Blue Bottle Fly

Care and Storage of Blue Bottle Fly Larvae (Calliphora vicina)

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Arthropods Canada offers Calliphora vicina, a larger species of Blue Bottle fly, as an excellent feeder option for arachnids, reptiles, and other insectivores. To ensure the highest quality for your pets, we source our larvae weekly from a USDA-approved farm and ship them with permits to maintain freshness and compliance.


Storage Instructions

Upon receiving your larvae, it is essential to store them in the refrigerator at a temperature between 36–40°F (2–4°C). The crisper drawer is an ideal location for maintaining optimal conditions. Under these storage conditions:

  • Larvae remain viable for up to 60 days when ordered with overnight or next-day shipping options.
  • For best results, limit storage to 30 days to ensure high hatch rates and quality.
  • Avoid prolonged refrigeration, as extended storage significantly reduces hatch success rates.

If you opt for standard letter mail, shipments typically arrive between Tuesday and Friday. Orders delayed beyond this period may still be viable, but please notify us if there are issues so we can improve our logistics.

To ensure larvae and pupae stay healthy, take them out of the fridge once a day for a few minutes. This brief "daylight cycle" allows them to wiggle around and prevents freezing-related fatalities in colder refrigerators. Think of it as mimicking long nights and short days, which helps maintain their viability.


Hatching Instructions

To allow for pupation and eventual hatching:

  1. Remove from refrigeration: Take a portion of the larvae out of the fridge and let them sit at room temperature in a ventilated container.
  2. Prepare the container: Use 0.5-1oz clean deli cup or similar container. Create a small exit hole covered with removable tape and add ventilation holes.
  3. Place in the enclosure: Add a larvae or pupae to the prepared container, snap the lid on, and position it in your pet’s enclosure "allow fly to hatch if pupae first". Remove the tape from the exit hole, allowing adult flies to emerge naturally for spider to catch.

To ensure a steady supply of flies, stagger the removal of larvae from refrigeration every 2–3 days. This process provides a consistent cycle of pupation and hatching.
you should hatch flies in groups of 3-5 pupae, you can hatch out 25 flies for a single spider and if some of these flies are wasted it is fine your spider is very well fed and happy.


Slowing Down and Handling Adult Flies

For easier handling, place the flies in the freezer for 5-10 minutes after removing them from the fridge/freezer. This will slow them down, giving you roughly 5-30 seconds to transfer them to another container or pick them up with tongs for direct feeding to your pets or just loosely toss them into enclosures for spiders to hunt.


Care for Hatched Flies

Once hatched, adult flies can be stored in a deli container in the refrigerator to slow their metabolism and extend their lifespan. To maintain their energy:

  • Provide a piece of paper towel soaked with sugar water inside the container.
  • Take them out of the fridge once a day for a few minutes to let them wiggle around. This daily activity improves their health and simulates a natural day/night cycle.
  • Flies stored in this way can be re-energized and ready for feeding after a brief warm-up at room temperature.

Nutritional Information and Feeding Tips

Blue Bottle flies are a rich source of nutrition, containing 20% protein and 6% fat. While gut loading is an option (e.g., with honey or powdered sugar), it may result in messes and “spit marks” in the enclosure. Instead, you can dust sluggish adult flies with supplements after cooling them in the refrigerator to enhance their nutritional value before feeding.

Blue Bottle flies are highly active, stimulating predatory instincts in pets like jumping spiders, mantises, frogs, chameleons, and bearded dragons. Their movement can break hunger strikes, making them an excellent feeder option.

For the best experience, order a fresh supply monthly to maintain peak freshness and ensure your pets enjoy high-quality feeders.