fungus gnats

[showjet95]

Has anyone ever had a problem with these annoying/reproducing machines? for all of you that keep your chams in terrariums and not screen cages, and with organic soil.
They live off decaying organic material, and love the humidity. Ive had to take apart one exo terra already and it looks like another one is soon to come unfortunately:-/. They dont sting or bite, but they can turn into almost plague proportions in a small cage.
I will not spray an insecticide obviously, and with always having to spray inside the tanks to keep them hydrated and the humidity up, Im not sure how they wont eventually come back, even after I re do the tanks.
Anyones thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
TIA

 

[ChameleonRave]

I have been finding them around my house from my cricket keeper, but I think mine might be a fruit fly of some sort.

 

[Rob G]

I have those little f**kers all over in my cages and room. I poured a water/dish soap solution into my plants soil(going to do this multiple times) and get apple cider vinegar, put a drop or two of dish soap in it and put it in a bowl by the cages and feeder containers. They love that stuff I put some out yesterday and have about 50 little fungus flies dead in it. So the soap gets rid of their breeding grounds and the cider/soap solution kills the already hatched ones. Within the couple days of doing this it about halved the amount flying around

 

[showjet95]

Im gonna have to give that a try! thanks

 

[jaglon53]

Get sand and put it on top of the soil in your potted plants then put rocks on top. Since I had your problem and used this method I never had this problem again.

 

[showjet95]

all of the plants are planted into the soil in exo terra enclosures, with window screen underneath the soil and hydroton clay balls underneath that

 

[jaglon53]

If you still put like inch of sand on top of the soil the gnats won't be able to dig through and the babies won't be able to dig out.

 

[sandrachameleon]

The easiest way to rid a cage of fungus gnats is to let all the soil dry out completely. If that is not an option, you could cover the dirt with landscape fabric, a layer of sand and rocks. Or, you could use beneficial nemotodes (which kill the larva, nothing else).

if you do a quick search of this forum on the word gnat, you will find other ideas

here are a few:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/bugs-my-chameleon-plants-help-19189/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/have-gnat-problem-36831/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/explosion-gnats-17847/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/fly-eggs-potting-soil-36696/

 

[showjet95]

thanks for all the help, advice and links, I really appreciate it!!!

 

[chameleoman]

im trying to breed my freakin crickets amd the fruit flies cum up out of no where help

 

[showjet95]

ok so Im trying the dry ice routine, sealing off all possible oxygen sources and leaving a block of it on the base of the inside of the cage, letting it turn to CO2 and killing off insects, etc, while letting the plants get high off of it. Anyone know how long I should leave it in there?

 

[Spags]

ok so Im trying the dry ice routine, sealing off all possible oxygen sources and leaving a block of it on the base of the inside of the cage, letting it turn to CO2 and killing off insects, etc, while letting the plants get high off of it. Anyone know how long I should leave it in there?

Did the dry ice work? and If so how did you do it? Did you do it on a screen cage? If not how could I seal all the sides?

 

[alphakenc]

@Spags,you know you are talking with people from 2011 5years ago,but no worries I do that sometimes too,on the other hand,I even go to the grave yard n talk with my realtives too.