Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i live in my aunts basement and it gets pretty hot down there. and the gnats and flys are out of control. they sworm my poor babys cages. i sit in front of the inclosures and swat as many as i can but it does not seem to help they come right back. i dont know what to do i cant get rid of them. is there any thing i can use to kill them without hurting all my reptiles and furries? please someone give me some ideas. these bugs are driving my animals and me crazy.
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brandy

I was having the same problem, and I got a couple of sugestions which you can read below in the forum, just look for a post with my name.

Anyways I wasnt able to acquire the stuff that was recommended, and it was getting a bit too much, so I got a thing of bug spray that said it worked against gnats, flies, etc. But did have a caution against using with animals.
So what I did was remove the dirt from the cage which is what I had my uro on, rinsed the cage, sprayed it, waited minutes and rinse very well. Now hes back in on towel paper.

I just did this today, but so far everything seems good.

One thing I read and I was told below is that the bugs are atracted to and need humidity, so you can check places that are humid or have mold or what not, which is theyre breeding ground. In my case was the dirt which I threw out, as I read that to kill the whole thing you needed to remove or fix the places with the humidity that they use as a breeding ground and also use the spray (I think that was the directions on the can).

But be carefull with the spray its pretty heavy stuff.
Dont know if you want to try this method or not, just thought Id help out since Im going through the same thing.

Good Luck
Jack
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0.1 Hypo-Tang Leopard Gecko
0.1 Tremper Albino Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
1.0 Hypo Tang Leopard Gecko
1.0 Crested Geckos
0.0.1 CB Baby Saharan Uromastyx

thanks ill check out them no pest strips. but that will only help the cages... they are all over the basement now. im scared to use spray because i have animals all over. i have some fly paper strips hangin but dont help much.
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brandy

i am always wary of spraying stuff too. besides getting rid of damp areas (which can be hard in a basement)make sure you leave out no food and no drinks and make sure you empty your trashcans alot, maybe spray them with lysol. i know it is hard to not leave food out with animals around but maybe y'all can make some sacrafices the next couple days till the population dies out. you will have to clean their cages often too because gnats and flies will eat anything, even poo. i know there are dehumidifiers out there but i have no idea how much they cost but it could help with the damp atmosphere of a basement.
if all else fails you will just have to take everything out of your room, scrub it really well and move it all back in. good luck
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vonnie
***Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. Mae West ***

thanks. i do have 4 dehumidifiers but i dont run them all the time. i think im just gonna clean the whole basement and run them more often. thanks everyone for the help
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brandy