Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So Eddie's empty terrarium (he's still in the smaller one until he's too big to get in the drainage layer in the big one) is full of gnats. I'm quite certain they began their massive breeding and egg laying when one of my plants died and I was not home to remove it quickly enough (long weekend). I thought about putting a couple of anoles in the tank for the time being, to clear out the gnats, but I changed my mind and opted for two carnivorous plants. One is a Butterwort, the other is a Sundew. My question is, if I decide to actually plant them in the terrarium and leave them in there when I eventually put Eddie back, they won't harm him, will they?
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.2 Cornsnakes (Lyle & Erik Menendez)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

I dont think you'll ever get rid of the gnats using just the carnivorous plants. Anoles probably wouldnt do it either.
What are the temp requirements for gnats? A quick 4 hour dip in the fridge might work without killing the plants.
Otherwise your terrarium needs a good old fashioned cleanout. Maybe one of those bug strips might work, I dunno.
The butterwort and sundew shouldnt be strong enough to harm the snake, though I dont know how small your snake is.

Even after all that trouble, you might still get gnats again.

Disclaimer - I know nothing about gnats or terrariums or plants. I know Sundew is a good Mellow Yellow soft drink substitute in North Carolina though.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

If it was only a couple of gnats, or even less than ten, it wouldn't bother me as much. I had checked on a garden forum site where someone else was asking about how to get gnats out of a terrarium (hers wasn't for reptiles, was the only difference) and they suggested the butterwort and sundew. I know I wouldn't put them in a tank with a small herp in it.

We'll see how it goes with the carnivorous plants. I figure they'll probably be able to catch this generation of gnats, then the next group of eggs will hatch out and they might be able to catch most of those before they lay new ones. I don't expect it to be an overnight thing by any means.

I already tried sticky traps, but they land on them, walk around, and take off again.

I'd do a total soil/substrate removal and thorough cleaning of the tank, but at the moment I can't afford to and don't have the time. Besides the fact that I'm in Florida and even after a thorough tank cleaning, they'd probably just come back.
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.2 Cornsnakes (Lyle & Erik Menendez)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

What resources did you use to find information about terrariums? I'd like to setup something like that for my bigger snakes, but I'm not sure were to begin...

Any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated
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~Maggie~

"Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious."
1.1 Cal Kings
1.0 Brooksi
0.1 Red Belly Piranha
1.0 Australian Shepherd