Wednesday, December 21, 2011

How to Dust Fruit Flies with Calcium

fruit flies
Dusting small insects like fruit flies with calcium/vitamin powder can be very difficult. It's hard to get just enough dust on them without extra going into the tank. Fruit flies also crawl up the side of the container and have to be constantly shaken down when not covered. A very simple way to avoid this problem is to:

1) Shake the fruit flies into a container. Put a top on it and place the container into a refrigerator. Let the flies cool for at least 10-15 minutes. They will stop moving.

2) Working quickly sprinkle dust on them and shake.

3) Dump them into a fine mess strainer and shake off the excess dust. They are now ready to feed to your animals.

The flies quickly warm up in the tank and start moving again. This is the method I use to dust flies for my dart frogs. I like it because flies that aren't moving are easier to deal with, and you don't get extra dust in the tank.