Maggots off stinky dead things?

Molch · Sep 8, 2011

My doggie and I regularly come across dearly-departed denizens of the tundra on our forays and hikes (well; she finds most of them). Often, they have yummy white maggots on them.

Can I collect these and feed to the newts? Or is there any reason that maggots fed on dead tundra meat might be harmful? I suspect these are fly maggots of some kind.

Here is the Pudden with her latest conquest; a mature muskox bull who expired in a willow thicket. Only his bones were there, but plenty of maggots still clung to those.

On this particular occasion, the only container I had on me was my lunch box, and I wasn't gonna put those maggots on my sandwich...

rethgar · Sep 8, 2011

I would have thought maggots would be pretty fatty. Assuming it didn't die as a result of poisoning or something similar I can't see too much of a problem with it

taherman · Sep 8, 2011

I once found several Desmognathus packed tighter than a sausage full of maggots from a rotting deer. They seemed quite happy until my girlfriend picked them up. Then they vomited still-writhing maggots all over her hands.

It was a touching moment, and convinced me that she was a top notch woman, so we are married now.

Greatwtehunter · Sep 9, 2011

I use maggots. I culture my own and during the warmer months I'll stick a few fish carcasses out in the backyard. I'm sure the neighbors hate me for it but my salamanders sure don't!

Molch · Sep 9, 2011

good to know. Just came back from a hike where I found a dead moose. Will return there and bravely pluck some maggots off the skin. Just gotta watch over my shoulder so I don't get plucked by a griz myself who might consider that carcass his property, hehe

Justin - what's your culturing method for maggots? Is it incredible gross and stinky? My house is small...or is there a way to do it without going into a permanent gag reflex?

Coastal Groovin · Sep 9, 2011

I have collected them off of dead catfish I leave in the woods. They work great.

Greatwtehunter · Sep 9, 2011

I culture them in a large container (I use one with more vertical space) with a screen lid. The bottom of the container has a slight layer of coco fiber. I have one bowl that has the egg laying medium and one petri dish with sugar cubes/powdered milk/water. I also add one tomato, cut in half once every 2 weeks or so.

The egg laying medium consists of powdered sugar, crushed dog food, and a little bit of yeast. It is moistened until it's a little runnier than mashed potatoes.

Start off with a small amount of medium. If it's too large and there aren't enough maggots to effectively "turn it over" then it will become mouldy and smelly. This is mainly a trial and error process at first.

Molch · Sep 9, 2011

thanks, I gotta try this. Do you just catch ordinary house flies to get going? and what's a good temperature?

I'm glad the culture medium doesn't involve decomposing body parts or chopped bits-of-mother-in-law. Powdered sugar and dog food ...yum yum.

Greatwtehunter · Sep 9, 2011

I started my cultures by collecting maggots from rotting fish I had sitting outside a few years ago.

My cultures stay in the 70-80°F range

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Maggots off stinky dead things?

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