Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a bunch of mostly Corn snake eggs incubating in a large stryrofoam incubator. A few eggs have went bad and are not easily removed because they are surrounded by good eggs. Problem is these bad eggs are infested with tiny flies. I thought the incubator was airtight but i guess they don't need much room. Now I'm even seeing them flying arouns my snake room and they are driving me crazy.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Sevin dust, no-pest strip??? Obviously my concern is to not harm the eggs. Thanks, Dave

I cannot believe you posted that. I was just going to call someone. I have them too. And can not seem to shake them. I also had a creamcicle that was was treating for a belly wound, I think started from a bite then a bad shed? Anyways I found larve in it. I'll probably lose her.

The flies just go in the little holes of the cages and keep starting the cycle. I was leaning toward a small piece of no pest strip in everything a few days on and off. No water dishes when you use the strips. Its not a vapor it cover everthign with a film. But I would like to hear other peoples views too.

Thanks Tom

Nats possibly? The best way I have found to take care of those little buggers is clean clean clean. You will have to remove the bad eggs to get rid of them and up the frequency of your cage cleanings. You will no get rid of them the first time most of the time but with persistence they will disappear.
My research and collection Foot Hill Reptiles

Herpzilla unfortunately I can not comment on the larva in the wound with any certainty so I will not. MY best recommendation is a vet visit but I am sure you have already exercised that option. Maybe a different vet if the first doesn’t help. There must be a way to save her. I am sure more than you know get bit and have bad sheds and what not in the wild and most of them end up ok right?
My research and collection Foot Hill Reptiles

Yea, the whole story is, she had a piece of shed stuck to her belly. I was unaware of it being under her. Then it got infected? That part I still can not figure out? Smaller cage on aspen. I've never had trouble with aspen. She missed a week of feeds. It time to clean her cage anyways and that's when I found it. Washed with beta dine and treated with antibiotics. But the flies found it this week.

Personally I think my fly issue came from my sphagnum. I do not know if eggs can be dormant? But I have no issue with flies till I started using some wet/damp.
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Why does everyone still believe the world is round, when we know it is flat?
(Me)

1.3 Bearded Dragons Eenie, Meanie, Minie and Moe is the Male

2 baby female Western hognose, 2.3 adults some friend some mine) All Named George

Corn snakes
bloodred 0.1 Christal Blue Persuasion
earthtone 0.1 Wind and Fire
creamcicle 0.1 Sherbert

Amazona ochrocephala oratrix 0.1? Pretty Girl
Amazona ochrocephala auropalliata 1.1? Carol - Male, Foghorn Leghorn - Female
Amazona aestiva 1.0? Miss Prissy
Ara ararauna 0.1 April
2.0 Dogs, Michigan, Doc
0.2 Cats,, Sassie and Spooky (all black cat)
0.1 Wives, (Long term captive!,, I mean ME!) I call her (BOSS)
1.1 Kids (Paininthearsius takamemonii) J/K great kids
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tom

www.herpzilla.com

Nats love wet smelly areas. That why the wife yells at me when I dont take the trassh out and the can gets nats in it.
My research and collection Foot Hill Reptiles

Gnats won't bother snakes. Most adult gnats don't even eat (their larvae do most of the eating). What you have are carrion flies. They will eat living tissue on snakes as well as attack and kill snake eggs. Think of carrion flies as meat eating fruit flies: If you set out rotting fruit, it will attact fruit flies. If carrion flies smell bad eggs or an open wound, they'll come.

I don't reckon I know what will kill off the flies without also harming the eggs. I remove bad eggs and incubate in air-tight containers (opening them for air circulation once a week) to curb carrion fly visits.

Tim

Thanks Yim. Sounds right on the money. You know these caught me off guard, I was not planning on eggs, they are still on sphagnum and in a snake tub. I was going to a diff container with pin wholes for a little air.

Thanks.
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Why does everyone still believe the world is round, when we know it is flat?
(Me)

1.3 Bearded Dragons Eenie, Meanie, Minie and Moe is the Male

2 baby female Western hognose, 2.3 adults some friend some mine) All Named George

Corn snakes
bloodred 0.1 Christal Blue Persuasion
earthtone 0.1 Wind and Fire
creamcicle 0.1 Sherbert

Amazona ochrocephala oratrix 0.1? Pretty Girl
Amazona ochrocephala auropalliata 1.1? Carol - Male, Foghorn Leghorn - Female
Amazona aestiva 1.0? Miss Prissy
Ara ararauna 0.1 April
2.0 Dogs, Michigan, Doc
0.2 Cats,, Sassie and Spooky (all black cat)
0.1 Wives, (Long term captive!,, I mean ME!) I call her (BOSS)
1.1 Kids (Paininthearsius takamemonii) J/K great kids
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tom

www.herpzilla.com

wet moss rots and yes flies will breed in it......

yes they breed in feces too.....so as said.clean clean and clean all the time...sux..........

as for the wound.......what's a "bad shed"?........and use Hydrogen Peroxide.........and a clean cage.paper towels.....
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JYReptiles

Scales-N-Tails Reptiles ltd........Pa

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue. And if humidity helps, it has been very humid up here in Ohio, plus I live in the country.

The snake had a piece of skin stuck to her belly. Normally no big deal. But this did. I'm not sure why exactly? But maybe I need to do more frequent body inspections? She was my early 06 baby already on small mice.

When I did catch it the first time, the skin was white and raw, and she had that shed there. I soaked her for maybe 5 minutes, to get the skin off. I washed, and applied antibiotic oitment. She looked better at day 2 or so. I felt just leave her, so I do not get her moving around a lot. Well at the same I had these flies from the moss and eggs. And the flies must have found there way to her and her wound.

Not an excuse, but my stuff is in transition here. I did not plan to have eggs now. I bought a zig zag female amel and she dropped 12 eggs.

I need to get out and get some peralite, and transfer them.

I had a couple small (tiny) gnats in my incubator. They did not hurt anything, but also never were more than just a couple. I think they liked the heat, moisture and moss that I had. Also, after I removed the bad eggs, they disapeared. I know the original poster said they couldn't get the bad eggs out, though. Maybe try covering the eggs so the flies can not get to them.

Sorry to hear about the snake with the injury. I hope it pulls through!!
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****Misty****

"Everyone has the right to be stupid, but don't abuse the privilege"

The list keeps getting Smaller!
Not counting Hatchlings, this is what I have.........

1.1.2 bearded dragons
7.17.4 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
2.5.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.1 royal (ball) python
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

I just setup attempts to quell my fly problems again as summer got here.......I hung up sticky fly strips.......a pest strip in the center of cieling........and set out a few deli-cups with some vinegar in them and one hole in top.........

as an experiment I set out a deli-cup with corn syrup.....they say you catch more flies with sugar than you do vinegar.....not fruit flies........the syrup got 0 and the vinegar got loads of them..........cheap fly traps for fruit flies........

........I hate flies...........good luck.........
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JYReptiles

Scales-N-Tails Reptiles ltd........Pa

My best advice I can give you is to do what I have been doing for years in my snake room. Go to your local department store and buy some fly glue strips and dangle them in your room. They are not pretty but I have found them to be very effective and there is no poison in them to harm the snakes. Second seal off any holes in your incubator and open it just for a second or so every day to let fresh air in .If you can't get rid of the bad eggs try to pop them open and get rid of all the larvae/maggots .You may need a gas mask for that one, depending on how strong a stomach you have.Also like someone else said try to keep your cages as clean as possible of waste.I use newspaper as a substrate for various reasons,but most of all it is quick and easy to clean.
If your snakes ever get bites or wounds on them from these pesky critters I reccommmend cleaning the wound with peroxide and putting triple antibiotic on the wound and they should heal up nicely.Hope this helps .John

I have had them for quite a few years now. They love humidity. I find a lot more of them thriving in the dampest moss incubation boxes, and less when I keep them as dry as possible without harming the eggs. The flies don't seem to do as well in vermiculite as they do in sphagnum. They are REALLY attracted to baits such as Blue Diamond or Golden Malrin. I leave out little jar lids full of the stuff on the countertops. They like it even better if you put some water in the bait, although it gets really disgusting and you have to dump it out more often. Moisture really attracts them. I have gotten hundreds stuck in the liquid soap bottle if I leave the top open. You could probably make some traps with the liquid soap, too.

I have also tried keeping my eggs in complete darkness since the flies are drawn to light. Combined with setting up a UV drowning trap (UV to attract them, then a fan over soapy water to drown them), it helped keep the numbers down.

They are not dangerous to good eggs, at least until they start to hatch. Then they will lay eggs in the goo around the baby, which hatch into maggots really fast. The maggots find their way into the umbilicus and eat a hole in the belly. So hatching is the dangerous time with a carrion fly infestation.

Many years ago, I used pieces of No Pest Strips to treat some mites a few times. The only problem I ever had was with baby snakes. If the piece was too big or the ventilation was too little, the babies sometimes died or displayed neurological problems (waving their heads, crawling upside down, etc), which sometimes resolved themselves, and sometimes didn't. I don't remember ever having an adult show those signs, so babies must just be unusually sensitive. So I would be really careful with the Strips.

Hope some of those methods might help somewhat.

Thanks Kathy. I've been going thru a few things and cleaning a few. Nothing really has them but the moss. But, after my insane Thirsday thru Saturday routine I really go at it. I think the little cream just happen to get a problem at the worst possible time. When I was making moss boxes for my hognose and incubating some sureprize eggs. Well, not just happened, but I'm of an old habit, if a snake goes off feed, just leave it alone. I'm not a huge carry my snakes around the house kind of guy. But I know now to at least give them a good look over.

I actually has a pest strip here from when I was doing some rats. I did not know I even had it. I opened it and sat it on top of the open tub of eggs for about 15 minutes, then closed it up and put the strip in a baggie. I can't have a strip in here due to my parrot water dishes.

But thanks much for the good info. I'm an old guy with a 30 year lay off to herps. But inspecting a snake is not something I should have missed.

Thanks again tom
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Why does everyone still believe the world is round, when we know it is flat?
(Me)

1.3 Bearded Dragons Eenie, Meanie, Minie and Moe is the Male

2 baby female Western hognose, 2.3 adults some friend some mine) All Named George

Corn snakes
bloodred 0.1 Christal Blue Persuasion
earthtone 0.1 Wind and Fire
creamcicle 0.1 Sherbert

Amazona ochrocephala oratrix 0.1? Pretty Girl
Amazona ochrocephala auropalliata 1.1? Carol - Male, Foghorn Leghorn - Female
Amazona aestiva 1.0? Miss Prissy
Ara ararauna 0.1 April
2.0 Dogs, Michigan, Doc
0.2 Cats,, Sassie and Spooky (all black cat)
0.1 Wives, (Long term captive!,, I mean ME!) I call her (BOSS)
1.1 Kids (Paininthearsius takamemonii) J/K great kids
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tom

www.herpzilla.com

The bummer is that Phorrid flies are next to impossible to get completely rid of once their in your environment. They can live anywhere that water can be found, including the plumbing in your kitchen and bathroom!

You learn to keep everything as clean as you can, and to catch them in traps whenever you can...but they're going to be right along side the cockroaches after the BIG ONE wipes us all out, folks!
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Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742