Free maggot survey

[Greg41]

My sample arrived today AM [WA] haven't looked inside yet but the packaging was fine.Will report back when I feed some out tomorrow.

Cheers Greg.

[Gerry Marantelli]

How long do you think they will last before they start to break down in the freezer?

The secret to freezing insects is to stop them dehydrating or clumping - too wet and they clump, not properly sealed and they dry out. The medium they are sent in will stop them clumping - so freeze them with the food mix they arrived in. make sure you put them in an airtight container and as full as possible (ie no extra air in the container) and they should not dry out for months. Snaplock bags are good for this as you can put the quantity you want for each feed and squeeze the air out before you freeze them. If your birds are happy with frozen you can buy bulk maggots and save some money - just bag them up frozen and use over time.

[BENSONSAN]

I haves had them in the freezer longer then 3 months a they wer fine. Gerry I just moved them into a takeaway container and they froze great. Very easy to break up also. Once again thank you and the medium which you use and the maggots themselves freeze great. Also less left over medium then the maggots I get thru work.

[Gerry Marantelli]

If the maggots you get from work are bigger and with more medium - then i suggest they are blowfly maggots and stored in sawdust. I wonder if sawdust is an issue for birds if they eat some ? Our maggots are in a grain base so nothing inedible - i guess you can feed it all out and if the birds eat some medium - no harm done.

[Greg41]

Our sample arrived yesterday and they went straight into the fridge, the fridge had quite a strong smell this morning
which was traced back to the maggots, the pupae were fine . I have poured the contents into a flat container and added some fresh pollen
hoping this will dilute the smell, it could be the longer travel time to WA that has caused this.I used to breed blowfly maggots for fishing so am
aware of the smell.Will report back as things progress. This is not a criticism but an observation as was requested.

Cheers Greg.

[Gerry Marantelli]

Re smells
if I understand - you got your delivery thursday (we sent tuesday)

are the maggots alive ? or were they killed in transit? I have not heard smell issues from others and these maggots should not smell like the blowfly maggots you mention unless some have died. they can have a smell but i don't think it is unpleasent - certainly not similar to carrion feeding maggots eg blowflies. maybe put some out and see if they wake up - if too many are dead they may develop a bad smell

let me know - if they are dead we can try again

[Greg41]

Hi Gerry, I fed some out this morning and they were certainly alive and wriggling when I put them in the dishes. I have since
put them in a larger container and mixed pollen with the original medium and put them in my beer fridge.I know people
who breed there own fly maggots and I agree that they don't have an unpleasant smell. I'll keep at it and see how they go,
if needed I'll freeze them and take them out as I need them.

Cheers Greg.

[VR1Ton]

Arrived on Thursday, a fair number of pupae in with the maggots (probably the lenght of time it took to arrive), opened the pupae under the Honey-Eater cage & watched them pick them off as they took flight. Put some maggots out today, Wrens had a goog look, but weren't sure, Silvereyes hoed straight in, finches a little stand offish, but once the Tanimbars started there was no stopping them. I generally feed temites, with a couple of mealworms for the softies, & the occassional cricket, so the maggots are another addition I can use in rotation with the mealworms & crickets, still will use termites as the main livefood (always considered them the best, & I have an endless supply, not to mention they're free).

Thanks Gerry, will be placing an order in the near future, will also look at your other livefood, saves dealing with the other highly erratic supplier.

[Gerry Marantelli]

Good feedback - it all helps

a fair number of pupae in with the maggots (probably the lenght of time it took to arrive),

perhaps if we are sending long distances we need so send smaller less mature maggots so they get there as Maggots not pupae/flies. It should be ok as the medium is their food so they can keep growing in the mail. - just a little hard to know what to pack for each kg for example if we do it like this as their growth rate may be faster or slower occording to heat in transit etc.

It is an issue with mags - that they grow so quick if they get warm, a couple of days in the mail and you can have lots of pupae!

Remind me when you place an order online and i will try to send younger ones to allow for the delayed transport. Just let me know who you are and the "special requirements" in the comments section of your order.

cheers
gerry

[VR1Ton]

Will do mate, do you have mealworms the size of "mini" mealies from the 'other' supplier.