Making Fly Culture Media and Fly Cultures

Click here for the Video!

​Your days of paying $8.99 for an old, nearly dead fly culture from PetSmart are over!
 
Making your own fly cultures with your own media is super easy and will save you loads of money over time. 

​What you will need:
32 oz deli cups 
Fly culture lids 
Excelsior 
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
6 teaspoons methyl paraben
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 
1 1/2 cups brewers yeast 
12 cups potato flakes

​Making your own fly culture media:
Combine all listed dry ingredients from above. Ensure that all ingredients are well mixed to prevent cultures from molding. That’s it! I found the potato flakes in the form of dry, unflavored mashed potatoes in a 28oz box. The 28oz ended up being exactly 12 cups! 

Making your own cultures:
Step 1: Add ½ cup of fly culture media to 32oz deli cup
Step 2: Add 1 cup boiling water to media. Stir ensuring mixture is well incorporated
Step 3: Add handful of excelsior to culture
Step 4: Cover halfway with lid until cool (about 30 minutes). I cover half way to reduce moisture in the culture in hopes of reducing future mold.
Step 5: Once media is cool, add 50-75 flies.
In about 2 weeks, you will start to see larvae crawling in the media and up the sides of the deli cup. In about three weeks, you will start to see pupa cases form. In about 4 weeks, new flies will emerge.
In order to extend the life of your culture, dump out extra flies that your animals will not be consuming. All the extra flies will just eat up the media and cause your culture to die out faster. 

​Comment below if this was useful to you!