Ruined FF culture
- Thread starter melric
- Start date
I find the further I get (F3, F4, etc), the smaller they get. My *assumption* is that it's from so much inbreeding. As for getting some flying ones, I get those when there are flying ones in the house. Here that's usually in late summer when they come in with the fruit. I don't tend to get flying ones during other times of the year.
Time to start with some new ffs!
@ Rune: ffs=fruit flies
Time to start with some new ffs!
@ Rune: ffs=fruit flies
seanUTD
New Member
I find the further I get (F3, F4, etc), the smaller they get. My *assumption* is that it's from so much inbreeding. As for getting some flying ones, I get those when there are flying ones in the house. Here that's usually in late summer when they come in with the fruit. I don't tend to get flying ones during other times of the year.
Time to start with some new ffs!
@ Rune: ffs=fruit flies
I was going to say, cross contamination from outside flies?? I've got those guys EVERYWHERE which is why I didn't do fruit flies for my younger cham....
Trundy
New Member
Yep... its Definetly been crossed w flying fruit flies.... going to have to start over. I had this happen before and it was miserable... best bet is to scrap them and start over fresh.....As for the smaller size , I've never noticed... I've kept flies for about 5 years and with one break in the middle I don't think I've ever noticed them getting any smaller.
jdog1027
Avid Member
I've noticed that in some cultures, the flies have gotten progressively smaller. I wondered if it was something to do with excessive imbreeding like lisa h mentioned. As for flying, are your cultures secure? You said that they look different. It's a possibility that you've gotten either some Phorid flies or fungus gnats into your cultures. That happened to me once. Post some good close-up pictures if you can.
summoner12
Avid Member
Ill take your culture! LOL I don't care if they fly in my mantid cage.... I only open it to put in new FF cups..... been a couple of weeks since I last opened it. And I NEED to replace the cups in the cage because they are 'done'
I have been running the same FF probably for over 100 generations (years). They're always the same large size. The only time they get smaller looking flies is at the end of the useful life of the culture. You basically have the old weak and malnourished dying flies left over. These are not the flies that you want to start new cultures with. You want to start fresh cultures when you still have large healthy flies emerging.
As far as the interbreeding goes with the wild flies, for me it would always happen if I made the FF media and then left it on the kitchen counter. Opportunistic flies get to it very fast and quickly lay eggs. Now when I make cultures I don't leave anything unattended and haven't had a problem since. If I cannot work on it right away, I cover it with saran wrap and put it in the fridge.
As far as the interbreeding goes with the wild flies, for me it would always happen if I made the FF media and then left it on the kitchen counter. Opportunistic flies get to it very fast and quickly lay eggs. Now when I make cultures I don't leave anything unattended and haven't had a problem since. If I cannot work on it right away, I cover it with saran wrap and put it in the fridge.
All great points for when I restart my cultures. Thanks!
BTW, do you make your own media, or use premade?
Ill take your culture! LOL I don't care if they fly in my mantid cage.... I only open it to put in new FF cups..... been a couple of weeks since I last opened it. And I NEED to replace the cups in the cage because they are 'done'
You can have them if they survive until the next meeting. Bastard wild flies I guess. I was keeping them a little warm too, so Idk. Funny thing is I start several at the same time and some are fine.
summoner12
Avid Member
You can have them if they survive until the next meeting. Bastard wild flies I guess. I was keeping them a little warm too, so Idk. Funny thing is I start several at the same time and some are fine.
You live near where I work, right? I am in Ontario daily. We can PM the details if your interested.
