How to keep out flies?

[AllieKat1997]

My golden Greek tortoise (inside my home!) has a fly problem. I don’t think their breeding in his enclosure thank god but their disgusting and there is dozens of them. How do I get rid of them?! I cleaned out his cage multiple times and it didn’t work. Any help is welcomed! Thanks a bunch!

 

[TammyJ]

Before we can help you, we need to get some details of your tortoise and his enclosure, some pictures, and information on the type of substrate, temperatures, humidity level and diet. Then you will get some answers for sure!
When I saw the title and the words "our flies" I was a bit mislead, thinking you wanted to know how to keep your pet flies!!!?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Fly paper will trap the adults. Then you've gotta find out what is attracting them and look for active maggots to determine if they are from INSIDE of your house.
Are we talking about actual flies? Or tiny gnats?
Flies are not normal.
Tiny flying bugs kind of are.

 

[Yvonne G]

Are you talking flies or gnats?

 

[AllieKat1997]

Are you talking flies or gnats?

Flies. House flies. I didn’t think they were breeding in my house.

 

[AllieKat1997]

Fly paper will trap the adults. Then you've gotta find out what is attracting them and look for active maggots to determine if they are from INSIDE of your house.
Are we talking about actual flies? Or tiny gnats?
Flies are not normal.
Tiny flying bugs kind of are.

They are House flies. I didn’t think they were breeding in my house. I haven’t notified signs of them breeding. I have rabbits and a tortoise. The flies like to hide out in my females rabbit cage and my tortoise cage only. Their not in my male rabbit cage. No idea why.

 

[MichaelL]

They are House flies. I didn’t think they were breeding in my house. I haven’t notified signs of them breeding. I have rabbits and a tortoise. The flies like to hide out in my females rabbit cage and my tortoise cage only. Their not in my male rabbit cage. No idea why.

Maybe try keeping both of the cages as sanitary as possible, I wonder if tortoise/ rabbit poop is attracting them

 

[ZEROPILOT]

They are House flies. I didn’t think they were breeding in my house. I haven’t notified signs of them breeding. I have rabbits and a tortoise. The flies like to hide out in my females rabbit cage and my tortoise cage only. Their not in my male rabbit cage. No idea why.

And I'm assuming that these enclosures are 100% scooped out and cleaned?

 

[Relic]

Had a rabbit once that developed a raw sore on his fanny from the wire cage floor. Got infected, flies laid eggs in the wound...and the wound was hard to see in the fur.

 

[AllieKat1997]

And I'm assuming that these enclosures are 100% scooped out and cleaned?

tortoise is due for a cleaning but the rabbit I stay on top of. Both of my rabbits are litter box trained 100% So the only “bedding” they have is in their cleaned out litter box. I’m just looking for a way to get rid of the flies.

 

[AllieKat1997]

Had a rabbit once that developed a raw sore on his fanny from the wire cage floor. Got infected, flies laid eggs in the wound...and the wound was hard to see in the fur.

Her cage is a wooden one, no wire, and she’s white which helps. We had her pulled out a few times this week and didn’t notice anything. She’s in our living room and is acting normal. My male rabbit is great as well. My tortoise is being his usual self: hiding in his box of dirt and only coming out when he feels like it. I pulled him out and he’s perfect too. Dunno. I figured they like his cage cuz of the heat whereas the rest of the house is colder.... We caught an animal with a maggot infestation once and that’s just something that scars you for life. I still remember the smell of it. None of my animals seem to be affected but I’m really wanting to get a grip on this issue before we could have a problem god forbid. Do you know any suggestions?

 

[AllieKat1997]

Maybe try keeping both of the cages as sanitary as possible, I wonder if tortoise/ rabbit poop is attracting them

Probably so, I just need a way to kill the ones we have? Waiting for them all to starve to death would take forever, haha. I think the heat of the tortoises pen also attracts them especially since it’s colder here since it’s winter. Actually, thinking about it, my female rabbits cage is enclosed with just a wire top on it (it’s a wooden piece with pixie glass front) I bet it says warm for her since it’s closed off and there isn’t as much of a draft...... it’s probably that both areas are pretty warm..... if you know any ideas on how to kill them that would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[TammyJ]

If you could post some pictures of your entire setup, the tortoise and rabbit cages, we will have a better idea about how to solve this.

 

[AllieKat1997]

If you could post some pictures of your entire setup, the tortoise and rabbit cages, we will have a better idea about how to solve this.

Okay, I can do that sometime. I’m sure my tortoise table is pretty standard, though my one of my rabbit cages is a bit unique, the other rabbit cage is a standard one you can get anywhere. I went ahead and sprayed a light most of white vinegar and water over all the cages. This morning I didn’t see any flies anywhere but that doesn’t mean much, once my tortoise table heats up they might come back. (Don’t freak he was on 75F through the night but day temps get closer to 85F and basking is 95F-100F depending on where he sits) and also don’t worry - I didn’t soak his table in the solution just lightly misted it and I avoided the tortoise sided dirt mount where he was resting so it didn’t get on him. I’m hoping this works in deterring flies so they can leave him alone and hopefully die off somewhere. My females cage had a couple flies this morning but was mostly empty.

 

[JMM]

As Zeropilot indicated, fly paper will help with getting rid of the adults. The key though is to stop the flies from reproducing. Adult flies are attracted to and lay their eggs on moist substrates such as food, manure and other organic matter (bedding compost, etc.). Thus, eliminating such sites is imperative. Daily cleaning or better, twice daily cleaning is recommended. Clean both the tortoise and rabbit housing areas to ensure there are no droppings, urine soaked bedding or old food present. Make sure compost pails and trash are sealed so flies don't get into them. The flies may also be coming in from the outdoors. So it's a good idea to make sure compost bins are situated well away from the house. Also clean up any other animal droppings (horse, dog, etc.).

 

[AllieKat1997]

As Zeropilot indicated, fly paper will help with getting rid of the adults. The key though is to stop the flies from reproducing. Adult flies are attracted to and lay their eggs on moist substrates such as food, manure and other organic matter (bedding compost, etc.). Thus, eliminating such sites is imperative. Daily cleaning or better, twice daily cleaning is recommended. Clean both the tortoise and rabbit housing areas to ensure there are no droppings, urine soaked bedding or old food present. Make sure compost pails and trash are sealed so flies don't get into them. The flies may also be coming in from the outdoors. So it's a good idea to make sure compost bins are situated well away from the house. Also clean up any other animal droppings (horse, dog, etc.).

Thank you! I guess I thought if they were breeding I’d know about it but there’s just no other conclusion to make. I’ll keep up on my rabbits better. The tortoise will be a tad harder but I’m sure I can spot clean his cage more and make sure he’s not leaving out leftover food. Thank you again!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

tortoise is due for a cleaning but the rabbit I stay on top of. Both of my rabbits are litter box trained 100% So the only “bedding” they have is in their cleaned out litter box. I’m just looking for a way to get rid of the flies.

My questions were to try to determine why they are even there.
Get rid of that and there will be no more flies.
In the meantime, hang some flypaper traps.

 

[William Lee Kohler]

Sure there is not a dead mouse or rat somewhere in there? I had that exact problem some months ago and that's what it was. An apparent injured escapee from one of my cats found a place to hide and then died.

 

[AllieKat1997]

My questions were to try to determine why they are even there.
Get rid of that and there will be no more flies.
In the meantime, hang some flypaper traps.

Well that leads me to a new question - how often are you supposed to clean a tortoise table? I was doing it 4-5 months with spot cleaning. Am I totally crazy and should be cleaning him more often? I swear I read an article not to clean them too often because of stress but that was awhile ago I read that article- before I ever got my tortoise.

Sure there is not a dead mouse or rat somewhere in there? I had that exact problem some months ago and that's what it was. An apparent injured escapee from one of my cats found a place to hide and then died.

Well, this is in my house. I’d hope I would smell something rotting away. I haven’t noticed anything like that and I don’t own a cat. My dog wouldn’t kill a mouse if it ever saw one, more like befriend it, haha

 

[Blackdog1714]

Wow 4-5 times a month you are seroius about the clean part! It could be something as simple as a piece of raw meat that they would lay eggs on. Good Luck