Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my Sav cage for 4 months. Its 8x3x2 with a combo top soil and decomposed granite substrate.

Since its gotten warm, it seems that there are a kind of fruit fly/gnat infestation not only in the cage, but also by every window and light in the room. My cage is set up in a room adjacent to the kitchen. Talking with my friend, he thinks they came from the garbage/garbage disposal. I tend to agree, since I spray the cage weekly with mite spray (the good stuff from Pro Exotics). The bugs seem to gather by the lights (bank of 3 on one side) and get between the plexiglass and the wood in the cage top. I spray around, between under, over, etc. to get the bugs, but I am concerned they are in teh dirt.

I was cleaning the cage furniture yesterday and when I knocked the dirt off of a piece of wood, a bunch of the "baby" bugs came out. They are probably nesting inthe wood, so I soaked the wood and then sprayed. I used to "turn" the dirt every week, but is that necessary, it ruins his burrows.

What can/should I do or try to get rid of this problem?

Thank you in advance for your help

Jeff

Out of curiosity... is this a planted enclosure?? I'm just trying to figure out why you're using top soil and the granite... I can only assume it would be cost... how thick are you laying your substrate??

No plants in the enclosure. I was trying to find a good mix for burrowing and moisture. The substrate is 1 ft deep in a steel stock tank

The dirt's not neccesary then, all be it cheaper, you get what you pay for, and in this case it's bugs...

now with that being said it's hard to sit here and just blame the dirt...

One option you can try would be going to the meglomart-home improvement warehouse and checking what they have in the way of mulches... and mix that with the granite...

I had issues with small flying bugs in my Rainbow boa enclosure, just because of the humidity levels inside, I changed the cleaning schedule from once a week to once every three days, and the substrate to a coconut husk mixture ( both fine and course... 50/50) and walla... no bugs... however coconut products tend to be exspensive, unless you can find a wholesaler... get it in large quanities, and you might save some in the long run... not sure what your budget is...

Something else you can offer the Savvie, is pre made underground burrows, whether it's latice and concrete caves or just wooden ones sunken into the substrate... would allow you to keep it cleaner, by turning the substrate without destroying his burrows...

How long were you keeping the substrate in the enclosure??

Ideally, if you were to create a bio-filter or a natural cycle in the cage itself, you wouldn't every have to clean it... but it's close to impossible to do in a confined space... ( making good bateria/bugs that eat poop, planting trees/plants to help filter the soils... so on and so forth )

Just ideas... no one is better than the next... Hope I lent some help or sparked some ideas...

Karl

Thanks for your help. I still cant confirm if its the dirt or outside the cage where the bugs are coming from. I know they like the lights tho. they seem to have dissipated a little in the past 2-3 weeks. I've had the recommendation to get the no pest strip, so I am going to give that a shot. I am also starting to "pre-dig" burrows for the guy and let him get some protection without the work