Little black bugs everywhere

[jamest0o0]

Yes, I use Katchys and they do trap tons of gnats. However, it only keeps the numbers under control. Hatching some mantis ooths in your enclosure also helps, along with the sundew that @jamest0o0 mentioned.

Ahhh mantis ooths, another good one that I forgot about.

How hard would u say it is to keep the sundew alive? And where would I keep them, worried/I know my girl would try to take a bite out of one

Drosera capensis would be the species to get and IME they’re very easy provided the right care. Mine even spread like grass and kept flowering. Don’t keep them in the enclosure, they need to sit in a tray of water(think a bog). Their soil needs to be something with low nutrients like peat moss(google it, it’s simple and if you order or buy from somewhere good they’ll usually come in the soil already). The water should be an inch or two, little bit under the soil line. You basically want the soil wet all the time. RO, RO/DI, distilled, or rainwater must be used. Bottled water, tap water, anything that isn’t what I mentioned will kill them. They all have minerals added which carnivorous plants can’t tolerate. Other than that they are easy, a sunny windowsill should work well or if you have a jungle dawn or sansi grow light, throw that over them and they’ll absolutely thrive.

Some species of flies aren’t attracted to them, but the ones that are will get massacred to non existence by them lol.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Ahhh mantis ooths, another good one that I forgot about.



Drosera capensis would be the species to get and IME they’re very easy provided the right care. Mine even spread like grass and kept flowering. Don’t keep them in the enclosure, they need to sit in a tray of water(think a bog). Their soil needs to be something with low nutrients like peat moss(google it, it’s simple and if you order or buy from somewhere good they’ll usually come in the soil already). The water should be an inch or two, little bit under the soil line. You basically want the soil wet all the time. RO, RO/DI, distilled, or rainwater must be used. Bottled water, tap water, anything that isn’t what I mentioned will kill them. They all have minerals added which carnivorous plants can’t tolerate. Other than that they are easy, a sunny windowsill should work well or if you have a jungle dawn or sansi grow light, throw that over them and they’ll absolutely thrive.

Some species of flies aren’t attracted to them, but the ones that are will get massacred to non existence by them lol.

So I’m a little confused on the wording for some of this, if u don’t mind explaining some things to me. First would purified water work?
Second, who they physically have to be in 2 inches of water, how does that work?
And lastly do u think it would survive in a set up like this (the sundew in a the white basket)

 

[BostonKeith]

so sundews will be need to be kept in a tray that holds water as they are a wetland/bog plant. Most of them are also small as big ones are hard to find. They also dont get too big as well. I would compare them to a venus fly trap care. no nutrients or fertilizer just distilled water.

 

[MissSkittles]

I keep my sundews in the little self watering pots. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WG6VW8L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They do great in them. There is commercially available potting mix for them, but I just mixed up some sphagnum moss, sand and a bit of coco coir.

 

[MissSkittles]

How hard would u say it is to keep the sundew alive? And where would I keep them, worried/I know my girl would try to take a bite out of one

I keep mine on a sunny windowsill. I don’t know that a cham would try to eat it, but I wouldn’t put in in an enclosure just for other reasons…wouldn’t take well to being climbed on, pooped on, etc.

 

[jamest0o0]

so sundews will be need to be kept in a tray that holds water as they are a wetland/bog plant. Most of them are also small as big ones are hard to find. They also dont get too big as well. I would compare them to a venus fly trap care. no nutrients or fertilizer just distilled water.

Easier even than fly traps IMO. They don’t need dormancy and seem a little less sensitive to changes. My sundews probably got a little bigger than my hand, but started out pretty small(they grow fast under right conditions).

 

[Spookies]

Usually in all of my newly setup bio active vivariums, I would run into fungus gnats too. I usually just use the yellow sticky bug trap and set it outside of my enclosure (of course) if it gets very bad. Other than that I just waited about 1 or 2 week out and they usually just disappeared.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Is there a plant light I can use for a sundew? I haven’t been able to get these pests under control rip my room.

 

[BostonKeith]

sansi 70w dimmable for the win everytime!!!

 

[jamest0o0]

I used a jungle dawn because that’s what I had, but the sansi would work perfectly if you have that or are looking to buy a light.

 

[Gerard8]

You’re so welcome! You can get this stuff pretty cheap on Amazon, or if you have a local nursery, I’d look there first! Walmart has a big bag of earthworm castings for $5 which is a steal! I think I’m going to make a separate post about this to help others out as well, so I’ll include links in that too!!

I got rid of the soil totally and put the pothos in small hanging glass jars which I wired to the cage. They have small openings so crickets can’t jump in