ANTSTORE World of Ants (F)  >> English forum (F)  >> Off-Topic (F)
Click to view full story of "Keeping pinky madens"

highered: Keeping pinky madens (28. Apr 2009 14:01)

I bought some "pinky madens" from Antstore recently, they are maggot like mealworms or something. Anyway I accidently had them too close to a heat source and most turned into catalysts. Recently some hatched out, I thought they would be beetles but they are very big blue bottle flies. My question is is it safe to feed these in maggot form of adult flie form as they would have fed on rotting meat. What if I fed the new adult flies some meat and they laid eggs and I got new maggots. Would they still be alright to feed to ants as the meat would go off after a day or two. Thank you.

SteveUK28: Re: Keeping pinky madens (28. Apr 2009 15:03)

hiya bud.. im sure they would be fine to feed your ants.. ants will eat almost anything like that so i wouldnt worry.. N if u wanna be extra safe.. just put them in some boilin water before feeding them to your ants.

McK: Re: Keeping pinky madens (28. Apr 2009 15:29)

They're good for ants but not so good for the nest, especially if they are kept moist, they can easily destroy the nest by leaving a wet trail behind them everywhere they go.
I once gave my Myrmica rubra a couple of maggots, but they could easily crawl over the fluon or talcum layer making it possible for ants to escape.

Keep that in account if you give them maggots, personally I prefer meal worms because they can't do much damage.

highered: Re: Keeping pinky madens (1. Mai 2009 13:47)

Having thought about it I think there is only a problem if the maggots/flies eat comtaminated rotting meat eg meat with bacteria or worms in it so your own personally bought meat to feed them should be alright.