How to Breed Fruit Flies

Fruit flies are a food source for small lizards, frogs, fish and baby amphibians or reptiles. They are ideal for pets that are too small to eat crickets from a pet store. Fruit fries can be bred and maintained in a small container without giving off an unpleasant smell, unlike crickets and other feeder insects. Fruit flies do not grow larger over time, though, so they are not a suitable food source for larger amphibians or reptiles.

Things You'll Need

  • Fruit fly media
  • Baker's yeast
  • Empty bottle
  • Stick (optional)
  • Fruit flies
  • Cheesecloth
  • Rubber band
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Instructions

    • 1

      Mix the fruit fly media in the bottle at a 1 to 1 ratio, based on the size of your bottle. As a rule of thumb, use enough media to fill about 1/8th the bottle. For example, in a 2 liter bottle (about 8.5 cups), mix about 1 cup of media in 1 cup of water. Fruit fly media is available for purchase online and in many pet stores.

    • 2

      Add one to two pinches of baker's yeast to the media, or less than 1/2 teaspoon. Optionally, add a stick inside the bottle, which will allow the fruit flies to climb inside of the bottle.

    • 3

      Empty about 50 fruit flies into the bottle. Fruit flies can be purchased in small tubes from pet stores, but they will not breed without the food provided in the fruit fly media. Quickly cover the top of the bottle with the cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band.

    • 4

      Wait for one to two weeks until the flies lay eggs and the eggs grow into maggots. The maggots will hatch into more fruit flies. The flies can then be fed to your pet, and you can begin breeding another batch with some of the new adult flies. A small bag of fruit fly media and initial supply of fruit flies should last for several generations of fruit flies.