Turtle Box Bug Problem

[Bibbit]

I am hoping for a suggestion to help with a mosquito problem in my turtle boxes. My three boxies are currently housed in temporary houses while they are between enclosures. We are moving, so I bought zoo med tortoise houses. They are 2x3 feet and pretty nice for what they are. They're made of soft wood and I have peat moss and coconut bark as the bedding. They've been using them for a month and a half now and the boxes are working fine.

The problem is that mosquitoes are multiplying in the hide portion and I'm not sure what to do to get rid of them that I can be sure won't hurt the turtles. The hide spot is in this picture (which I'm not sure is going to work). It's about 1x2 and has a door opening. Whether the soil is wet or dry in the hide, it has had the bugs in it. They seem to be multiplying. I tried spraying a bit of bug repellent on the outside of the box, but that did not help. I'm afraid to put anything toxic inside. My only thought was to burn a mosquito candle inside (while having the turtles out) for a few evenings to see if that would get rid of the bugs, but I'm not sure that will do much.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. With outbreaks of west nile in my area, mosquitoes are not to be fooled with and it will probably be another 2 months before I can get them a proper enclosure built at the new place.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Mosquitos huh?... I thought they bred in water.

Are these enclosures kept outside or inside?
If outside, could it have to do with the location of the boxes? Have you always had mosquito problems or did it just start?


Heather
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[Bibbit]

Mosquitos huh?... I thought they bred in water.

Are these enclosures kept outside or inside?
If outside, could it have to do with the location of the boxes? Have you always had mosquito problems or did it just start?


Heather
Sent from my Android TFO app

Hi All. I didn't realize this was my first post. I've been reading for a while.

And yes, mosquitoes usually need water to breed. At first, I thought I must have been keeping the soil too wet, so I let it dry out a bit. However, tonight I noticed the biggest "swarm" of them I've seen yet and it was in a hide that was as dry as a desert.

The boxes are on the back porch right by the door. We always see a few mosquitoes around, but this issue is definitely out of the norm and being causes by the turtle houses.

 

[bmt123]

You could get a mosquito zapper I hear they work pretty good.

 

[Bibbit]

You could get a mosquito zapper I hear they work pretty good.

I've got some of those and we'll put them up when we move. I'm not sure it will solve the problem, though, because these bugs are living and breeding in the hide area of the boxes.

I guess my best solution will be to live with it until we move, then I can change all the dirt out and see if that fixes the problem. Not long after that I should have the new enclosure in progress.

 

[Ferretinmyshoes]

Most likely not Mosquitos but a type of large gnat that I get in some of my chameleon enclosures from moist soil sometimes. Mosquitos need true standing water to breed but these large gnats do look a lot like Mosquitos and fly erratically like they do too. Easiest, safest way to get rid of them is to take out all the substrate, wash out the box and let it dry completely for like a week. Then try not to let the substrate stay so moist and it will be hard for them to re establish. That has worked for me, even though it's kind of a pain.

 

[thea lester]

Dang! Yeah, it really sucks when you're moving and between enclosures doesn't it? Seems like that "hide" part could use some air flow. If you can, maybe saw it apart and just give them little houses?
I had to move my turtles into my house last year because their habitat developed a serious rat problem. As soon as the rat nightmare was dealt with, a colony of ants moved in and ransacked their entire rooftop garden. It was a crappy place to live in anyhow. Our roof and bathroom collapsed in Hurricane Issac. Seriously, crappy.
But now we live in an awesome affordable house with a magnificent turtle habitat! Pecan tree, poison ivy, crickets, huge slugs, snails, worms etc etc.
So, fear not, the waiting is awful, but your turtles will soon be all cozy again with no mosquito-gnats.
T

 

[Bibbit]

Dang! Yeah, it really sucks when you're moving and between enclosures doesn't it? Seems like that "hide" part could use some air flow. If you can, maybe saw it apart and just give them little houses?
I had to move my turtles into my house last year because their habitat developed a serious rat problem. As soon as the rat nightmare was dealt with, a colony of ants moved in and ransacked their entire rooftop garden. It was a crappy place to live in anyhow. Our roof and bathroom collapsed in Hurricane Issac. Seriously, crappy.
But now we live in an awesome affordable house with a magnificent turtle habitat! Pecan tree, poison ivy, crickets, huge slugs, snails, worms etc etc.
So, fear not, the waiting is awful, but your turtles will soon be all cozy again with no mosquito-gnats.
T

Yeah, for a lot of reasons I can hardly wait for our move. And I do think the bugs are probably the above mentioned gnats. They look like mosquitos, but not quite. I aired out the enclosures a little, but then had to take off on a trip for work, so I'm not sure how much it helped.

I've had both rats (had to get smaller gauge wire to solve that) and ants before. If not for ants last year, I probably wouldn't have torn down their old enclosures until the last minute.

We're going to cope of a while and eventually they are going to have an awesome, hopefully pest free, large enclosure in the not too distant future. I've actually already put pen to paper to plan it. My husband thinks I'm a little nuts.

 

[mike taylor]

I would take the hide divides out and put large half log hides. Will make there walking area bigger to.

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[Levi the Leopard]

Re: RE: Turtle Box Bug Problem

I would take the hide divides out.

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I second this. No hide no gnat breeding.
Just give them small hides like a flower pot etc.



Heather
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