Things You'll Need:
- Fruit fly medium
- Yeast
- Ventilated containers
- Starter colony of fruit flies
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Step 1
Buy a starter kit that includes the containers, fruit fly medium, yeast, and starter cultures of flies. The containers will be vented with a foam plug in the lid. Once you see what they look like, you can try making more containers of your own from recycled deli containers.
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Step 2
Scoop dry medium into all your containers. Then, one at a time, add the water and immediately swirl the container to mix. You must do this quickly because the medium absorbs water almost instantly. The kit will tell you how much medium and water to use to start, although you may need to modify this later once you see how your colonies develop.
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Step 3
Add a small pinch of yeast to each container. Be careful, because too much will ruin the culture and too little will not be enough to feed the flies.
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Step 4
Add about a dozen flies to each container and cover quickly.
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Step 5
The fruit flies will lay their eggs on the side of the containers. Flies should start hatching out after about two weeks.
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Step 6
Collect flies to feed your frogs: The flies will be climbing on the lid, so smack the side of the container so they fall to the bottom before opening. Shake them into a container with a little bit of the frog vitamins in it, and swirl around. The vitamin powder will make it harder for the flies to climb about.
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Step 7
Start a few new colonies each week so that you have a constant supply. You don't need to order new starter cultures - just use some flies from a colony that producing well.
