Small bug issue...

[sacs4010]

OK so inside of Toad's enclosure there seems to be many small flying bugs. They seem like fruit flies or gnats. Should I worry about these and if so what should I do about them? They only show up within his enclosure, probably due to the humidity. I was considering purchasing one of the sticky bug catching strips close to his setup.

[NorthEastBlue]

Good chance they could be small fruit flies, maybe clean his enclosure very well, top to bottom, could be some old food in the litter somewhere. We get them in our house if bananas sit out to long or if the trash hasn't been changed recently and there's food in there.

Jeremy

[sacs4010]

Nah, I do not feed him inside his enclosure. It is VERY difficult to clean out his waste due to how he digs around and moves everything.

[Teacup]

Likely fruit fries. I wouldn't worry too much. I have been having issues with them this year in my tortoise enclosure. They shouldn't do any harm but, if you're really worried, I'd do a full clean of the enclosure and do spot-cleaning multiple times a day.

[sacs4010]

I hung some fly traps by his enclosure. I hope this will help. I am not worried by them, I am annoyed by them. lol As I am sure he is. The spot cleaning is a problem, because he moves stuff around so much and often. I will try to be more vigilant in the future though.

[joan]

I've been plagued by little gnats for a long time now (due to my house plants). Haven't figured out a way to get rid of them, short of drying out all of my plants for awhile. or maybe spraying some stuff on the soil (don't want to).

On the other hand, if you have a fruit fly problem (they have red eyes), you simply get rid of all fresh fruit/veg that sits around, keep your sink and trash can clean of old food and they should go away. Traps will work to get rid of some but if you've got breeding places for them (usually fruit), it's not gonna work.

[sacs4010]

I think they are gnats and my traps do not seem to be working because I see none of the little big jerks* stuck to them.

[joan]

Yep, those gnats are annoying. If you ever figure out how to get rid of them, you should update this thread.

[sacs4010]

The *darn things are not leaving the enclosure to get caught on the fly traps. I feel so bad for Toad, I am sure they are annoying him. No, the problem is not that bad at all. I just HATE having any problems. I want a happy pet.

[sacs4010]

These *darn things are driving me nuts! I am sure it is driving Toad nuts too. His water bowl is filled with them. I am using sphagnum moss and ZooMed's Forest Floor bedding. I also add a VERY fine base bedding of Zoomed's Eco Earth substrate.

[sacs4010]

Here is a photo of Toad's water bowl. Yes I know it needs to be cleaned out. It normally does not look that dirty/messy. There are a ton of gnats in there. What do I do? =0(

[Susann]

Yup, those are Fungus Gnats.

[sacs4010]

Little evil big jerks*! Sorry if I offended anyone, but I HATE them! They are flying around my boy Toad. They MUST go! lol No really, I hate them and I worry that they are bothering Toad.

[joan]

Are they only in his tank? My gnat problem is due to my house plants (moist soil and probably need to change out all the soil). If they're only in the tank then maybe they're living/breeding in the substrate and the only way to be rid of them is to dry everything out! Which wouldn't really be good for Toad. Possibly you could replace all the substrate but if there are still gnats hanging around elsewhere they'll probably come back...

[sacs4010]

I have no house plants. They are 90% in his tank. I get them around the apartment, but very few. Today I am getting him a new wood hide and I am cooking his other decorations.

[Roarschak11]

The gnats of from your moist substrate cooking you decorations won't help, you need to change your substrate

[sacs4010]

Want to hear something crazy. So, since bedding is expensive I ordered some online. It will take a little while to get here. So I took Toad's water bowl out since you all saw how bad it had gotten. Some substrate was stuck to the bottom, more then I have seen with my water bowls in the past. I of course took it off and threw the bedding away. I cleaned the bowl and put fresh distilled water in the bowl and back into Toad's enclosure. I have seen VERY few gnats now. WTH? lol I am of course changing out everything ASAP.

[KayHerp]

I have found that if you put a small dish of cider vinegar on the counter it gets most of them. Works way better than sticky paper.

[sacs4010]

It is strange, I cleaned the bowl and around it VERY well last week. I still have some gnats, but every day less and less. Go figure.