Little black flies?

[Andreamorey]

Hi everyone
We have had blue for about five weeks now, we spot clean everyday and last week noticed tiny little black flies in the cool end they are not beetles they were flying, I wasn't sure we're they had come from and hadn't seen them before so we cleaned out viv thoroughly and changed substrate and cleaned all hides with reptile safe anti bac. It has been about 3 days since we cleaned everything and today I noticed more little flies!
Does anyone know what they are they? And if they can harm blue? He doesn't seem bothered by them cos they are so tiny
Substrate we use is orchid bark maybe we should change it? But what to?
Please if anyone could help I would really appreciate it
Thankyou
Andrea x

[Fatal_S]

Have you fed any fruits lately? Sounds like fruit flies.

[Linnea]

make absolutely sure your skink doesnt have mites. if so, it needs to be treated. including everything in the terrarium. count with 2 months of cleaning and treatment time.

some helpful tips, but not all need be done.....

remove the substrate (into a sealable plastic bag) and put in paper towels

bake all bake-able objects in the terrarium, and leave the rest outside.

clean out the terrarium properly.

make sure no food is attracting the flies, dont leave food laying around.

make sure temps are good and that there is a hiding spot, water bowl and basking spot. the minimum and easily cleaned requirements.

after a while, when you are sure the eggs are not hatching no more, try aspen shavings or wooden chips (not from pine or cedar tree types) or cypress mulch.

[Andreamorey]

Thanx for quick replies
Can mites fly?
Also he doesn't have anything on him.
We do give him a tiny amount of fruit mixed in with his food but we never leave his food for more than an hour but 9 out of 10 times he eats it within a minute or two of me putting it in, once he is finished I take it straight out.
So is aspen shavings best
Andrea x

[Fatal_S]

Mites do not fly. Orchid bark should be fine for a substrate.

Do you have a camera decent enough to take photos of the bugs?

[LarissaLurid]

Recently I saw 1 little fruit fly in my skinks cage. I freaked out at first glance bc it was small enough to be mite sized, but then I saw it had wings and calmed down. During this time of year lots of fruit flies are around, so make sure that nothing is left in the cage (which you have when you cleaned it out) but also make sure there is nothing laying around the house like food or drinks or even dirty dishes that might attract the fruit flies. They will go away eventually, a few weeks ago I had a bunch randomly get into my house that bothered my crickets i had at the time bc ther were veggies in there for them.

[Andreamorey]

Thanx for your help
I will try and get a pic tomorrow and put it on here
Hopefully just fruit flies
Andrea x

[Fatal_S]

A way to catch fruit flies:
Take a bowl/tupperware. Place a piece of sliced apple inside. Cover the top of the container with plastic/saran wrap. Poke small holes near the center (never at the edge) of the wrap for the flies to get in. Once they get in, they can't get back out.