Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do you make or buy your substrate/food? If you make your own, what recipe do you use? I would like to make my own substrate/food for the fruit flies at home if possible using sterilized glass jars with coffee filter and rubber band as a lid (unless someone else has a better idea). I also still have some Methyl Paraben (mold inhibitor) that I bought 5 years ago that was kept in a gallon plastic bottle up top in my closet. Is that still any good?

Anyone find any correlation between substrate/food types and production?

I used to breed fruit flies when I had some dart frogs. I used 1 cup of mashed potatoes, then added a tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of yeast. Worked GREAT! As for a lid, I used masonry jars. I just punched a few holes in the lid with a nail and stuffed quilt batting in them...then when it came time to feed the frogs, I'd pull out one plug of batting, and the flies came right out. I found it much easier to control the numbers coming out and where they went than removing the whole lid. Hope this helps!
-----
1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex
0.1 Northern Blue Tongue
0.0.1 Green Tree Frog
0.0.1 Cuban Tree Frog