Gnats?

[LittleLindsay]

I’m having a serious gnat issue in Robert’s enclosure. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve been cleaning his cage out twice a week and scrubbing everything down. I’ve even been washing his plants consistently and leaving them outside for periods of time. No matter what I do, they come back. I leave gnat traps around the cage. I have no idea where else in my house they’d be coming from. Has anyone ever had a similar issue?? They’re driving me crazy.

 

[Char333p]

Yeah I have. Cleaning didnt help. It tended to get worse when I bought large amounts of crickets from online. But I switched to dubia and they're lasting forever and breeding so it hasn't been issue lately... not sure how to help though they're kinda pesky

 

[JoXie411]

You need to let the soil in the pots dry out. They are Attracted to moisture

 

[LittleLindsay]

Yeah I have. Cleaning didnt help. It tended to get worse when I bought large amounts of crickets from online. But I switched to dubia and they're lasting forever and breeding so it hasn't been issue lately... not sure how to help though they're kinda pesky

I scrubbed the cricket cage too. But I actually don’t see any gnats around that area.

 

[LittleLindsay]

You need to let the soil in the pots dry out. They are Attracted to moisture

So what do I do? Leave the plants outside?

 

[JoXie411]

So what do I do? Leave the plants outside?

Yes you can do that for a few days, just long enough for the first few inches of top soil can dry out

 

[SmallToes]

I have 3 snakes and I managed to bring mites home from a petco enclosure, did all the cleaning and disinfecting I could inside the enclosure and yet they continued to come back A snakekeeper recommended this product because as long as your animals aren't exposed to this directly and as long as what you spray can ventilate for 10 minutes it does a great job. No more mites in the enclosure. I even use it preventably. Some cham keepers here will have to approve as I have never had to use it in a chameleon enclosure though.

 

[salty dog]

To totally ensure the gnats are gone I would put the enclosure outside in a safe area light in on fire and build a new one!! That's what I'd do

 

[LittleLindsay]

To totally ensure the gnats are gone I would put the enclosure outside in a safe area light in on fire and build a new one!! That's what I'd do

Unfortunately I don’t have the money to burn down my current cage. I spent months working on it

 

[kinyonga]

Are you sure they're gnats? Could they be phorid flies?

 

[salty dog]

I was joking, I'm not sure how to get rid of gnats, I've never had that problem, maybe change out your plant medium..

 

[Decadancin]

You could try a thin layer of sand on top of the soil in your containers. It could reduce the gnats. If they are slightly larger and seen quickly scurrying around on surfaces then it is likely phorid flies. For them I would look for decaying feeders.

 

[LittleLindsay]

Are you sure they're gnats? Could they be phorid flies?

I’m not sure. I can post a picture of them

 

[Decadancin]

That would help!

 

[LittleLindsay]

Here are the dead ones from my trap. They look like they have little stripes on them.

 

[LittleLindsay]

I was joking, I'm not sure how to get rid of gnats, I've never had that problem, maybe change out your plant medium..

I’ll probably have to do that. Constant cleaning isn’t getting rid of them. I just fear I’ll kill the plant lol

 

[Decadancin]

They do look like phorid flies to me. You need to make sure that your feeders are kept very clean and old food is not left around. It will help.

 

[LittleLindsay]

They do look like phorid flies to me. You need to make sure that your feeders are kept very clean and old food is not left around. It will help.

I’ve cleaned it out about 4 times now. Ugh. It might be something in my geckos cage. I’ll have to check it out. Thank you!

 

[Decadancin]

These guys are often found by cricket containers. If not kept very clean they are common.

 

[Ruthless]

Here are the dead ones from my trap. They look like they have little stripes on them.

This don’t look like gnats more like a fly like @Decadancin has said. But if you have fungus gnats I got rid of mine by following a tip from a rep from Mistking he had told me to add a PC fan for air circulation. It was explained to me like this humidity is fine but if have stagnate air this is how you will get fungus gnats. And only around a week or so after adding the fav I have no more gnats.