AgentShamrock
New Member
Hi all!
My name is Shannon and I'm new to the tortoise life and got my little leopard tortoise hatchling, Tonka, back in March. After perusing through the many threads about the importance of maintaining humidity, I put a greenhouse cover over Tonka's enclosure to keep the humidity up. I do daily mistings to keep the area about 80% humidity, but it seems that this has made fungus gnats inescapable. I've gone as far as completely changing out the substrate (Orchid bark, coco coir, coco husk pieces, plain planting soil, with some sphagnum moss and exo terra forest plume moss in select areas since Tonka seems to like hunkering down in it) and boiling all of the new substrate in an effort to get rid of the little beasts, but of course they're back. I even had my roommate bring me some isopods home to put in, but I've only seen one underneath some of the moss so I'm not sure if the others died. I haven't had much luck with vinegar traps with my houseplants before (and currently difficult to find apple cider vinegar due to the whole pandemic situation), but I do have an order of sticky traps coming within the next few days. I was looking for a bit more of a permanent solution to the fungus gnat infestation. Does anyone have any experience with using Mosquito Bits in their substrate? Evidently it's a bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis and while they claim it's safe for pets/people and only targets mosquito and fungus gnat larvae, I'm apprehensive of putting anything in Tonka's substrate if I don't know exactly what it'll do. For those who have used it, would you advise removing the substrate into a separate container and treating it that way? Or does anyone have any experience putting it directly into the enclosure? I know the gnats aren't going to harm Tonka, but I do have 2 aloe plants in there that I'm worried they might start destroying the roots on. Also they're driving me up a wall because they insist upon landing in my coffee and flying in my face.
On a side note, does anyone know a good place to purchase springtails that won't bake if temps are 80 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer? I'd like some other little clean-up crew members aside from the isopods that will focus more on any fungal spores. I'm a vet student (with far more experience with dogs and cats), so I tend to be very cautious about the potential for infections. Also a picture of Tonka!
My name is Shannon and I'm new to the tortoise life and got my little leopard tortoise hatchling, Tonka, back in March. After perusing through the many threads about the importance of maintaining humidity, I put a greenhouse cover over Tonka's enclosure to keep the humidity up. I do daily mistings to keep the area about 80% humidity, but it seems that this has made fungus gnats inescapable. I've gone as far as completely changing out the substrate (Orchid bark, coco coir, coco husk pieces, plain planting soil, with some sphagnum moss and exo terra forest plume moss in select areas since Tonka seems to like hunkering down in it) and boiling all of the new substrate in an effort to get rid of the little beasts, but of course they're back. I even had my roommate bring me some isopods home to put in, but I've only seen one underneath some of the moss so I'm not sure if the others died. I haven't had much luck with vinegar traps with my houseplants before (and currently difficult to find apple cider vinegar due to the whole pandemic situation), but I do have an order of sticky traps coming within the next few days. I was looking for a bit more of a permanent solution to the fungus gnat infestation. Does anyone have any experience with using Mosquito Bits in their substrate? Evidently it's a bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis and while they claim it's safe for pets/people and only targets mosquito and fungus gnat larvae, I'm apprehensive of putting anything in Tonka's substrate if I don't know exactly what it'll do. For those who have used it, would you advise removing the substrate into a separate container and treating it that way? Or does anyone have any experience putting it directly into the enclosure? I know the gnats aren't going to harm Tonka, but I do have 2 aloe plants in there that I'm worried they might start destroying the roots on. Also they're driving me up a wall because they insist upon landing in my coffee and flying in my face.
On a side note, does anyone know a good place to purchase springtails that won't bake if temps are 80 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer? I'd like some other little clean-up crew members aside from the isopods that will focus more on any fungal spores. I'm a vet student (with far more experience with dogs and cats), so I tend to be very cautious about the potential for infections. Also a picture of Tonka!