Aussie Finch Forum

Gerry Marantelli wrote:Re cleaning maggots:
The material they are in is all bran and pollard based anyway and so they shouldn't need cleaning - i can't imagine it being a problem even if the finches ate a bit of the maggot food as it is mostly wheat.

Thanks Gerry
Ill try them tonight see how they go very happy mate.

Anthony

Arrived 10.30 am all in good order , about 12 had turned into flies .
The pupae.....
Not at all what I had expected , actually quite pleasant looking little buggers .
Gave them out to the birds at about 11.30 so far the Princess Parrots are gorging on them with the Bourkes curious but not enough to try them yet .
Quail are sneaking in for the odd maggot that the Princess's drop .
Finches and Lorikeets are yet to check them out , Grass Parrots not showing much interest yet but very early in the day yet .

The mailing system seems to work fine , I was dubious when everyone got thiers yesterday as to what mine would be like , seems the extra 24 hours in transit has made no difference .

Havent opened the big cylinder yet . Will have a look after I finish housework .

Natamambo let us know two things. How they freeze and does your 16 yr old think they are a snack and eat them after school.

gomer wrote:Natamambo let us know two things. How they freeze and does your 16 yr old think they are a snack and eat them after school.

I asked him this morning what he thought of his Dad's latest purchase. The response was "you're gross"

Yeah its all very funny ..I chipped other half about something left laying around the house ...the new reply " well you keep maggots in the fridge ".

Seems that everybody so far is really happy with the maggots, I really liked how the pupae were all looking like pallets instead of a clump like my last lot that I brought- finches didn't even try them, so with the pupae looking like this the birds are at least looking at them. The maggots seemed to be a hit with the cordons and ruddies, canaries and st helenas seemed to have a go but the rest will need a little more coaching. Natamambo checking out the maggots was easy and no mess, just placed them on a tray left them for 10min they reactivated and just moved them around to serif any dead, there wasn't 1 that i noticed put them back in their packaging and back into the fridge, mixed them up today and still looks great. Was considering putting them in old mealworm containers has anyone tried this and ha it worked.

So where did you guys get the maggots? What price range are they?
Also a few of you feed termites how do you contain them in the aviary?Meaning whats stopping them from heading over to the house??
Hope that not too sillier question!!!!?
MEL

Hi Mel as for the maggots they were given to many of the people who asked for them from a gentleman called Gerry who works for a company called ARC (amphibian research centre http://www.frogs.org.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), they were a free sample to see how they are, how good is the packaging, ECT. The best thing to do to find out prices would be to either pm him or go to the website and email the company, there still might be free samples. Never used termites so sorry can't answer anything for you.

Very Happy with the maggots so far. Most birds are eating them the pytilias are going crazy and st helena as well. I will be a happy future costumer.

Just gave the last of the maggots /pupae to the test subjects . Not much interest so far but Ill keep checking throughout the day .
Mixed it with the sprouted seed this time to see what happens .