Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
This has been the worst year ever breeding corns. One girl REFUSED to mate but has been a sucessful mom in the past and one girl I couldnt wait to breed mated but never laid eggs.
Now to my problem....
My last girl who DID sucessfully lay eggs gave me 19 eggs on June 1. Right now all but 3 are dead and there are small black flies in with the eggs. I had this problem 2 years ago and I believe the flies came in with some crickets I got for my leopard gecko. My plan is to remove the eggs from the container when they start to pip so the baby snakes are safe from the flies. 2 years ago, one of the eggs pipped but the snake died in the egg and I think the flies killed it. Has anyone here ever had this problem before? Any suggestions on how to safely remedy this?
Thanx in advance,
Beth

The tiny black flies you are seeing are Phorid or Hunchback Carrion Flys.

They are a serious problem in an incubator. Dead eggs will attract adults, and the maggots are capable of burrowing into and killing heathy eggs. The maggots will also kill pipped hatchlings still in the eggs, and also can burrow into the unhealed umbilicus of newly emerged hatchings. Nasty things! You'll need to wage an all out war on these!

First off, you'll need to keep the snake cages meticulously clean. Be sure to remove all fecal matter within a day. Either flush it, or pour rubbing alcohol on the feces when in a trashcan.

As for incubating eggs: You'll need to remove the clutch of eggs from the incubator carefully cut away any dead eggs or slugs. Then wash the the remaining eggs gently under 80-84 degree (use a therometer!) running water. Use a soft bristle brush to remove any eggs/debris from between the eggs.
Once clean, change out your incubation media with a fresh batch, reset the eggs, then put the whole incubator box inside a snake bag or pillowcase (this will keep the flys from reinfesting the clutch.) then set this inside your incubator.
Every day or two, open the box and look for flys or maggots on the eggs. If any are found, repeat the steps above. Keep the pillowcase over the clutch until well past emergence (once the umbilicus is closed). After the clutch has hatched you can treat the room with VAPONA.

NOTE: Do not follow the next steps of you have either Asian Ratsnakes or fishtanks in the same room! I have BOTH, several dozen VERY expensive catfishes and a group of Taiwan Beauty Ratsnakes that I've had for over 12 years! Makes it a bit tough for me to fight these little buggers.
From there, remove the water dishes from your adult snakes and hang a "No Pest" Strip (Vapona) in the room with your animals for a week. Give the snakes a week to rehydrate, then repeat the procedure.

Good luck with the fight...

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Later,
Paul E. Turley

Thank you SO MUCH!!!
I was afraid to rinse them in water or brush them but they are now in clean substrate and I did check them over carefully for any sign of movement. They are also in a pillow case. The entire container of dead eggs and flies is outside on the porch. I will deal with it later. These eggs have about a week til pipping and I already have a good home lined up for a baby...let's hope I get a baby!!

Get a magnifying glass a look VERY CLOSELY at the surfaces where two eggs meet. The flys will lay thier eggs deep down in these gaps.

Good luck with the remaining eggs.
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Later,
Paul E. Turley

Thank you
None of the eggs that remain are attached and since they are 55 days along I wanted to disturb them as little as possible. As soon as they start to pip they will be going into small tupperware containers on paper towels. I am so nervous!!

you may have them forever, especially if you live in a hot, humid climate like I do (Florida). If you can't get rid of them completely, I have found that the numbers can be reduced by keeping eggs a little on the dry side, and in complete darkness. They love moisture and light, and are attracted to the blacklight bug killers used for mosquitos (I have one that drowns them). Also, fly bait such as Golden Malrin or Blue Diamond will really attract them and kill bunches of them. Just set it out in little cups or lids wherever you see a lot of the little bugs.

Thank you so much Kathy. I live in Rhode Island but the humidity has been brutal lately. I had not seen those flies in 2 years and BANG here they are again. I strongly suspect they arrived in a bag of crickets I got for my leopard gecko 2 years ago. I remembered seeing a small fly in the bag and didnt think anything of it at the time... Thank you so much for your suggestions.

Oh BTW, I know where you are from. Over 10 years ago I used to subscribe to the "Glades Herps" pricelist. Back when you and Bill still ran Glades. And before I got my first cornsnake too