By Frogfather

If you’ve ever tried to go away for more than a day or two and still keep your dart frogs properly fed and supplemented, you’ll know the stress. Fruit fly cultures crash, neighbours forget to dust, supplements get wet and clump… and our frogs end up going without essential calcium and vitamins.

I’ve experienced this exact problem more times than I’d like to admit. I’d go away for a weekend or a few days, I’d leave detailed notes, pre-dusted flies, perfectly fed cultures… and still come back to underfed frogs and dried-up fly cultures. And even when people did remember to feed them, they never remembered to dust the flies properly.

💡 Why I Built This System

I wanted a way to make fruit flies dust themselves — automatically — without any shaking, scooping, or human involvement. No more hoping someone remembers. No more guilt that my frogs went without nutrients while I was away.

So I built the Self-Dusting Fruit Fly Feeder — now available here: Automatic Dartfrog Feeder

This product solves two problems at once:

• ✅ Frogs get fed automatically – no more missed feeds.
• ✅ Every single fly is dusted – no more calcium deficiencies or guesswork.

🐸 Not Just for Holidays – This Is a Daily Feeder Too

Most “holiday feeders” just let flies escape slowly, but none of them guarantee that flies are dusted. And they’re usually only meant for short-term use.

This is different. I designed this so you can:

• ✔ Use it every day as your standard feeding method
• ✔ Leave it in the vivarium until the culture is fully exhausted
• ✔ Trust that only adult flies escape — fully coated in supplements
• ✔ Be sure your frogs are getting calcium, vitamins and minerals every time

If you still prefer the slow-release holiday feeder without the dusting system, that one is here: Slow-Release Holiday Feeder for Dart Frogs

⚙️ So, How Does It Work?

It uses three simple principles:

1. A standard 32oz deli cup holds your fruit fly culture (D. melanogaster or D. hydei).
2. A dusting maze sits above the culture, filled with supplement powder.
3. Tiny exit holes force adult flies to walk through the powder before reaching your frogs.

This means every fly is dusted — no shaking, no mess, no wasted powder. And because the openings are only large enough for adult flies, larvae and pupae remain safely inside continuing the culture cycle.

💧 Waterproof & Misting-Proof — Why the Powder Never Clumps

One of the biggest issues with traditional dusting setups or DIY ideas is moisture. In a high-humidity vivarium with misting systems or foggers, any exposed powder turns into a sticky paste within hours.

To stop this, I engineered the dusting chamber with micro ventilation holes. These holes are deliberately small enough that surface tension prevents water droplets from entering. Mist lands on the surface but doesn’t travel inside.

✅ This means:

• No wet, clumpy supplement powder
• No smelly bacteria growth in the supplement chamber
• No blocked exit tunnels stopping the flies from getting out

🐛 What Happens Inside the Culture?

Unlike normal “shake and feed” methods, the culture is never disturbed. You don’t tip it, shake it or open it inside the vivarium — so the larvae and pupae are left alone to keep producing more flies.

Here’s what happens step-by-step:

1. Larvae & pupae remain feeding at the base of the cup—just like a normal culture.
2. Adult flies naturally climb upwards toward light and airflow.
3. They reach the supplement chamber where they must walk through a maze of powdered vitamins and minerals.
4. Only then can they exit through the tiny escape holes — now fully dusted.
5. Your frogs get a continuous supply of nutritionally coated flies.

🟡 Upsell Note: For best nutrition, I developed my own supplement blend specifically for dart frogs:
Frogfather All-In-1 Vitamin & Mineral Dust – Calcium, Vitamin D3, Carotenoids & Bee Pollen in one mix.

📅 Daily Use vs Holiday Use

I want to make this very clear — this is not just a holiday emergency feeder. Most keepers (myself included) now use it as their standard everyday feeding system.

Here’s how I use it:

• ✅ Place it at the back of the vivarium
• ✅ Add a fresh fruit fly culture every 1–2 weeks
• ✅ Top up the supplement chamber when needed
• ✅ Leave it alone — flies feed themselves out gradually, already dusted

And yes — it still works perfectly if you go on holiday. Combine it with auto-misting, and your frogs can be left on their own for several days (or even longer in some setups) with zero welfare compromise.

🆚 Traditional Feeding vs This System

If you still want the non-dusting slow-release feeder, you can find it here:
https://frogfather.co.uk/product/slow-release-holiday-feeder-for-dart-frogs/

🐸 Which Frogs & Animals Can Use This System?

This feeder was designed for dart frogs, but it works for any small insect-eating species that feed on fruit flies or similarly sized prey. That includes:

• Dart Frogs: Dendrobates, Ranitomeya, Oophaga, Phyllobates
• Tree Frogs: Red-Eyed Tree Frogs, Lemur Tree Frogs, Tiger-Legged Monkeys
• Mantellas & Reed Frogs
• Small geckos: Mourning Geckos, Gonatodes, Phelsuma juveniles
• Micro chameleons and young pygmy chameleons
• Invertebrates: Jumping spiders, mantis nymphs, small scorpions

🛡️ Is It Safe for Frogs?

Yes — frogs cannot get inside the culture. The feeder is designed so only tiny dusted adult flies can exit through the maze and out of the cup. This means:

• No frogs drowning in cultures
• No frogs eating mould, media or mites
• No cross-contamination or substrate dragged into cultures

🌱 Does the Culture Dry Out?

Because the feeder doesn’t require shaking or opening the culture inside the vivarium, the media doesn’t get exposed to airflow or substrate. The culture stays moist, larvae keep feeding, and flies emerge gradually as intended.

Most users (including me) get 10–14 days of output from a healthy culture inside this system — and some even longer if the room conditions are stable.

🏆 Key Benefits — At a Glance

• ✅ Fully automatic — feeding + dusting all-in-one
• ✅ Ideal for holidays, work trips, or daily low-maintenance care
• ✅ No wet supplement powder — water-resistant exit holes
• ✅ Only adult flies leave — larvae stay and continue producing
• ✅ Saves time, prevents culture damage, improves animal health
• ✅ Works with any supplement dust (best with Frogfather All-In-1)
• ✅ No shaking, no escapees, no stress to frogs

🛒 Ready to Use It?

You can order the system here:
Self-Dusting Fruit Fly Feeder – Frogfather

And don’t forget the supplement it was designed to work with:
Frogfather All-In-1 Vitamin & Mineral Dust

Prefer the older slow-release feeder without dusting?
Slow-Release Holiday Feeder for Dart Frogs