Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How many cultures do I need for 6-10 frogs? The jars I will be using are 20oz. THANKS Shawn

The answer is...it depends. It depends on how good your media is, what kind of flies you use, the temperature you keep them at, your humidity, your surface area increaser, etc.

I would start with making 6-7 cultures every time the cultures start (8-10 days with mels) to produce and lessen from that as you figure out what works best in your setup.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

For my group, I set up a new culture every other day, alternating between D. melanogaster and D. hydei, but it is a lot more bother than Josh's way of setting up several every 8 to 10 days. I use Patrick's (Saurian) media kits with 32 oz delicups. The production can be variable, but it's definitely better in warmer weather. In my experience, they will produce in a dark cupboard, but seem to do better in the light. The D. melanogaster produce faster with more flies, but the larger hydei, while slower, last somewhat longer. I think you just have to experiment, going from the upper end, as Josh has said, as you don't want to get stuck with too few if there is a crash. Springtails make a great back-up as well as providing variety and don't have to be re-cultured. I just put them in a covered food storage container (about 9" X 9" or so,) with about an inch of organic compost, a lot of charcoal briquettes in 1 1/2 inches of water, sprinkle with yeast every once in awhile and add a small handful of brown rice every once in awhile. I've had the same two cultures for about 2 years now without renewing anything. They swarm on the briquettes and you can just blow them off into the tank. They're pretty small for a mainstay diet and can't be dusted with vitamins, but they are great to have when all of a sudden none of the cultures seem to be producing fast enough. (You need the flat hickory briquettes that aren't saturated with "starter fluid" of course. I got mine from Ed's fly meat with my first and only starter culture and have not had to replace them since then. The only thing I added to his instructions was the organic compost, which oddly enough, has never gotten sour or stunk.
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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
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus