Insect Identification

[nickc]

Hey guys im not sure if this is the right section for this kind of question.

Inside of my chameleon enclosure Ive been noticing very tiny insects in the eco-earth substrate and in the soil of the plants. Some are light colored and others are darker.

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Size, shape? Other bugs they look like? Good pictures would help since that's quite a vague description...

 

[carol5208]

You shouldn't have any substrate in your cage for that very reason, not to mention your chameleon could possibly ingest it and it can breed mold and bacteria. I would remove it. Depending on what kind of bug it is you might have to end up changing out the soil in the plants also. A pic would be helpful as ferrit suggested.

 

[nickc]

They are so small I dont think a quality picture is possible. They seem to have an elongated shape and have wings. If it helps, a couple of days ago I went to remove a dead cricket from the substrate and a bunch of these insects came out when I picked it up.

 

[carol5208]

They are so small I dont think a quality picture is possible. They seem to have an elongated shape and have wings. If it helps, a couple of days ago I went to remove a dead cricket from the substrate and a bunch of these insects came out when I picked it up.

Honestly you need to get rid of the substrate! Keep the cage floor bare and there are less places for little creepy crawlers to hide and breed! Plus you would hate for your cham to shoot a cricket and take a piece of substrate along with it. It happens and it could kill your chameleon. Be safe not sorry!

 

[nickc]

I'll def take removing the substrate into consideration. Does anybody know if these insects sound like mites? (that being my biggest concern).

 

[DChalo]

They may be maggots. Try putting wood bark at the bottom of the cage, thats what i do.

 

[carol5208]

They may be maggots. Try putting wood bark at the bottom of the cage, thats what i do.

why would you want to put wood bark at the bottom?

 

[Michael Ryan]

They may be maggots. Try putting wood bark at the bottom of the cage, thats what i do.

You use bark at the bottom of your cage?! Remove that before your chameleon ends up ingesting wood!

 

[Michael Ryan]

I'll def take removing the substrate into consideration.

Take it out quick before something tragic happends...

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

They sound too big to be mites and mites don't have wings. But they're not good regardless. Do you want your cham to eat them after they've been eating dead crickets? Or even see those moving and shoot at the dead cricket full of bacteria and who knows what else? You need to remove the substrate and get rid of the bugs.

 

[brandychams]

they sound like fruit flies or fungus knat either way theyre breeding and producing because of the bacteria in your cage remove it and the fruit flies will die off with nothing to eat