# Keeping fruitflies/bugs away.



## BlackMountain412 (May 4, 2010)

How do you keep these pest away from your enclosure. I have a screen top and they still manage to get into it. Anything with soil and water attracts these pest! I heard buying some kind of pods can solve the problem.


Edit: Oh of coarse left over fruits....


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## kyle42leopards (May 4, 2010)

Yep their constantly trying to get into my moist sphagnum moss. But I don't know what to do about it.


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## chairman (May 5, 2010)

To control the bugs you can keep a cup of vinegar near the enclosure or you could use fly paper. Keep the torts away from both.

The only way I have ever gotten rid of the bugs was to completely remove my substrate and force my tortoises to live without it for a couple days. During this time I also kept a cup of vinegar in/near my sinks (they'll move there when the substrate is gone), sprayed my non-tortoise house plants with food-safe indoor pesticides (the stuff for indoor herb gardens), and put a couple strips of fly paper around the house.


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## Yvonne G (May 5, 2010)

It is my firm belief that fruit fly eggs come into the house on the fruit itself. The only thing you can do is clean up the un-eaten fruit before the flies have a chance to hatch.


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## Tom (May 5, 2010)

Those are probably phorid flies, not fruit flies and they are detrivores. Remove their source of food or moisture and they go away. This is why Mikes' method works. Just remove all substrate for a few days and they all die off or go away.


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## Madkins007 (May 5, 2010)

I had a lot of these and did the research. There are a lot of 'home remedies' that really don't work well, or you can use biological controls. There is a micro-organism that kills the eggs, etc.

In a more soil-based substrate, you can culture natural micro-organisms that will do the job. Mix in some garden soil (source of the micro-organisms), and sand or clay-based kitty litter (for them to grow on). You can add Rolly Polys or isopods to help eat all the other critters. Then it just takes time. 

Since I did this, I have no more bugs other than springtails or snow fleas, which are also harmless.


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## BlackMountain412 (May 5, 2010)

There you go!! a culture of springtails and isopods is what I was looking for. I had the information but I couldn't remember it! These are the stuff people use for their pygmie chameleon enclosure! Thanks!!
I was curious if its harmfuls for tortoise as well and you confirm that they are harmless..



Madkins007 said:


> I had a lot of these and did the research. There are a lot of 'home remedies' that really don't work well, or you can use biological controls. There is a micro-organism that kills the eggs, etc.
> 
> In a more soil-based substrate, you can culture natural micro-organisms that will do the job. Mix in some garden soil (source of the micro-organisms), and sand or clay-based kitty litter (for them to grow on). You can add Rolly Polys or isopods to help eat all the other critters. Then it just takes time.
> 
> Since I did this, I have no more bugs other than springtails or snow fleas, which are also harmless.


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## rsross1970 (May 6, 2010)

I'm not sure if this could help but I have heard that geraniums are a natural way to drive away flies. I have never tried it and I haven't looked up to see if geraniums are on the toxic list for tortoises. But maybe just keeping one near the enclsure could help?


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## chairman (May 6, 2010)

Madkins007 said:


> You can add Rolly Polys or isopods to help eat all the other critters. Then it just takes time.



I had never thought of introducing "predators" into the enclosure. Do you ever have any problems with your tortoises hunting the bugs? I think that my hingebacks might decimate my rolly poly populations if I were to try it!

I do think the bugs are harmful, however not in the classical sense... when the bug populations got high they would climb all over my tortoises, who frequently got annoyed and submerged themselves (as well as they could) in their water to escape them. That's why I killed the bugs in the first place- to reduce what I perceived to be a stressful situation for my torts.


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## Tom (May 6, 2010)

Rolly pollies, springtails, firebrats, isopods, snow fleas and phorid flies are all detrivores. They don't eat each other, they just compete for food. We get the phorid flies in our roach bins and all those other bugs you guys have been talking about simply compete with the roaches and other bugs for resources.


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## Terry Allan Hall (May 6, 2010)

Jennifer, my Hermann's Tortoise, shares her home w/ Bilbo, a spadefoot toad...they get along just fine and any bugs Jennifer's food tray attracts immediately becomes part of Bilbo's cuisine.


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