Reptile & Amphibian Forums

in my bedroom i have three plants and four snake cages. i put one of my plants outside for a week during the summer(to give it fresh air) and ever since ive had fruit flies in the potting soil. then after i got my other 2 plants it got horrible.
ive been setting fly traps and catching tons

once in a while i see one in a snake cage is it bad?

is there any way to get rid of the flies without bombing my room?
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

We had the same problem. The solution below worked for us rather than tossing all of our long term plants out. I was ready to. The little beggars are very hardy.

I stopped them by drying out the soil and using insecticidal soap. The flies live in the first 2 to 3 inches of potting mix. I scooped out about 2 inches of soil and replaced it with new dry potting soil. I sprayed insecticidal soap (Wal-Mart) on paper towels then covered the top soil with the paper towels. This helped kill the one that still hatched. Keep the towels sprayed daily with soap for a week. We used a spray bottle of water and sprayed the plants themselves not the soil.

I doubt the flies would have any adverse affect on your snakes. Although could be vectors and transfer. My snakes are separated in there own room. I never saw any flies in there. And haven¡¦t seen any around the house this winter ƒº

Dann

its really anoying, and add the fact that its really hot in here and you have a recipe for disaster. it was also really turning me and my girlfriend off.

ill try it asap

btw whats wrong with the end of your post(funky letters)
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

i have fly paper around the edges of the pots and there is literaly hundreds of dead on allovem
-----
jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

I tried the fly trap thing and the sticky paper. Those little guys hatch by the freaking hundreds. We have plants that have been in our home for years and never had this problem until we set them on the patio for sun and a good rain water soaking.

The crazy letters. It was a smiley face and was converted when posted here. I just left it alone.

Good luck on the flies…..I hate umm.

Dann

>>is there any way to get rid of the flies without bombing my room?
>>-----

They're actually fungus gnats rather than fruit flies. As previously noted, letting the top inch or two of the potting mix dry well before rewatering will generally eliminate the problem over time. The absolute best way to get rid of them is a product called Gnatrol. See http://www.gtghydroponics.com/store/0-0-476.htm

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