Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am dealing with some gnats in the soil of my ficus in my cage. Temps, lights, water/humidity are all good. My cham is loving life but I am wondering how to deal with these gnats! Iwould like to leave my tree in the cage but if I shouldmove it outside to treat obviously I will do that. Just need to know best solution for dealing with these little buggers? I have heard about the method of leaving out a dish of soapy water for them to drown in but have not had much luck with this any other suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks!!!

The gnat eggs are in the soil, so maybe the only way to get rid of the current population is to repot the Ficus. If the potting soil drains and dries faster there will be fewer gnats, but maybe not down to zero. Adding a layer of pebbles in the bottom of the pot will help it drain better. I don't know if they would be attracted to fly paper, but maybe a strip of the non-toxic sticky type hung inconspicuously in the cham room would cut them down a bit. I guess I just lived with them.

Hey.
You could try watering with nematodes (Steinernema feltiae). They will kill larvae of the fungus gnats. Just make sure to water all your potted plants otherwise they will just survive in the soil of the untreated plants. They are not harmful to chameleons, nor humans and it works - I've tried it several times. The nematodes survive for a long time in the soil - over a year has gone by since I used them the last time and no fungus gnats yet.

I was about to give the same suggestions as Carlton. It worked for me...the only difference is that I used a mixture of soil and sand for re-potting it, it drained alot better and didn't stay as wet. Also used a layer of pebbles on the bottom.
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Thanks for the suggestions! I will try re-potting with the pebbles and a sand/soil mixture. I don't mind a few occasionally but it is starting to get out of hand here!