Flightless Fruitflies

Live Flightless Fruit Flies for Reptiles, Amphibians & Invertebrates

Live flightless fruit flies are a popular small live reptile food, ideal for dart frogs, small geckos, juvenile reptiles, amphibians, mantids, spiders and other small insect-eating pets.

At Internet Reptile, we offer two species of flightless fruit fly, available as either producing cultures or ready-to-feed flies only.

Choose Your Fruit Fly Species

Regular Flightless Fruit Flies – Drosophila hydei

Drosophila hydei are the larger fruit fly species we sell, measuring approximately 3–4mm. They are a great choice for many dart frogs, small reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates that need a slightly larger live food.

Golden Flightless Fruit Fly Culture – Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster are smaller fruit flies, measuring around 2mm. This makes them especially useful for very small dart frogs, tiny amphibians, young invertebrates and other pets that need extra-small live food. They also have a faster life cycle than D. hydei.

Culture or Flies Only?

Fruit Fly Cultures

Fruit fly cultures are the traditional way to buy live fruit flies. Each culture contains fruit fly media where flies have laid eggs, allowing more flies to hatch over time.

Keep the culture warm and you should see flies hatching over the following days, providing an ongoing supply of fresh live fruit flies. Depending on temperature and the age of the culture, there may already be some flies present when delivered, but this is not guaranteed.

Flies Only

The “flies only” option is best when you need live fruit flies straight away. These tubs contain hatched fruit flies that are ready to feed immediately, just like other live reptile food.

Please note that hatched fruit flies can be relatively short lived, so this option is best when you have an immediate feeding need. Adding a small slice of banana to the tub can help support them for longer.

How to Keep Fruit Fly Cultures

• Keep cultures warm, ideally around 20–25°C.
• Avoid placing cultures somewhere too cold, as this can slow or stop hatching.
• Do not overheat or place in direct sunlight.
• Keep the culture upright and avoid excessive shaking.
• Allow several days for cultures to begin producing flies, especially in cooler conditions.

Live Arrival & Hatching Guarantee

Because fruit fly cultures are not always intended to be used immediately, we extend our usual live arrival policy to allow time for hatching.

Please keep your fruit fly culture warm, ideally between 20–25°C, and report any issues, including failure to hatch, within 7 days of delivery.

For best results, order cultures before you completely run out of live food so they have time to establish and begin producing flies.