into. I'm not sure how it happened, but I've caught 4 black soldier flies inside my house. I'm curious, what are the conditions needed for the larvae to turn into flies? I would like to leave some larvae in my enclosure so they turn into flies. Any problems or reasons i shouldn't?

 

[Crashbandit05]

I keep my bsfl in coconut substrate in a 'cricket keeper'. Once they pupate, I'll open the lid inside my cage and they usually fly up towards the top of the enclosure.

 

[jamest0o0]

Just throw the larvae in the cage they'll pupate and turn into flies. I do this in my cages

 

[Sloppysponge]

Silly question, what do these guys eat, the cup of larva never last more than 2 days at my house, everyone goes bonkers for them.

 

[jamest0o0]

The bsfl? I feed mine anything and they make it disappear within hours. Leftover silkworms chow, fruit, veggies, gutload blends, whatever!

 

[Sloppysponge]

Thanks, that's really cool to know.

 

[listen2justin]

thanks for the info everyone! i'll keep some in the cage and just wait it out

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I feed mine any table scraps, plant matter, and they also seem to really like softened dog chow. And I do the same as James, just toss the larva into your cage, in a spot where they can't drown, and they will take care of the rest!

 

[jamest0o0]

I wouldn't use dog food ever, is that what you mean @Brodybreaux25 ?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Yes, but I raise BSFL for my chickens. From time to time I do throw a few to my charms as well. They don't seem to care for the larva, but will munch one or two on rare occasions. The adult flies are what they really want.

Why is a bad thing?

 

[jamest0o0]

Chams seem to be very prone to gout. Dog food is loaded with the animal protein that causes uric acid build up. My understanding is that even occassional feedings can/will lead to gout at some point.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Thank you, I did not know that. Any thing else to avoid?

I'd say the dog food makes up less than 5% of my bsfl's diet. I really only use it when I'm running low on table scraps and decaying plant matter. What would you recommend i feed with to make the larva Cham friendly?

 

[jamest0o0]

Yeah np! I learned that awhile back when I read warnings against feeding roaches dog/cat food. I'm not an expert on gout, but I understand what causes it. The little bit you gave should hopefully not cause issue as long as you stop now. I gutload my BSFL with everything I use for my other bugs. Healthy larvae will eat just about anything. My Chams love them. I've been feeding old unused silkworm chow, thawed homemade gutload cubes I use for roaches/crickets, old(not moldy) fruit and veggies, etc. Avoid anything with animal protein

 

[Crashbandit05]

When I keep bsfl (currently going through 'I hate everything but crickets' strike) they seem to like squash/zucchini a lot, also apples. You can use just about any fruit/veggie that you would for other feeders gutloading.

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

SBFL are some of the best composters money can buy, if you look for it there is a whole community build around just these flies (there is even a forum!) Despite all this I was trying REALLY HARD to get a SBF breeding op going and the weirdest thing happened. I got at least 100 to pupate into flies... BUT NONE OF THEM BRED!? WTF? Right I mean what the heck why are they being picky they're just hairy maggots and then mouthless flies.. Anyone know why this might be the case??? Really sad because I wanted to become a serious SBL breeder to help the Cham Breeder community by lowering the costs a tiny bit. Your average BSF are actually pretty pricey, not Dubia level but still,. Like you can't even get over 500 for less than $20 typically, and you can get that for price for crickets easily, even though crickets are more tricky to breed typically. Any way can anyone help me figure this out?

Oh and btw; BSFL will literally eat almost anything! Including meat! However you wanna feedthem greens so they have better nutrition for your chams (Dog food is VERY processed bad choice, any food scraps are better)

 

[Andee]

SBFL are some of the best composters money can buy, if you look for it there is a whole community build around just these flies (there is even a forum!) Despite all this I was trying REALLY HARD to get a SBF breeding op going and the weirdest thing happened. I got at least 100 to pupate into flies... BUT NONE OF THEM BRED!? WTF? Right I mean what the heck why are they being picky they're just hairy maggots and then mouthless flies.. Anyone know why this might be the case??? Really sad because I wanted to become a serious SBL breeder to help the Cham Breeder community by lowering the costs a tiny bit. Your average BSF are actually pretty pricey, not Dubia level but still,. Like you can't even get over 500 for less than $20 typically, and you can get that for price for crickets easily, even though crickets are more tricky to breed typically. Any way can anyone help me figure this out?

Were you raising them outside or inside? There are several things you have to do for both.

 

[jamest0o0]

While processed food is bad, the reason to avoid dog food isn't because it's processed, but because of the animal protein.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Has any one ever fed Japanese Plums to their BSFL or Veildes? My neighbor has a tree he can't take care of and said if I can do anything with it it's mine to do what I please. Pesticides are not a concern. I've heard that plums in general aren't good because of their pits, but from what I can tell Japanese plums have no pits just seeds. Or what about just the leaves for BSFLs only?

 

[Andee]

Those look like a species of fig not sure though and I feed plums, am doing so a lot right now because of the season and my grandma's plum tree producing faster than we can pick so any split ones but not insect ridden or molded ones that drop to the ground are used for my insects a long with a lot of other greens and veggies. At the moment I am using none of my dry chow because we have too many things producing in our gardens.

Why are plums bad? I use things with pits all the time XD

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Neighbor called it a plum, but honestly he is very old and I can tell his mind has started to slip over the last few years...

If they are figs that would explain the lack of pits.

I've never heard exactly why pits are suppose to be bad, just that they are for some reason. And everybody knows if it's on the internet it's got to be true right!?