"Dopey" houseflies..

[toothlessjaws]

Urgh! I don't know what it is but this year i'm having a real problem booting-up my maggot farm. lat year I ordered house fly pupae from aquarium and had no problem getting a really productive colony going. I found the flies lived for weeks and so it was really easy to manage the colony etc. This time my first batch of pupae largely failed to hatch. I found the flies were dying prematurely after a few days and that they were sluggish and "dopey". I tried again and this time have had a much better result with far more hatched BUT the flies are still really dopey and slow. I find they obsessively congregate in groups - first in the takeout container containing the pupae shells, now on the bran mix. problem is, when i try to remove the mix after 24hrs, i literally have dozens upon dozens of flies on the mix and they won't fly off when i shake it. If you look at the photos of my box (link belwo) you'll see i have a narrow fold down section of screen at the bottom. Yes, i lose a few flies each time I open it but not as much as you think and nowhere near enough to impact the overall colony size. usually I just hand along the flyscreen at the bottom and then when removing the container give it a few few taps and i find most flies have moved up to the top of the enclosure. now i literally can't get them to move!

my first guess is the temperature is the issue (it was well into summer last year when i started the thing) however, if it was too cold i'd be expecting the flies to be handing around the lights, which they are not. I have tried making it cooler (the lights have a dim switch) but no change. still clumping down the bottom in mass groups.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this?

its driving me mad! I have cordons and melbas sitting and i know any day now it'll be dead chicks on the ground!

https://www.aussiefinchforum.net/viewto ... 4&start=10

[garyh]

A few weeks ago mine were very sluggish,changed the light globe to a higher wattage and now no problems,it's been a lot colder this year,cheers garyh

[gomer]

I think its a temperature thing. Your lights are very high up in the box and heat rises. Also where is the thermostat getting the reading from ? I had a under preforming box as I run two. Now the temperature has been raised its better. Take temperature readings across the box to see the difference. You could try a test and put a old blanket/hessian bag over the front to see if it makes a difference. You may need to cover it over winter in its current position change globes or design long term.

Or something Else ??? Bad batch of Bran !!!

[Craig52]

If the box is the one with the lights up high Derek is right as heat rises. The heat needs to be at the bottom or no more than 200mm above the floor.
Your newly hatched flies can't get to the heat source as they can't fly until their wings develop and they need the heat source to do this that is why they are bunching together on the floor to keep warm.
Imo place the globes lower and cover the cage with a 20kg seed bag with a weight on the the top this will raise the temp so they will mature quickly and be able to access your water and sugar container for energy.

I recently changed my bran supply to another brand, worst thing i ever did as it just would not produce any maggots from the container of medium. I then thought it was the milk powder that was causing the problem so i bought some Aldi full cream milk powder but had the same result. It was the bran that was the culprit as when i went back to the previous brand (Laucke) there was a population explosion of maggots. Craig

[toothlessjaws]

thanks for the responses guys!

I actually already do keep a towel draped over the front of the box. I must admit to not using a thermometer as... well, last time everything just worked!

but i think what you are all saying makes sense. especially the bunching for warmth, i guess i assumed flies were ectothermic and therfore not able to thermoregulate but the maggots certainly bunch together for heat in the fridge....

Also craig, i think you might be right about the bran. i bought a couple of kg's from the same supplier as last time (where i got my seed) but i noticed it smells mustier (but not looks similar). i was wondering if it could be oat bran as opposed to wheat bran that i used last time?

in any event whats the water/milk powder/bran ratio everyone uses? (age old question i know...) - I can't for the life of me remember what i was doing last time!!!

[vettepilot_6]

If the box is the one with the lights up high Derek is right as heat rises. The heat needs to be at the bottom or no more than 200mm above the floor.
Your newly hatched flies can't get to the heat source as they can't fly until their wings develop and they need the heat source to do this that is why they are bunching together on the floor to keep warm.
Imo place the globes lower and cover the cage with a 20kg seed bag with a weight on the the top this will raise the temp so they will mature quickly and be able to access your water and sugar container for energy. Craig

Or put a couple of shelves closer to the heat for the containers?

[Craig52]

If the box is the one with the lights up high Derek is right as heat rises. The heat needs to be at the bottom or no more than 200mm above the floor.
Your newly hatched flies can't get to the heat source as they can't fly until their wings develop and they need the heat source to do this that is why they are bunching together on the floor to keep warm.
Imo place the globes lower and cover the cage with a 20kg seed bag with a weight on the the top this will raise the temp so they will mature quickly and be able to access your water and sugar container for energy. Craig

Or put a couple of shelves closer to the heat for the containers?

No it doesn't work that way, the water gets too warm and evaporates, in my experience the water needs to be placed in the front of the cage against the fly wire. The coolest spot. Craig

[toothlessjaws]

Raised the temperature, but little improvement.

Also not getting any maggots out of the mix which seems to be going mouldy. i think the mixture is bad. Something is definitely off...

Any suggestions? Really appreciate some advice on peoples bran/milk powder ratios.

[garyh]

No real measuring for me,just two hand full of bran and about 25mls of coles milk powder and 250mls of water,produces enough for a full 400ml take away container,this in turn produces enough maggots for my needs,if you want i can do a container for you which will give you hundreds of maggots to start again ,all you need to do is pick them up,cheers garyh

[gomer]

You may have to much mix for amount of flies you have also.The maggots may have to much food and also the mix may need to be in a warm environment.

How long is your mix made up for before it goes mouldy ?