Will whiteflies/blackflies harm my tortoises?

[KristinC]

Hello

I'm new to the forum (will post in the introductions soon) and although I'm not new to tortoises, the title says it all really.
My garden has exploded with whiteflies and several little blackflies this summer and I have no idea why. I'm used to one or two flying about but not like this. They appear to be attracted to the grape vine and hibiscus plant I have growing in my enclosure - but to be honest they are in everything, random weeds, geraniums, roses and just the grass! Although I know this is common and many people complain of this and there's lots of information about how to protect your plants, there is no information about whether these pests are of any harm to the tortoises?

Obviously, they are infuriating if you have them and extremely hard to get rid of, (I've been spraying with water, using worm castings and lady birds) not to mention harmful to the plants, but what about tortoises?

If the tortoise is eating the plants they are living on, will they get sick? I'm seriously considering taking them out of the enclosure if I can't get it under control. The last thing I want to do is get rid of the plants too as its a fairly new area I've made.

By the way I have two sub adult leopard tortoises in there.

Thanks for any information!

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, thankfully, I don't have that problem here. I would assume that the flies wouldn't be a bother to the tortoises, but I don't know for sure.

 

[Abdulla6169]

No obvious threats, unless your tort bleeds than you have to keep him in

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

No, flies shouldn't bother him. I've heard people talking about wasps and bees stinging torts, but I don't see why flies would.

 

[LLLReptile]

Hi! I have been fighting whiteflies with my hibiscus at the place I just moved into this year; the tortoises should be fine, but I'd be worried about your plants.

Try a plain, simple dish soap in a very dilute mix and spray that on any leaves/branches you can't cut off. Hard, direct spraying of the leaves with water dislodges the white stringy stuff and lets the natural predators, like ladybirds, eat the adult moths. By far the most effective way to put a huge dent in their population is to heavily prune any branches that you see them on. I've been going through every couple weeks and heavily pruning a section of the hibiscus that are affected (I don't want the plants to get too big a shock with too heavy a prune job). I also use a very strong spray and hose down the leaves.

We had a really bad infestation when I moved in (think 3 bushes, entire sides covered with white gunk) and took over early this summer, but after a few months of carefully working at it, they're almost entirely gone.

Good luck! Your tortoises will be fine, but you might pull out all of your hair dealing with the white flies.

-Jen

 

[Star-of-India]

Just extra protein if the torts are eating them with the plants. But not good for the plants. They sell adhesive strips at some garden supply stores which apparently attract the whiteflies and trap them.

 

[Yourlocalpoet]

I have this problem too in the summer months, I also get little black flies hanging around, which I don't think my tortoise minds but they bother me. Sometimes I used to stay indoors, just because I didn't want them landing on me and generally being vile!
I've just moved house and the problem hasn't changed, I've still got whiteflies in the tortoise enclosure, however worm castings has worked well for me, also blasting with water/soapy water, as mentioned above.

I don't like the idea of my tortoise eating flies or fly eggs either but I don't know whether it's harmful, sorry. The majority thinks not though. Good luck with the little buggers!