Gnats

skittles22

New Member
I have two chams, one 5 months still in a baby setup and one 10 months in a 2x2x4. The larger enclosure has a live schefflera and other fake vines and leaves. Just recently started noticing some gnats in the enclosure and mostly around the gravel which is covering the soil of the schefflera. Any suggestions on how to treat this nuissance safely and effectively would be appreciated. thanks again for the help.
 
What I did was change the soil, then they went away for about a month, then they came back swarming so just recently I flushed the soil with soapy water let it sit for a couple hours to kill the eggs then flushed it with clean water. After all that I put a ton of saran wrap all over the soil and sides of the pot and ducktaped it to the pot and put paper towels over it. So far its good they cant get at the soil so I'm vacuuming them up and swatting them with my hands and hopefully that will be the last of them.

They are so annoying I cant even deal with them anymore just praying they are gone for good.
 
Heating the soil to 150-300 degrees will kill them too, but like any other treatment they can be back within weeks after.
 
you might have fruit flies...I do..they like the mist and water that collects in the cage..the fundamental solution is to clean the cage (and your house) as much as possible. but bandaid solutions--what i do--is putting cups of vinegar and soap in the places where they congregate. they jump in to drink...and never emerge..hahaha
 
If they are fungus gnats, simply cover the top layer of soil with a nice layer of play sand. This will prevent the gnats entirely. It works 100% of the time in my chameleon enclosures.
 
They are annoying, but 100% harmless and can feed a hatchling chameleon. ;) They are extremely annoying.....

I was gonna say, having babies any time soon? LOL. If we ever breed our Xanth's, I'm considering gnats as one option. Just as long as it's a controlled environment. WE have a 18"x12"x18" screen cage that I'd intend to breed some gnats in there, then when throw the babies in there to feast on 'em. Either that or fruit flies :p
 
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