Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got flies on some of my eggs. Has anybody ever tried putting a piece of no pest strip inside the incubator for a couple days to kill flies?

Is there a better way to kill flies that are invading egg boxes?

I don't know what kind of flies these are exactly but they're not house flies. They are small, like an 8th of an inch long. Could they be carrion flies? A friend of mine said carrion flies are horrible to eggs.
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www.hcu-tx.org/

There is a thread further down on the subject, but I have found that bad eggs attract the flies. I try to remove the bad eggs as soon as I know they are bad. Sometimes this is not easy, or possible since they may be stuck to other good eggs. I have found that covering the bad eggs with vermiculite so as to sort of smother them, seems to work unless you have a bad infestation. For this reason, I try my best to separate the eggs soon after they are laid. Even if they are stuck together I can usually pull them apart gently, and so later I can toss the bad ones out before they attract the flies. Other than that I just keep a close eye on the good eggs, and if the worms get bad, i take the eggs and use a spray bottle to knock the critters off over a sink, or garbage can. Then replace the eggs back into the medium. Just make sure the water is not hot or cold. Room temperature is best. Maybe others can add to this?
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Disclaimer: I do keep several snakes in pairs, and some in groups. However I realize that things can go wrong, and I have to keep a close eye on those groups, to be sure they are not being adversely affected by these living conditions. Also if one happens to eat it's cagemate, it is 100% my fault, and I know the risks in advance!

What's wrong with using CAUTION?!?!?!
King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
~ Jorge Sierra www.SierraSnakes.com

Using closed egg containers will keep them out.
But the lids must be removed every few days to allow for air exchange.
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

I've had them get in even with shoe boxes that have no holes. The lid has to be air tight, like some of the ones used for food saving, and freezing. Regular rubbermaid boxes usually still have enough gap to allow the tiny worms to crawl in. The flies lay the eggs in the space between the lid. It's the smell of rotten eggs that draws them in. Good eggs won't attract them. At least that is what I'm finding out. I have yet to see a good egg by it self get any worms on them.
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Disclaimer: I do keep several snakes in pairs, and some in groups. However I realize that things can go wrong, and I have to keep a close eye on those groups, to be sure they are not being adversely affected by these living conditions. Also if one happens to eat it's cagemate, it is 100% my fault, and I know the risks in advance!

What's wrong with using CAUTION?!?!?!
King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
~ Jorge Sierra www.SierraSnakes.com

Thanks for the tips guys. I am going to try the no pest because I've already got bad eggs stuck to good ones and nothing can be done about that at this point. My experience is that if one container had flies they all will soon enough regardless of whether each specific container has bad eggs in it. Now maybe the flies lay eggs only on bad eggs but the flies do go into every container.

I'll let you all know how the no pest works. I'm gonna leave it in for a few days, then remove it and continue to add/remove as needed.
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www.hcu-tx.org/

The bad thing about using the pest strip in the incubator is there is no to very little ventilation. I've always used it in a glass tank with a screen top. If I was in this situation, I would take the clutch with one hand over to the sink and run it under water that is not too hot or not too cold, just warm. Then cut away the bad egg(s) with a razor blade. I've done this before. Its ok to leave the little part of the shell from the bad egg that is stuck to the good egg, but I still try to rip most of it off with my fingers after I cut the rest of the egg off. If the bad egg is really hard to get to, you can still try to pull the stuck eggs apart very slowly to get too it. I've tried this a few times and have never ripped an egg, but I think you will know if an egg is going to rip by determining how thick the shell is and how hard you pull. If the shells are really thin, they may rip, so I'd try to cut as large a hole in the bad egg as possible, and rinse all the bad liquid out. Just to be extra cautious, I would clean out the container they were in, put in new substrate, and cover all the holes with tape and just open it every other day or whenever to allow air exchange. Yes, I'd do all that before throwing a pest strip in there. LOL
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