Culture Fruit Flies For Your Bettas?

[Synirr]

I got a culture of flies from Petsmart the other day and got to thinking how neat it would be to get some of the genetic mutants, because ya know, a whole lot of research has been done on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (the one that's the perfect size for little betta mouths!) Well, I got to looking online, and what do ya know... you can order them by the vial! I bought myself some vestigial-winged ebony bodied flies and some yellow white-eyed miniatures
They arrived in good condition yesterday. The midgets didn't appear to have been packaged exactly right as most of the flies had died in the culture media, but the vial is already filled with maggots so all is well.

Just thought this was an interesting option if you were planning to start culturing flies anyway. I also bought some extra vials, culture media, and the "Anesthefly" kit so I can anesthetize them for easy sorting so I can pair them up and crossbreed my two types. This'll be so much fun for a mad scientist like myself

Anywho, here's the site if any of you are interested. Pretty cool as a little side project, and a yummy treat for bettas!:
http/sciencekit.com/category.asp?start=6&c=427542

 

[OohFeeshy]

Ooh, fun... although I can imagine you getting some very funny looks when you tell everybody your new hobby is breeding fun new types of mini fly

 

[lljdma06]

Ooh, fun... although I can imagine you getting some very funny looks when you tell everybody your new hobby is breeding fun new types of mini fly

I see it now...We'll all be ordering HM BF fruit flies from Synirr! Oh, I'll take male #4, he's soooo cute. Female #35 is so sassy. Maggot #27 is just adorable. Don't forget to post pics!!!!




On a serious note, I've actually considered fruit flies, but my mother would absolutely kill me. Besides, I grow houseplants, and I have more than enough creepy-crawlys to keep my bettas well fed.

 

[Booboo puppy]

Ick.

 

[squeeker]

I've actually tried this. I have a very small species of gecko who I usually feed pinhead crickets to, but I decided to try a culture of fruit flies. I fed some to my bettas... they were NOT impressed. Snots!

 

[JoLtNbolt]

I bought a fruit fly culture that has a high percentage of albinos, from aquabid.

Here's a link to a page with recipes for homemade fruit fly media.

http/www.anapsid.org/fruitfly.html

 

[penguinpimp1990]

whenever i see fruit fly i zap them with the electric fly swatter and feed them to my bettas and other fish .... but anyways arent there freeze dried fruit flies? ive seen FD crickets so maybe theyd be FD flies in the reptile section of a pet store..............

 

[Synirr]

Ooh, fun... although I can imagine you getting some very funny looks when you tell everybody your new hobby is breeding fun new types of mini fly

Yeaaaah
One of my friends called me a dork because I was so excited about it, but darnit, I love genetics (and even I gotta admit, I AM pretty dorky, haha!) My juvies love the yummy flies I got from Petsmart but they were a bit too big for tiny betta mouths, so these midget flies are the perfect solution. The problem is they're flighted, so I'll mix them with the vestigial-winged group and a few generations later the problem will be solved!

 

[happyannie]

I had a plant biology class in college and we bred our own fruit flies in the greenhouse. They had the run of the place and they were entirely ours as they bred in there generation upon generation. I don't think it's one bit weird. Do I detect a bit of fruitfly envy there? Dang, go for it!
I knew this strange lady who let parakeets take over a room in her house ( they weren't caged) and they bred indiscriminately in there year after year. It would be interesting to see what the changes were in her parakeets from when they were sealed off.
Experiment away!!

 

[JoLtNbolt]

I had a plant biology class in college and we bred our own fruit flies in the greenhouse. They had the run of the place and they were entirely ours as they bred in there generation upon generation. I don't think it's one bit weird. Do I detect a bit of fruitfly envy there? Dang, go for it!
I knew this strange lady who let parakeets take over a room in her house ( they weren't caged) and they bred indiscriminately in there year after year. It would be interesting to see what the changes were in her parakeets from when they were sealed off.
Experiment away!!

Well you might be able to forecast the results before they happen if you know anything about population genetics and understand how to use the Hardy-Weinburg equation.

 

[happyannie]

I went to that big store today where the pets go....(except mine) and they had cultures of fruit flies there too. Just leave some bananas out on the counter too long and you can get your very own!!

 

[JoLtNbolt]

Well most of the versions sold at petstores or bred as food for pets are either wingless or flightless. You wouldn't want any regular fruit flies cause now and then you would definitely have a few escape and you wouldn't want them breeding all over your house! I did read however that wingless or flightless fruit flies can regain the ability to fly if themperatures get too high.

 

[Synirr]

Yeah, I'm weird. I just finished knocking some flies out cold with a chemical so I could sex them and separate them out into different containers. About a week after getting my flies I've got my F1 generation and there are SO FREAKIN' MANY!!!
These are the vestigial-winged ebony

That blue stuff is their culture media

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

Oh nice .... I want to eat them lol.

 

[catxx]

hahaha that looks like fun
i'd get my bettas some of those, but i have a phobia of dead bugs (live ones i'm fine with, unless their mozzies or wasps)
i can manage frozen brine shrimp and freeze dried bloodworm
but no bugs

i wouldn't be able to handle the anaesthatized fruit flies.
*quiver*