Flies in crickets??

[matcha]

Just bought crickets yesterday, and today they have little flies that almost look like fruit flies.. hopping around in the cricket keeper? What is this, and should i trash the crickets and get new ones?

 

[kinyonga]

Do they run around in a sort of jerky movement?

 

[matcha]

Do they run around in a sort of jerky movement?

they were literally flying out, kind of jumping around

 

[kinyonga]

Do they look like this?
https://www.sciencesource.com/1254847-phorid-fly-stock-image-rights-managed.html

 

[matcha]

Do they look like this?
https://www.sciencesource.com/1254847-phorid-fly-stock-image-rights-managed.html

yes i believe that’s them

 

[kinyonga]

They are awful to get rid of. They can squeeze into sealed containers in some cases and even get past the gasket on your fridge door.

 

[matcha]

They are awful to get rid of. They can squeeze into sealed containers in some cases and even get past the gasket on your fridge door.

i put the container outside and trashed the crickets, but think i may be moving over to roaches instead

 

[kinyonga]

They can invade the roach habitat too…if there are any loose in your house, they will find the container you keep the roaches in and even your chameleon cages. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be the case.

 

[MissSkittles]

I have the dreaded gnats in my cricket and roach bins, but they aren’t the phorid flies…just soil gnats or fruit flies. To make life easier for my pet sitter when I went away, I set up my crickets bioactively (the roaches were already bioactive). Well, I guess the sitter put out too much food for them and the gnats/flies came. It’s mainly the cricket bin, and I can’t do much about it as it’s now got a bunch of baby crickets hatching in it. Just being careful not to overfeed and letting it all dry out.