Aussie Finch Forum

I think you should be happy with 2 weeks and not push it too far - but if they are all waking up, then the smell may be from the medium. If bacteria get out of control the medium may smell - even in the fridge things go off... Here we have processes to stop bacteria overtaking the medium but in your fridge they are probably not so well controlled. A little smell if the maggots are alive is probably no danger - but if significant numbers of maggots are dead I would not use them any more - get some fresh ones every two weeks to be safe.

As for packing distance/cold etc we do ship hundreds of parcels all over Australia each week, and you can never really tell what a certain location will get as far as time goes until you send to it - even then it can vary week to week. best way to find out is to try. We will ship smaller maggots as the weather warms to avoid pupation in the mail.

I got mine this morning,all very alive and fresh. the packaging is great, The mini mealies were gobbeled up but the calci gents I got while looking to me much more pleasent then maggots were not eaten by any finchs except the red faced parrot finch ,the societys turned them over but didnt eat them.
They were very popular with the pair of willy wagtails in the yard so perhaps calci gents are good for bigger birds but Gerry warned me they may not be good for finchs ..sounds like the little maggots are the best for finchs

Hi amalan11
I still think you should try some maggots - not the calci-gents. If you were happy with the packing and look of the calci-gents, you will probably be OK with the gents (house fly maggots) - they are smaller (better size for finches) and a bit more maggoty looking, but clean and relatively dry just like the calci-gents, so I think maybe you can handle it.

yes Im thinking I will give them a go and just freeze them perhaps.I see that works well esp as im in an area that gets delivery in one day.i will do an order in another couple of weeks when I need more mealies

I've been reading this topic with interest:

If i was to order a bulk lot of 7500 maggots,

How do i store them?

Do i put them in Fridge or freezer?

Do they smell?

How long do they keep for?

Would love an alternative to Mealworms.

Hi,

Please if anyone who has trialled these maggots, can you please let me know the best way to store them as i am placing an order. Fridge/Freezer? What kind of container?

Thanks

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

I've been putting the maggots in a largish tupperware container in the fridge which minimises the odour. They survive for at least 2 weeks - I give them a stir each day or so. I just spoon them out of the container straight into the feed dishes, it doesn't take long for them to wake up and start wriggling once you take them out. I've also frozen some, but my birds definitely prefer the live ones.

Well worth getting some.

Sam

Do you guys think it would be better to buy maggots or breed them? I don't have a dad who is very keen on the idea of breeding flies... any thoughts? I suppose it might be possible to get regular orders for my whole finch club if people from there are interested.

Hi Wayne I have brought some maggots and have left them in the parcel post tubes have found that they refrigerate quite well in it, just give them a mix every couple of days. On the bigger bulk pack 30,000 maggots I will look at putting them in an icecream container or two with a few holes in the top. I keep pulling the maggots out of the fridge for a few hours every few days to allow them to eat. They tend to get a smell after a week but they maggots were all alive so it might be the medium their in. My first lot lasted about 8 days and I just received a 7500 pack on Wed and will expect to get about 12 days out of them.
Jay would have likes to have a fly box but the wife said that if I had one she would spray them so buying maggots was my last resort as alot of my finches require live food and found that the maggots were a great hit so buying them may cost more than needing its much easier for me to buy and with a wife that's passionate of killing flies its my only way to feed them maggots.

Thanks DJB she sounds similar to my parents on a summer afternoon