out of control maggots

[toothlessjaws]

Hey guys, wondering if anyone can give me some advice.

I've built a fly box, got it absolutely buzzing with flies, and producing a ton of maggots, but i've got a serious problem containing them. currently they are in a clear plastic storage tub, but despite leaving them in a room with quite bright lights on, they just go walkies, start crawling everywhere and escape out of the container. then the ants come. They are everywhere and to be honest i find them really annoying and disgusting!

how does everyone else contain them? also how long can they be stored? and how do you keep the colony going? how many maggot do i leave in the flybox for the next generation and how long does that take? Do i need to give additional feed to these "next generation" maggots? i have capacity to produce 5 take-out containers a day of maggots, but i only have 4 actual pairs of finches at the moment.

i kind of feel like i have the setup now and its working but i don't actually know how to maintain it that well. any tips really appreciated.

[Tiaris]

Not a maggot man myself but I reckon putting the containers of them in the fridge would slow em down.

[arthur]

Back in the good ol' days . .

When we bred maggots by the then 'new and improved' method . . one step up from rotten meat . . the maggots would climb up the side of the cultivation container and drop onto a gently (no pun intended) sloping surface which was lightly sprinkled with a mix of fine sand and powdered garden lime; gravity would then direct them downwards

They would eventually drop through a hole at the bottom of that slope into a second container

The sand/ lime mix would dry their skins out and make it impossible for them to negotiate the walls of the second container

Livefood, calcium, and grit in one

Perhaps you could think along those lines . .



And as Tiaris suggests any excess were stored in a fridge . . to slow their development, rather than to 'slow them down'

[Craig52]

Hey guys, wondering if anyone can give me some advice.

I've built a fly box, got it absolutely buzzing with flies, and producing a ton of maggots, but i've got a serious problem containing them. currently they are in a clear plastic storage tub, but despite leaving them in a room with quite bright lights on, they just go walkies, start crawling everywhere and escape out of the container. then the ants come. They are everywhere and to be honest i find them really annoying and disgusting!

how does everyone else contain them? also how long can they be stored? and how do you keep the colony going? how many maggot do i leave in the flybox for the next generation and how long does that take? Do i need to give additional feed to these "next generation" maggots? i have capacity to produce 5 take-out containers a day of maggots, but i only have 4 actual pairs of finches at the moment.

i kind of feel like i have the setup now and its working but i don't actually know how to maintain it that well. any tips really appreciated.

Sounds like maggot man to the rescue. Step 1 place your maggots in a large container and add DRY bran to them, for example 25mm high of maggots in the container would need 70mm of bran to cover them. Once covered with the bran give the whole container a good shake/stir. The maggots are now coated with the bran dust and can't crawl out but will continue to eat the bran and dust.
Step 2 place the whole container in a refrigerator on the lowest setting which in fact is the highest temperature the fridge will operate at before it's set to off
DO NOT put a lid on the container as this will cause it to sweat which allows the maggots to escape. Every day give the container a tumble to separate the maggots from forming clusters to keep warm and turning into pupae.
If you add more maggots, add more bran.
To feed out, give them a quick sieve and feed out with the large bran that is left with them but don't bury them in your feeding dish with bran as a lot of finches wont go digging for them. Hope that makes sense Craig

[toothlessjaws]

Thanks as always Craig,

Oddly enough I have a old commercial, glass fronted drinks fridge in the garage as well. It has built in fluro lights, which correct me if i'm wrong, will also keep the maggots hiding in the bran?

[gomer]

Yes maggots dont like light. Also if your breeding to many you could consider feeding some out to the native birds. I have red brows and blue wrens coming in my shed cleaning up my maggot table when I leave the roller door up.Also chooks, quail etc love them. I am currently raising guinea fowl and they are getting excess dead mealies and maggots daily.

[Tiaris]

I have Eastern Yellow Robins & Variegated Wrens come & clean up any stragglers after I tumble out my termites. Once they hear the tumbler going they come in from the bush straight away.

[finchbreeder]

And the wildlife in your areas will be more prolific in the seasons when supplimental feeding is available. As long as it is not enought to make them dependant this is not a bad thing.
LML

[casehulsebosch]

Quote: As long as it is not enough to make them dependant this is not a bad thing.

The jury is still out on that. Many experts believe we (Australia) should only supply sufficient drinking and bathing water for wild birds.
Having said that I too am guilty of feeding surplus maggots to the Red Brows and Wrens when I come across to my undisclosed destination.

cheers,

Case, Tauranga, New Zealand.

[Craig52]

Thanks as always Craig,

Oddly enough I have a old commercial, glass fronted drinks fridge in the garage as well. It has built in fluro lights, which correct me if i'm wrong, will also keep the maggots hiding in the bran?

Light will have nothing to do with the maggots as once they are cooled they go into suspended animation, don't move much at all in the cold bran. At the same time they purge themselves of the old eaten medium.
After a minute or two they come back to life in your feed tray and do the circuit of the dish similar to what termites do. Craig