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- To: Live-Foods at actwin_com
- Subject: Re: Live Foods Digest V2 #3
- From: Sharpn <smh at NOSPAM_tyler.net>
- Date: Tue, 06 Jan 1998 23:53:10 -0600
- References: <199801050858.DAA03815 at acme_actwin.com>
> Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 18:59:08 -0800 > From: Carlo <losco at techie_com> > Subject: Re: Live Foods Digest V2 #2 > what type of dogfood are you using? have you tried less and a > different kind? Are you using dry food moistened or canned food > moistened? you might try the canned, heard it has worked, never tried > it though. I was using dry moistened and I've tried the 3-4 brands of dog food and two of cat food that we feed our animals. I guess I could get a few samples of other dog food from my mom, but I don't think it'll make a difference. I didn't think of ever using canned, but I'm desperate to get a few larvae from this batch of flies so I'm trying it. I wouldn't want to use canned long term since I'm trying to raise these flies as clean and odor free as possible. > Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 19:27:11 -0800 > From: Stephen Pushak <teban at powersonic_bc.ca> > Subject: Re: Flightless Houseflies > > Sharon, you asked about wingless fly medium growing mold on the last > live-foods digest. > > I don't raise flies or worms but I do have a suggestion. I think you > might try sterilizing your medium (dog food) by cooking it. I did that with the batch I added sulfur and lime too. It kept a good while without molding, but I worried that the sulfur/lime was caustic or otherwise unsuitable to for flies. When I first got my flies (both fruit and house) I tried cornmeal based medium and potato flake medium.... Mold. I tried adding honey since honey has a reputation of making things keep longer... Mold. Heck, I even tried cinnamon in a batch (it's been used to keep aflatoxin from growing on beans). I don't rember how well that worked. I was too worried that the cinnamon might be bad for the fruitflies that were in it, or if not them, then the animals they were fed to. > best way to do that is to cook a batch of it in a pressure cooker and > then freeze it in small samples. I can't justify buying a pressure cooker just to make fly food (though I'd like to). I don't know anyone who has one I can borrow either. > I suspect when it comes right out of > the can, it might already be sterile so if you minimize exposure to air, > maybe the cooking step won't be necessary. can? >Whatever you use as > containers, spoons etc should also be sterilized in a similar fashion. > Minimize exposure to the air after you cook it as there are plenty of > mold spores in your air; it's inevitable that small amount of these > will get into the medium but do the best you can. Hmmm, there's an idea. I've kept them clean, but I didn't actually sterilize them. > Now the jar that you grow the flies in should also be sterilized. An > alternative to pressure cookers or boiling is to use bleach and then > rinse well. I always bleach or wash with hot soapy water This I've been doing. > you need to allow for air (oxygen) to enter but you don't want to punch > holes in your lid or the mold spores will infect your culture. I think > fine cloth rubber banded over the mouth of the jar will let air pass > but catch the spores. This, too, I've been doing all along. I've used cloth, paper towels and or facial tissues rubber banded over the jar or other container. Unfortunately I suspect part of the problem is my area just has a lot of mold spore in the air. Maybe it would help if I removed the carpeting in that room. Thanks for your advice, Stephen. I really appreciate you trying to help me out. :)
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