Keeping Gnats away from my feeders!!

[SoberParrots]

I have feeder crickets for my cham in a bin (bin contains food, egg crates, etc) and I can NOT keep gnats away from their food!! It has been a pain! I tried the apple cider vinegar and soap trick but it’s been killing my feeders. Help!!

And a picture of my chameleon, Ezekiel

 

[AnamCara]

Maybe try some sticky traps attached to the bin?

 

[redhorse]

They can be a big pain.. Can you post a picture of the gnats your dealing with?
It can be the kind that eat their food or it can be the kind that eat dead crickets or coming from a different area..
The key to either is finding the maggots and eliminating their food source.
Crickets can be kept pretty dry with a water source but the maggots need to be moist to survive.
Good Luck and keep us updated as it will help others dealing with the same issue.

I was able to eliminate them was by get ride of moist areas and spray on a paper towel that dries out after an hour twice a day..
I no longer buy large crickets unless I am going to let them lay eggs for pinheads, since adults die pretty quick after getting their wings.
Medium cricket do just fine and live longer.. JMHO

 

[bbyoda]

Are you putting the apple cider vinegar mix in the bin with the crickets? The idea is to put it somewhere else so the flies are drawn away from the feeder bin to the ACV and soap mix.

Regardless if the flies are phorid flies and not fruit flies ACV won't work. They are attracted to dead matter.

Keep your crickets on vermiculite, in a well ventilated and large tub, buy banded crickets that aren't full adults, and change out the food every couple days, and you should be good to go because they won't die and be moist for the phorid flies.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I agree, first you have to figure out if they're fungus gnats or phorid flies. I've dealt with both in different areas.