little flies

[P. Novak]

THere are pesky little flies throughout some of my cages, they were in my cages about a month ago, but I cooked all the soil and wood and then everything was fine, but they are back now. They are way to small to take pictures of with my camera, maybe 1/8th of an inch or possibly smaller in size. The only reason I worry, are they dangerous to my Ts, scorps, or cents?
THanks. I guarantee you they are not fruit flies.

 

[cheetah13mo]

I've had a few of those buzzing around but they are gone now and I never had an issue with them. At least I hope they can't cause a problem cause I'll probably get them again sooner or later too.

 

[Hedorah99]

THere are pesky little flies throughout some of my cages, they were in my cages about a month ago, but I cooked all the soil and wood and then everything was fine, but they are back now. They are way to small to take pictures of with my camera, maybe 1/8th of an inch or possibly smaller in size. The only reason I worry, are they dangerous to my Ts, scorps, or cents?
THanks. I guarantee you they are not fruit flies.

They're probably phorid flies. they thrive in moist environments and will eat just about anything thats decaying. Let the soil dry a little. They can be dangerous. I have lost a C fimbriatus that had eggs laid on it while molting. Since I have kept the container a little drier and not had a problem.

 

[P. Novak]

I looked at a pic of a phorid fly, and they dont look like them. The flys I have are small and black. They dont even look like regular flies. One of my tanks is dry and they still are in there.

 

[Amanda]

I get flies in my cricket bin that sound like what you're describing. Could that be the source? Are there any dead crix hiding in one of your tanks?

 

[P. Novak]

I looked through the tanks and it doesnt seem like there are any dead crickets, but I feed my tarantulas a cricket or two at night and then dont pull the remains out till the following night or afternoon. Although that doesnt seem long enough for them to colinate(?).

I get flies in my cricket bin that sound like what you're describing. Could that be the source? Are there any dead crix hiding in one of your tanks?

 

[Amanda]

No, it doesn't. I feed about twice a week, and do clean-up just on Sundays (unless one of my bigger Ts is eating something messier than a cricket). I definitely have flies in the cricket box, but none in the tanks. There must be another reason for yours.

My cricket flies are definitely coming from the crickets though. I never find any outside of the box until I open the lid and they get loose. They aren't coming from the outside and going in. They are starting on the inside.

 

[cliff]

Could be fungus gnats. I get them in the potting soil I buy. They don't need much moisture. They don't bother anything, just a little annoying.

Cliff

 

[P. Novak]

looking at some pictures, it really could be fungus gnats. But i never see any of the larva. Ill look deeper into my T cages when I see the fliess again.

 

[KJE]

Fungus gnats are a royal pain in the butt! I have been stuggling with them for several months now. They are SO annoying!

Mine came in with some crickets I got. I hung a fly strip in the kitchen and livingroom. It helped get rid of a lot of them, but they are still hanging around my cricket container.

Good luck!

 

[Code Monkey]

I agree that they sound like fungus gnats, harmless but can be annoying.

It's things like these that prompt me to keep the majority of my collection pretty much dry. No fungus gnats, no phorids, no nematodes, no mites, no molds, no problems.

 

[Scott C.]

.....It's things like these that prompt me to keep the majority of my collection pretty much dry. No fungus gnats, no phorids, no nematodes, no mites, no molds, no problems.

If you don't want to keep them dry, there is always the biological option of finding a harmless sp. of house spder, and letting them loose in your house. I let three eggsacs hatch loose in my bedroom, and it has pretty much eliminated my pest fly problem, and escaped cricket problem. Best thing about it is, with repeated general cleaning the spiders seem to be moving into the T cages themselves, which is great because I don't have to disturb them in there.
Of course dry cages do work better, but it doesn't work at all with live plants.

 

[cliff]

If you don't want to keep them dry, there is always the biological option of finding a harmless sp. of house spder, and letting them loose in your house. I let three eggsacs hatch loose in my bedroom, and it has pretty much eliminated my pest fly problem, and escaped cricket problem. Best thing about it is, with repeated general cleaning the spiders seem to be moving into the T cages themselves, which is great because I don't have to disturb them in there.
Of course dry cages do work better, but it doesn't work at all with live plants.[/QUOTE

When I first got them in my A.chalcodes enclosure, I put a little house spider in with her. It worked great and was fun to watch. The little spider set up housekeeping in a corner and was eating gnats like crazy. Then one day the T ate it!

 

[Amanda]

That's awesome! (The cohabitation, not that it got eaten.) I'm really tempted now to put a pet spider in with one of my Ts, but I don't have a pest problem in any of the tanks.

 

[ChrisNCT]

Scott..thats funny. I have done the same thing. I took housespiders and the house centipedes and turned em loose in my room they take care of stray crickets and other misc stuff like knats and flys. I use the hanging glue traps in conrners of the room...which really seem to work really well.

 

[P. Novak]

Would "daddy long legs" work to put in the cages of some of my Ts?

If not can someone name a species of spider that wouldnt hurt my T?

 

[funnylori]

I had a serious out break of fungus gnats over the summer. The only way I ever got them under control was thanks to my sundew. I had to change the water and rinse the flys out of the saucer a couple of times a month so that they weren't breeding/around it, and the sundew did the rest.

 

[Arachnophilist]

if you find any small cobweb type spider around the house I would Imagine you could just let it form a small messy web in a corner and it would eat a lot of the fungus gnats.. the only sure way to get rid of them I know of is a chemical substance used when growing plants.. it is poured onto the soil to kill them off. but I doubt that would be any use.

 

[Becky]

them small flies are generally only a problem when it comes to egg sacs.. iv known people who have had flies get in them and kill the whole lot... they come from the damp substrate.. dont do the t any harm.. my mantids love 'em lol

 

[P. Novak]

Ok, this is an old thread, but here are some pics I took of the flies...
On the dirty glass...

Dead on my hand..