Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,
I was just wondering how often you feed adult leucomelas?
Im getting 2.4 in just under 2 weeks and am having great fun setting the tank up.
How many fruitfly do you think they should be fed per feeding? A question that is really important to me as I need to make sure I breed enough fruitfly...I will only be keeping leucomelas, these are my first PAFs. How many cultures should I be breeding to provide food for these beuties?

Leucs really pig out and tend to get pretty portly. I feed them daily, with an occasional skip if they seem to be bordering on obesity. For some 40 darts of various species, I set up a new culture every two to three days, alternating between D. hydei (which are larger and take longer to produce, but cultures last longer) and D. melanogaster. So every five days should be plenty for you. Each melanogaster lasts about a month with a peak in about 2 weeks, and the hydei last about 6 weeks, or sometimes longer with a peak at about 3 weeks-- just guessing the averages. I like to overdo it a bit, because occasionally a culture may fail. I'm referring to Saurian's 1 qt. delicups and media kits with a handful of excelsior (wood fiber product you can get at Ben Franklin or other artsy-craftsy outlets) for an additional area for pupation.

In my experience, the cultures will grow in a dark cupboard, but seem to produce a lot better in light.

I've never actually counted the flies, but for 6 leucs I'd guess about 90 or so per feeding. Just watch and see how fast they clean them up and if there are any left over in the cage the next day, then adjust from there. If you also keep some springtails, which as Josh points out, are super-easy to raise, you can cover any panic situation of low fly production, and leucs love them. I use an organic soil substrate with some flat charcoal bricks on top laced with yeast every few days. A sprinkling of rice (I use brown rice) boosts their production tremendously. Then all you need to do is lift a bricket of charcoal and blow them off into the tank, or even just place a few bricks that will be loaded with them in the tank like a dessert table. They are cultured in a closed food container and one start lasts for months without replacing the substrate. I use the same charcoal over and over and keep two boxes going at once. Just be sure the charcoal bricks are free from starter fluid etc. I got my original start along with the charcoal from Ed's Flymeat, then added my own organic soil mix, but apparently he uses only the charcoal and yeast.

Josh said that springtails are high in calcium, as are all soil arthropods, but I'm not sure they would be with only yeast to feed upon. All of my frogs except for the P. terribilis, which ignore them, seem to enjoy springtails.

A lot of it is just having to adjust as you go, but I think too many cultures is better than too few when you're starting out.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

Thankyou Patty,
Some valuable information there for me.
So you feed the springtails yeast and rice? Sounds simple. Why is it everyone uses charcoal with them?

About the fruit fly, how do I know when to feed the adult FF to the frogs, as I dont want to ruin the culture.

Trying to remember your questions....

I feed my springtails cucumber peels and rice only. No yeast. Others feed yeast.

When feeding, make sure you are dusting your flies regularly. I like to dust every meal.

I use charcoal with my springtails for ease. Some say they get better reproduction using peat.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

I saw your post on frognet and the answer from EdK about the calcium question with springtails and the substrate. I'll let you post on this because it was your research. As far as the charcoal, I think it is a convenience for feeding more than anything. It also holds the yeast. The springtails swarm all over it, so you can just blow them off into the tank, or put the entire charcoal brick into the tank for the frogs to feed around. They're pretty difficult to capture and transfer from the soil substrate and water layer otherwise. I think Homer told me once that he sucks them up from the water layer with a turkey baster, but that didn't work for me.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

Yeah, I was hoping to get a little more help from the "experts" before I posted on here. I asked them why they keep saying springtails are high in calcium when there is no calcium in their substrate (charcoal) or thier food (uncooked rice). There have only been a few responses, but the just of it is that springtails raised this way will not be high in calcium. In a soil that is high in calcium, the springtails will be high in calcium. Therefore, they must be cultured in something that is high in calcium. So, I'm going to try some different stuff and see if I can work out something to get more calcium in my springtails. Here's what I'm going to try:

1. Culture them in peat with calcium added to the peat. I'll put a few big chunks of charcoal on top to use for collecting them.

2. I wonder if I used something higher in calcium to grow the fungi on if the fungus would pick up the calcium and transfer it to the springtails. Collard greens are high in calcium.

3. Instead of using distilled water, I'm going to use aged tap water. That way there won't be any chlorine in the water, but the calcium carbonate will get passed on to the springtails.

With the amount of vitamin and calcium dusting that falls off of my flies in the tank, I have to assume the springtails established in my tank are high in calcium.

I'll keep you posted.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

Can you feed springtails to leucs as a staple?
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1.0 Baby Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter