8 replies to this topic

[Tspivey16]

So, until now I have relied upon some purchased ant food, and mealworms/crickets bought from pet stores.

 

I am interested in starting feeder insect colonies for fresh food (getting ready to purchase a fruit fly culture).

 

My questions to the group: What do you use as feeder insects? How do you keep them going? How did you start them off to get a constant supply?

[Alza]

I'm too lazy to answer the other two questions, but when I get more termites, I plan to use them as feeders. Ants seem to love the alate wings.

[Foogoo]

I am interested in starting feeder insect colonies for fresh food (getting ready to purchase a fruit fly culture).

 

My questions to the group: What do you use as feeder insects? How do you keep them going? How did you start them off to get a constant supply?

 My experience with fruitflies is they're relatively easy to get a constant supply going but the rate which they reproduce quickly overwhelms the rate I can use them, even with freezing and feeding to other creatures. I usually buy a culture and when it starts getting pretty full, dump them all into a fluon or calcium powdered tub with a fresh medium ready. The majority I dump into a container for freezing and put the rest into the new medium.

 

I've tried putting only a few flies (~10) into the new medium in hopes of slowing the culture growth, but they seem to die and not reproduce. Putting in more flies (~50) they reproduce, but quickly explode.

[dspdrew]

Im too lazy to answer the other two questions, but when I get more termites, I plan to use them as feeders. Ants seem to love the alate wings.

 

Well at least you're honest.

 

I keep quite a few different feeders, but I find the darkling beetles to be the easiest.

[dermy]

I find Mealworms to be the best, they are easy to raise and so far most Ants will accept a Mealworm chopped up

[Ants4fun]

http://forum.formicu...ts-and-feeders/

[cpman]

Pretty much all my ants eat fruit flies, but they reproduce at a crazy pace.

[BrittonLS]

http://forum.formicu...ts-and-feeders/

 

Dang, I wanted to be the helpful one. I don't remember seeing it in the article, but to start any of these off, you can usually just order some to begin with, maybe feed your ants some and reproduce with the others. You can find most of them in pet stores and exotic pet stores I'd assume. And actually I think a lot of these are on Amazon of all places. When I was looking at aquariums it actually suggested a selling of mealworms. 

[Ants4fun]

I was actually going to let someone else put the link, but I figured it might be time sensitive.