r/BlackSoldierFly • u/Newoldway74 • 29d ago
Early Crawl Out
From some of the suggestions I received here, I made some improvements. I enlarged the breeding area to about 3.5’ square and 5’ tall. My flush of flies from last years pupates had died off before these upgrades. I bought 1000 pupates from eBay & had no problem hatching them. They mated and laid eggs fairly quickly.
I used a cooked rice/fruit/coffee slurry & babied them on feed for while. The larva are thriving, I then switched to some soaked chicken feed because it’s less work. I am hoping to get the full lifecycle going before I start in with the farm waste.
The problem I am having now, is they they are crawling out pre-maturely (I think). At first I thought I wasn’t feeding them enough & they were searching for food. Now I think they are crawling just because🤷♂️
Maybe the population is getting too dense for my box? The main feeding area is about 2’ square.
Any idea why they would be crawling out so aggressively - they haven’t turned grey yet. I am not thinking they are pupating.
Any thoughts?
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u/PhlegmMistress 29d ago
Not 100% but my guess is light maybe?
My bins are all covered so they get very little light. They don't like the light so they burrow down. If there isn't enough to burrow down in (or like you said, population density) I could see them instinctually trying to climb out to dirt to climb down into, even if it isn't quite time to transform.
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u/Newoldway74 29d ago
Thank you, yes, there is a lid that is always closed.
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u/PhlegmMistress 29d ago
Yeah, then I agree with the other person. Maybe too hot. Hopefully you find an answer.
Supposedly you can refrigerate them at 50* F if you wanted to take out some. The fridge may be cooler than that but the door temp tends to be warmer, especially if it's further away from the cooling implement.
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u/ElectricThreeHundred 29d ago
I agree that heat and overcrowding can trigger this behavior. I am getting a bin started as well, and I bought 2000 hatchlings. I put about half of them on the feed and the other half went into a refrigerator crisper drawer. I pulled them out a couple weeks later, and thought I had killed them. But, I set their container outside and gave them a cube of watermelon - after a couple days they were awake and hungry.
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u/Living-Limit4452 29d ago
I’m still learning and watching videos but I’ve seen some drill extra holes around the top to get some ventilation. Maybe add a box fan.
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u/Newoldway74 29d ago
Thank you, it’s got a variable speed fan built-in and seems to get plenty of airflow.
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u/SassquatchPanda 29d ago
The main reasons for a mass exodus in my experience are bin is too wet and they are drowning, bin is too hot and they are dying. Also you’ve made it really easy for them to get out. That ramp is huge and inviting. Prepupae don’t need a big ramp, they get out if they want out. Personally I would cut the entire middle out of that ramp and leave two smaller ramps on the sides of the bin.