help! flies in enclosure?

[Yingg]

hi, there are small black flies all over my tortoise enclosure suddenly. i am worried that the enclosure is too moist or there are some pieces of food i forgot to pick up and then the flies came over.

however, the surface of the substrate is VERY dry, only the bottom is moist (she likes to dig) and any food i forget to pick up becomes dry and crispy. i don't know how the small flies could have possibly come in.

i took out my tortoise and poured boiling water over the areas with the most flies on the soil. some flew away, but most got boiled. i put the substrate out to dry. what should i do?

 

[Tom]

what should i do?

Nothing. Those are likely phorid flies. They are harmless detrivores. They keep the enclosure clean. The come from the surrounding environment and move into our enclosures due to the warm humid favorable living conditions. Early on there tends to be a big "bloom" of them, but the numbers will decrease and stabilize over time.

You can use those sticky tapes to keep the numbers down. Or you can periodically, bake, boil, freeze, or replace the substrate to eliminate them.