Not the flies!

[EulersK]

Well, I've finally got the hang of keeping species humid, and things are going just dandy. Other than the legion of fruit flies* that have come along.

It goes without saying that I understand the fruit flies are breeding in the T tanks, which frankly, I don't care too much about. No big deal. But then they leave the tanks and swarm the room. I've tried every home remedy I can find on the web, and none work well enough. I'd really rather not resort to fly strips, but I will absolutely do that if this doesn't get better soon.

Does anyone have a T-friendly way of dealing with this? Or how to avoid it all together?




*I don't know if they're literally fruit flies. They're tiny little flies, maybe 1mm long at most.

 

[Poec54]

I had problems with tiny flies initially, most of my species having moist substrate. First recommendation is removing boluses/dead crickets every time you open cages to feed or water. Take away some of the attraction.

The other thing that made a big difference for me was letting house/cellar spiders live in the spider room corners and around the ceiling. They're very efficient. I haven't seen a fly in a couple years.

 

[Pokie Master]

What can also help and is very affective is cut and flip the top of a soda bottle to make a trap and fill it with apple cider vinegar. They love it and will enter and not be able to get back out.

 

[cold blood]

I had problems with tiny flies initially, most of my species having moist substrate. First recommendation is removing boluses/dead crickets every time you open cages to feed or water. Take away some of the attraction.

+1 I've had them pop up a few times, the common denominator was that they always occurred in an enclosure that was hiding many bolus'. Cleanliness is the best method of control.

 

[BobGrill]

+1 I've had them pop up a few times, the common denominator was that they always occurred in an enclosure that was hiding many bolus'. Cleanliness is the best method of control.

That's why it sucks when you have one that likes to keep its bolus in its web/burrow. Or in the case of my heavy webbers, occasionally a cricket will die in a spot that is difficult to remove it from, without destroying a lot of the webbing.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I had problems with tiny flies initially, most of my species having moist substrate. First recommendation is removing boluses/dead crickets every time you open cages to feed or water. Take away some of the attraction.

The other thing that made a big difference for me was letting house/cellar spiders live in the spider room corners and around the ceiling. They're very efficient. I haven't seen a fly in a couple years.

+ 1 I had a fly infestation that almost killed off my roach colony once.
Well if I ever have a fly issue again ill catch house spiders and put em in my room.

 

[dredrickt]

I'm fighting an ongoing battle with those small drain flies myself. The best method I've used is the sticky tape along with a small 2oz container filled with apple cider vinegar and dish detergent. Make the holes big enough the flies can get in, but not big enough anything else can. I mainly have them in my roach colonies, they love to lay eggs in water crystals, so I have to constantly clean it out.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I'm fighting an ongoing battle with those small drain flies myself. The best method I've used is the sticky tape along with a small 2oz container filled with apple cider vinegar and dish detergent. Make the holes big enough the flies can get in, but not big enough anything else can. I mainly have them in my roach colonies, they love to lay eggs in water crystals, so I have to constantly clean it out.

I Need to set up a True spider cage trap in my room to catch flys. I see flys often still cuz pothos plants , get a 10gal; Do baby Ts eat any room flys? Could I let a orb weaver live in pothos?

 

[just1moreT]

I have to give it to the true spiders in my T room, they are survivalist and appear to be doing just fine living on the escapees and other bugs that venture into the room.it's going to end up being one big cobweb in there one of these days lol I even have them living in some the t enlosures guess everybody happy as long the food dont run out but like the previous post they will keep the flies in check

 

[klawfran3]

a Nepenthes pitcher plant hanging in the center of the room will provide good insect control AND look pretty nice. It's what I did for a while until I forgot to tell the petsitter to water the thing. It actually worked really well.

 

[EulersK]

a Nepenthes pitcher plant hanging in the center of the room will provide good insect control AND look pretty nice. It's what I did for a while until I forgot to tell the petsitter to water the thing. It actually worked really well.

Okay, I love this idea. Love it. Although, I don't know how well those things will fair in my climate (hovers just around 0% humidity...)

I tried the apple cider vinegar thing, and it actually does work, just not well enough. I do leave the house spiders alone, although I don't get too many web-spinners in my area. The vast majority are either wolf spiders or black widows (which I kill on sight, as I have small dogs). I will however definitely try and keep cleaner cages if that will make a difference. I'm not huge about removing boluses immediately unless they cause mold, but I can see the issue there.

 

[Hobo]

Fruit flies aren't all that bad. Very easy to get rid of.
Phorid/drain/scuttle flies are the really annoying ones. Unlike fruit flies, they are black, and tend to run instead of fly.
I had to deal with a full blown infestation a few years back that started in a feeder bin.
I had to remove boluses/dead feeders/anything moist and organic daily to keep their numbers in check, and didn't have much luck with typical fly tape/traps.
I had no luck with predatory mites despite them being useful against fungus gnats. These guys were just too big.

Most people will tell you that killing them yourself won't make a difference, but I did it for hours because they made me crazy and I swear it did.
Anyway, once winter came along, they died out eventually and I've never had a problem reoccur since.

I would make an effort to remove them, as I could see them being a vector for nasty things not only to your spiders but to you as well.

 

[Hellemose]

Fruit flies aren't all that bad. Very easy to get rid of.
Phorid/drain/scuttle flies are the really annoying ones. Unlike fruit flies, they are black, and tend to run instead of fly.
I had to deal with a full blown infestation a few years back that started in a feeder bin.
I had to remove boluses/dead feeders/anything moist and organic daily to keep their numbers in check, and didn't have much luck with typical fly tape/traps.
I had no luck with predatory mites despite them being useful against fungus gnats. These guys were just too big.

Most people will tell you that killing them yourself won't make a difference, but I did it for hours because they made me crazy and I swear it did.
Anyway, once winter came along, they died out eventually and I've never had a problem reoccur since.

I would make an effort to remove them, as I could see them being a vector for nasty things not only to your spiders but to you as well.

I have lost molting slings to phorid/scuttle flies/maggots, so they are definately a threat to them if they are in molt, but if they arent i believe they will most likely eat them (if small enough), biggest problem with them is that they are tiny and get through most insect mesh screens and holes, cleaning out boluses, dead feeders etc is a big step of the way to get rid of them, i currently go grab spiderlings around the garden and set them free indoors to grab tiny critters like those flies and loose fruit flies

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Phorid/drain/scuttle flies are the really annoying ones. Unlike fruit flies, they are black, and tend to run instead of fly.

I hate those things with the heat of a thousand suns! Give me fruit flies any day.

I had to deal with a full blown infestation a few years back that started in a feeder bin.

Me too. Mine originated in a bag of potatoes that I discovered too late had some spoiled ones in it.

Most people will tell you that killing them yourself won't make a difference, but I did it for hours because they made me crazy and I swear it did.
Anyway, once winter came along, they died out eventually and I've never had a problem reoccur since.

There were hundreds of them in my kitchen. I resorted to sucking them up with a vacuum cleaner hose. Took me several days to eradicate them.

And now, the obligatory riddle: What has eight legs and flies?

Answer: EulersK's tarantulas.

 

[Poec54]

There were hundreds of them in my kitchen. I resorted to sucking them up with a vacuum cleaner hose. Took me several days to eradicate them.

That's a long time to be operating a vacuum.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

That's a long time to be operating a vacuum.

Yeah, it sucked. Ha! Sucked! Get it?

Fact is, once the vile things started flying, I'd have to wait until they settled and then start hoovering again.

 

[EulersK]

Tim is on a roll with the puns today.

Update: What I ended up going with worked exceptionally well, although it's ugly as sin. I followed the advice of the pitcher plant, until I realized the humidity that plant requires... no thank you, I'll keep the fuel away from the fire. Also didn't want more work maintaining rainforest-level humidity in the freaking desert. However! I adopted the science behind the plant. In short, I got a large, shallow pan with a pool of apple cider vinegar mixed with red wine and hung a fly strip above it. Beyond a good number of flies just drowning in the concoction I made, the fly strip is darn near black with the swarms on it.

So, the fly problem isn't solved, but it's gotten way better! Thanks for the advice, all.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

That's a long time to be operating a vacuum.

Kinda bad when your house needs a indoor bug zapper I bet those work for flys.
I always hated those things cuz I like moths.

 

[shawno821]

I,too have had great success in getting rid of/preventing phorid flies in my moist T room by picking boluses asap and letting the wild spiders free range in my T room.I've had them,but they could never get established.

 

[edgeofthefreak]

I got complacent, and let mine overpopulate. I bought sticky traps, and have placed them in strategic places around the apartment. Best place for them so far, is to place a trap on the rim of a potted plant and lean the trap against the wall. As Hobo pointed out, they like to run. They'll either start in the wall or the pot, and run from one to the other across said trap.

In about two days time, the traps go from bright yellow, to disgustingly be-speckled yellow.

At one point, I had installed three traps in my Exo-terra, and changed them every week. Still have the occasional fly, but nowhere near as bad.