Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey i just bought a 1000 house flies and they are all pupas right now they are a pretty dark red black color right now so i was wondering how long it would be until they hatch into the flies. also one more question how long can the pupa be stored in the fridge without them dieng.
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Matt G
1.1 jax chameleon
1.0 veild chameleon
1.5leopard gex(1 tang)
1.2 fire belly toads
2.1 golden gex
1.0 bearded dragon

If the pupae are Musca Domestica they should hatch in about 2-4 days when kept warm. I am not sure about putting them into the Fridge as I never did that as I used them all up as quick as I could produce or hatch them.
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Rob Trenor
RK Reptiles
www.rkreptiles.com
www.oldworldchameleons.com
www.ballpythonmorphs.net

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Signature edited to remove advertising comments.

Edited on January 25, 2004 at 18:54:33 by phwyvern.

I told you not to put them in the fridge. I think they are musca domestica.

P.S see ya at school

Usually takes a week or so for pupae to hatch. They can last up to a month in the fridge, but you're going to have some die off after the 2nd week, increasing as fridge time increases.
>>hey i just bought a 1000 house flies and they are all pupas right now they are a pretty dark red black color right now so i was wondering how long it would be until they hatch into the flies. also one more question how long can the pupa be stored in the fridge without them dieng.
>>-----
>>Matt G
>>1.1 jax chameleon
>>1.0 veild chameleon
>>1.5leopard gex(1 tang)
>>1.2 fire belly toads
>>2.1 golden gex
>>1.0 bearded dragon
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Hi Matt,

If they are houseflies then they are Musca domestica. I have read anywhere from 3-5 days up to 2 weeks. I have a bunch (1000's) in the fridge and several (50-100) out waiting to emerge from pupa (many never do).

This is my thinking: gee, where do all those flies come from in the spring/summer up here in NH? They don't appear from thin air so they must have spent the winter somewhere! Most insects over winter in cold climates in their pupal stage (though some spend it as adults and others in their larval stage). Flies spend it as pupa. Therefore, why would they be limited in time in the fridge? Our winters are a tad longer than 2 weeks! LOL!

I had similar questions so I asked an entomologist friend to confirm my thinking - and he did. I think the reason folks think they die off is they don't give them enough time to emerge once removed from fridge. Temps are a limiting factor as well.

I am going to experiment with some (I sure have enough!). If you think you will be able to feed them off quickly then you should be fine with the 2-week deal. The longer they are cooled the longer and warmer the temps they will.

Helpful?

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Just my own personal experience, but flies I've kept longer than 3 weeks in fridge have about 90% die off. Sure, wild flies will overwinter better, but I think (look out, I'm thinking!) wild flies have a better chance of long term cold survival than the slightly more domesticated cultured flies. Who knows, maybe its the wild thing, maybe its just that I got some weakened flies. Or maybe I haven't a clue (I prefer this one!). I can only speak from personal experience.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

All that you say is possible - the cultured vs. the wild flying.
When you have kept them cooler, longer how long do you give them until emergence and at what temps?

I am going to put a few (hundred - LOL!) aside to experiment with. I may even freeze some (if they were outside right now they would be freezing (it's 2 degrees!). When Paul (ento.) and I discussed it I have to say that we were only discussing wild flies - so.......
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I try not to throw things out unless I am as close to 100% sure as possible that they are, in fact, worthless.
I put them into little cups full of alfalfa pellets and sawdust with some egg crates included for crawling. I kept them dry and warm, right next to my herp enclosures (about 85 if I had to guess). I kept the pupae to the point where they created a mess and stunk, about 3 or 4 weeks after taking out of fridge.
BTW, they were seperated into little batches of about 200 pupae per cup.
Perhaps its something I overlooked. Go ahead and experiment! By all means, do NOT take my experience as actual fact!!!
>>All that you say is possible - the cultured vs. the wild flying.
>>When you have kept them cooler, longer how long do you give them until emergence and at what temps?
>>
>>I am going to put a few (hundred - LOL!) aside to experiment with. I may even freeze some (if they were outside right now they would be freezing (it's 2 degrees!). When Paul (ento.) and I discussed it I have to say that we were only discussing wild flies - so.......
>>-----
>>0.1 veiled - Luna
>>0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
>>0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
>>0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
>>0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

I'm with you on the "making sure." I am sure many folks would wait the predicted 5-8 days and then toss. Sounds like you've given them a good try.

I just had some emerge today that have been sitting out for 2 weeks. This room does get quite cool at night and it's not super warm during the day since it is my office (and as you know I spend a lot of time here! LOL!) and I don't do well with the heat. I just keep everyone's cage warm - except mine

OK, I'll do some experiments and get back to you in the spring about success/failure. Sure would be nice if we could keep them cool for extended periods. But your point about wild vs. cultivated is certainly one to consider. I don't think I'll take my experiments quite so far as to try and breed a winter fly! LOL!!

btw, I just checked out your site for the first time. When I have some "spare" time I will read over your weblog and the rest of the site.
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I finally got a small 2nd hand bar fridge (check classified ads for this or for those 1-2 cubic inch dorm fridges) for all my insects. I can keep it around 42 F which really helps improve the pupae survival and keeps waxworms and mealworms alive much longer than in the regular fridge. When I think about how many eggs a "wild" housefly lays it stands to reason that only a few that are really protected from cold emerge.

PS: Lele, do you realize ALL your pets' names end in A? Was that intentional? LOL.

Almost 20 years ago, I had a cymric (cat) that I named Svette Lana. Three years later I got another cat and named her Justíca (jus-tee'-ka). After Lana died, I got Tíca a friend and named her Akira, who died 6 days later (it sucked!). Then a few months later I tried again, got my torti, and named her Kyndra. It was around the Kyndra/Akira naming that I realized they all ended in "a." It was not intentional up until then. When Tíca died and I got Líta Leleishka (double "a" LOL!). I then decided to name any female animal companion with a name ending in “a". I even rescued a little Steatoda spider and named her Stella, a leaf-footed bug, Erica. I did know that Stella was female and Erica - well she seemed very feminine (OK, now anyone who is actually reading this KNOWS that I am nuts!!)

When I got my pinktoe tarantula, I was stumped. I honestly didn't know if she was female - but with those pretty little pink toes...her name just had to be Rose. My mom came to my rescue and we named her Tula Rose (but she was always Rose).

Then I got the leaf chams. Bart - well, he was a boy. You may recall the girls were Kaiya and Makeda. Then came the anoles and the geckos. Once I realized all my anoles were female (thought one was a male) well, the list explains the rest. I will say that the “j” for the anoles was just a weird little quirk that worked! LOL!

Funny, it wasn't until I added my signature that I realized I had all those girls! Hadn't really thought about it. Besides the ‘a’ I also go by personality, country of origin, coloration and habits to name, too.

So that is the story of "a" - it has just developed into a pattern. It's sort of fun. A side note. I donated Rose (she died Oct. 31st) to my zoologist friend who does research on spiders (mainly their silk/spinnerets) and I told him I didn't want to know if she was really a boy.

So, more than you wanted to know I am sure...
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I thought the same thing too, but the pupas that I kept in the fridge died after about a month. I had been taking a few hundred out every week, and after 1 month, I got the last batch out (about 1000 ) and warmed them up, and never had 1 emerge. I warmed them 1st at room temp, then in my monitor's cage (about 80) and left them there for weeks, but none ever emerged. They are still in my room (haven't bothered to thrown them out yet) and none have emerged still (3-4 weeks since I took them out). My guess is that it isn't cold enogh for them to go totaly dormant, or there isn't enough moisture, but something is differrent, because they deffinetly start dying after about 3 weeks of being in the fridge, and quickly die off after that. Just my experience with flies, would still highly recomend them as food; they are cheap, easy to care for, and a great variety in diet. Plus you can keep the emerged flies longer too if you keep them in the garage or another cool place.( I kept mine in a uninsulated sunpoorch that got down to 28, and it worked great!)This also makes it easy to take them out, because they hardly move, and it takes them several minutes of warming before they can fly. If you tear off 1 wing, then they can't fly at all. Sorry its soo long, but just thought that I would share my experiences. Good Luck!

..about the low temp you were able to keep the adults in! I will sometimes put them in my bug room, but it doesn't get quite that cold. I assume you are feeding them while they are in there?

As for not getting cold enough and moisture this would be so. I think as my "experiment" I will store a bunch of pupae the same way I winter over my lep cocoons.

>>I thought the same thing too, but the pupas that I kept in the fridge died after about a month. I had been taking a few hundred out every week, and after 1 month, I got the last batch out (about 1000 ) and warmed them up, and never had 1 emerge. I warmed them 1st at room temp, then in my monitor's cage (about 80) and left them there for weeks, but none ever emerged. They are still in my room (haven't bothered to thrown them out yet) and none have emerged still (3-4 weeks since I took them out). My guess is that it isn't cold enogh for them to go totaly dormant, or there isn't enough moisture, but something is differrent, because they deffinetly start dying after about 3 weeks of being in the fridge, and quickly die off after that. Just my experience with flies, would still highly recomend them as food; they are cheap, easy to care for, and a great variety in diet. Plus you can keep the emerged flies longer too if you keep them in the garage or another cool place.( I kept mine in a uninsulated sunpoorch that got down to 28, and it worked great!)This also makes it easy to take them out, because they hardly move, and it takes them several minutes of warming before they can fly. If you tear off 1 wing, then they can't fly at all. Sorry its soo long, but just thought that I would share my experiences. Good Luck!
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta