Description
Frogfather DustDock™ – Concentrated Fruit Fly Feeding Station
Keep freshly dusted fruit flies where your frogs can actually find them.
The Frogfather DustDock™ is a simple feeding station designed to keep dusted fruit flies concentrated in one area of the vivarium for longer, rather than allowing them to disappear immediately into the planting, substrate and background.
It is the system I use when I want to make feeding more deliberate and give dart frogs the best opportunity to take freshly supplemented flies while the dust is still on them.
Why Use a DustDock?
Fruit flies are very good at doing exactly what you don’t want them to do: disappearing.
Once released into a heavily planted vivarium they quickly spread through leaf litter, climb backgrounds and vanish amongst plants. During that time they also groom themselves, gradually removing some of the supplement powder you have just applied.
The DustDock creates a simple focal feeding area where freshly dusted flies naturally congregate before gradually dispersing through the enclosure.
- Keeps dusted flies concentrated in one feeding area for longer
- Makes feeding easier to observe
- Helps frogs locate freshly supplemented feeders quickly
- Useful for groups where several frogs feed at the same time
- Reduces the immediate disappearance of flies into dense planting and leaf litter
- Simple, reusable and easy to clean
How I Use It
- Dust the required number of fruit flies as normal.
- Place a small piece of banana or other suitable fruit-fly attractant inside the DustDock.
- Add the freshly dusted flies.
- Place the DustDock in an accessible area of the vivarium.
- Let the frogs do the rest.
The banana gives the flies a reason to remain around the feeding station rather than immediately scattering throughout the enclosure.
It does not trap the flies permanently. They can still leave and forage naturally around the vivarium, but it creates a useful initial feeding zone where frogs can quickly find them.
Designed Around Supplementation
The DustDock works particularly well alongside Frogfather All-in-1 Vitamin & Mineral Dust, which is designed to coat small feeder insects such as fruit flies evenly.
See Frogfather All-in-1 Vitamin & Mineral Dust →
For a more detailed explanation of how and why I dust feeder insects, see our complete dart frog feeding guide:
Read the Dart Frog Feeding Guide →
Suitable For
- Dart frogs
- Froglets
- Ranitomeya and other small dart frog species
- Other small insectivorous vivarium inhabitants taking fruit flies
A Simple Idea – But Surprisingly Useful
This isn’t intended to reinvent feeding.
It’s simply a practical little tool that came from watching what happens every time I feed my own frogs: freshly dusted flies are released, the frogs rush over, and within moments the remaining flies start disappearing into the vivarium.
The DustDock keeps that initial feeding activity concentrated in one place for a little longer.
Dusted flies. One feeding zone. Frogfather DustDock™.
