Further Fruit Fly Questions..

[dacrazycanadian]

You've all helped me with fruit fly questions previously and it's been so very helpful.

I'm curious though...are fruit flies absolutely necessary for hatchling panthers or can i get away with pinhead crickets?

 

[hpc1979]

I would say fruit flies are cheaper. Pin head crickets unless you bread them yourself, can get pretty expensive.

 

[Lazy Boy]

Pinheads really grow pretty fast and if you don't have fresh ones all the time then it becomes a problems.

 

[dacrazycanadian]

It's more of a not wanting to deal with fruit flies in an apartment thing then price. Can a hatchling eat pinheads or are they too big?

 

[christineacero]

I found the fruit flies were much more effective than pinheads, although I prefer the pinheads because they don't escape the baby enclosures. I have 11 babies and I keep about 5 fruit fly cultures going, because they go through them really quickly.

When my babies first hatched, they would only eat fruit flies because the pins that were available were much too big. The only pin heads they could fit in their mouth were freshies that were about 3 days old. Those are really hard to come by unless you know a bug farmer in the area...and yes, they are very expensive when you figure how many they go through in a day. $16.99 for 1000 pins, and that lasts about a week and a half give or take. I've had the same fruit fly cultures going since they were born (with the exception of 2 growing mold) which was about 10 weeks ago...at $15.99 per culture. If you get a good number of them going you'll never run out.

And yes, the fruit flies are a pain. I find them all over my house. I've just learned to live with it. The babies are totally worth the irritation over the fruit flies! Try bean weevils as well. I just started feeding those off to my babies and they love them!

 

[junglefries]

The babies will most likely respond to the flies quicker. Crix are bottom dwelling and hide. The flies move fast and all overthe place. This will illicit a feeding response from the hatchlings. They will feed more and days faster with flies. I have tried to use crix only, sometimes with no success. The same day, i drop in the flies and the buffet begins. Plus, the smaller the prey, the easier it is digested. Therefore, promoting faster growth thru better digestion and more food. If you do go crix or roach only, you may have to use one fly culture to entice them to start eating. Trust me i hate using the flies. But even at two months old, they just rip thru the flies, even after filling up on crix. I think of the flies as spackling or mortar. They fill in the voids of the tummy.

 

[dacrazycanadian]

Ok thank you guys, this is super helpful.

 

[junglefries]

how to catch lose fruit flies

forgot to mention this. Set a air filter on medium to side of the cages using fruit flies. Aim it at the wall about 3 feet away. The flies that escape, will ALL congregate on the wall where the filter is blowing. It is AMAZING and almost 100%.