Little black flies in my enclosure :\

crissyshine · Dec 24, 2014

so I noticed these tiny black flies (they looks like common house flies) coming from somewhere in my turtles enclosure and being attracted to the uvb light.
I noticed today that it happened after I mist the enclosure.
Are they coming from the substrate/wet spaghnum moss?
Do I need to change my substrate (organic topsoil, coco coir, spaghnum moss, leaf litter)?

I don't mind only using coco coir if I have to.

I've killed 3 today but have only noticed about 5/6 total (2 dead ones on my window sill)

Here is what they look like

Abdulla6169 · Dec 24, 2014

I don't think they will harm your turtles... Unless your turtle has a wound, then they'll infect the wound.

Maro2Bear · Dec 24, 2014

Im positive they wont do any harm, and in fact will provide a natural, live food source for your turtles.

crissyshine · Dec 24, 2014

Ok, but I don't want the flies there at all.
I don't think he's eating them either.

Maro2Bear · Dec 24, 2014

If you brought leaf litter in from outside in the woods or garden, these guys probably came in as eggs or larvae, etc and now with nice moist , warm conditions they are hatching out. With luck, you will only have a hatch or two of these pests and no more. Luckily, these arent gnats - they are a real annoyance all Winter long, and a bit harder to control and will breed, lat eggs, hatch many times throughout winter. Good luck!

leopard777 · Dec 24, 2014

keep a lookout for eggs thou

DanaRae60 · Jan 10, 2015

crissyshine said:
so I noticed these tiny black flies (they looks like common house flies) coming from somewhere in my turtles enclosure and being attracted to the uvb light.
I noticed today that it happened after I mist the enclosure.
Are they coming from the substrate/wet spaghnum moss?
Do I need to change my substrate (organic topsoil, coco coir, spaghnum moss, leaf litter)?

I don't mind only using coco coir if I have to.

I've killed 3 today but have only noticed about 5/6 total (2 dead ones on my window sill)

Here is what they look likeView attachment 111342

Hi,
We had a similar problem with our indoor enclosure. We finally determined the gnats came in the organic soil we mixed with the coco coir. We removed all the substrate and replaced it with just coco coir. We also hung sticky fly strips nearby. Within two days the gnats were gone.
Good luck!

naturalman91 · Jan 10, 2015

welcome to a common problem of dealing with soil the only way to really get rid of them or at least for me is to bake the coco for a few hours which will kill the eggs plus you can find some weird things in the blocks after baking

take this for example it was in a block of coco coir i baked it's part of a snake like it some how got in the coir and was smashed off when they made the block

DanaRae60 · Jan 11, 2015

naturalman91 said:
welcome to a common problem of dealing with soil the only way to really get rid of them or at least for me is to bake the coco for a few hours which will kill the eggs plus you can find some weird things in the blocks after baking View attachment 113819 take this for example it was in a block of coco coir i baked it's part of a snake like it some how got in the coir and was smashed off when they made the block

Yuck! Never a dull moment, right?!
I also buy the coco coir bricks. I first put them in the freezer for 48 hours, then put them in a large Rubbermaid tub and pour boiling water over the bricks. Once the coco coir cools, I dump the water and add the coco coir to the enclosure. So far no issues!

crissyshine · Jan 13, 2015

So the flies have been gone for a while. I think my soil was too wet so I added more coco coir to dry it out a bit. Now I don't spray as often as I used to, humidity is still great and high enough in the enclosure.
I haven't seen any other bugs, flies, or spring tails and my turtle is happy (although definitely more territorial) and active

Little black flies in my enclosure :\

crissyshine

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Abdulla6169

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Maro2Bear

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crissyshine

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Maro2Bear

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leopard777

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DanaRae60

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naturalman91

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DanaRae60

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crissyshine

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