Little gnats in plants.

[Panthergirl11]

So I noticed today that there are little gnats living in my chams umbrella plant. Will they hurt my Cham? Should I do something to get rid of them?

 

[DanSB]

by gnats you mean little flying insect gnats that kind of hover around in a mass? A heavy misting would disperse them and they are generally not harmful to anything.

If however you are making the mistake I've heard people make before and there are little bugs crawling all over the plant it could be mites. If it is mites they might or might not harmful depending on what kind.

 

[Panthergirl11]

They are little flying bugs. There's only a few of them that I've seen. Like less than 5.

 

[showjet95]

they are most likely fungus gnats. They breed out of control in the right conditions (very humid, wet areas with organic matter).

 

[BoopDoop]

They may also be fruit flys, I changed out the soil in my plant and the problem was over, they went away for good.

 

[Panthergirl11]

Ok. I'll work on switching out the soil this weekend. I just hope they aren't harmful to Reptar.

 

[DekuScrub]

they are most likely fungus gnats. They breed out of control in the right conditions (very humid, wet areas with organic matter).

really? that happens?

pretty cool.

i rather have gnats eatting my fungi than rampant fuzz. the idea of spores always concerns me with their propensity toward upper respiratory infection.

 

[DanSB]

You could always try to sell them to a dart frog keeper as a feeder? If it was me I would change the plant out and let the old one dry a little, possibly re-pot and rinse to try and get rid of any eggs.

A little cup of vinegar works for loose fruit fly's and other insects that like plant matter. I keep one next to my frogs to round up escaped fruit flies that might work on these, I don't know.

 

[RunCode3]

I have these too. I was thinking about adding some carnivorous plantation like a Venus fly trap or those bucket plant things on the bottom of the cage. Thoughts?

 

[DanSB]

really? that happens?

pretty cool.

i rather have gnats eatting my fungi than rampant fuzz. the idea of spores always concerns me with their propensity toward upper respiratory infection.

Springtails or small isopods are much better at eating fungus than these guys. Josh's Frogs apparently has really good cultures. I was using ones out of my yard but couldn't get them to stay alive so I plan to order some very soon.

I haven't tried it but I can imagine they would do well in a potted plant in a Chameleon enclosure and keep the fungus nasty stuff down.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Carnivorous plants would be the funnest way to deal with this problem.

I would recommend a sundew plant (Drosera sp.) if you can put it in a location where the dew won't have a chance to get on your chameleon's eyes. Even outside the cage would help.

Venus flytrap won't do much.

Pitcher plants (Nepenthes) are easy to keep under the right conditions, would do well either in or right beside/on top of a cham cage.

Otherwise, soap and water works too.

 

[DekuScrub]

I have these too. I was thinking about adding some carnivorous plantation like a Venus fly trap or those bucket plant things on the bottom of the cage. Thoughts?

sounds cool if you have a display setup. i personally hide my lizards in the basement.

 

[RunCode3]

sounds cool if you have a display setup. i personally hide my lizards in the basement.

Basement!

Tobias is the first thing my guests see when they walk into my house (why I want to do an LED lighting system too!)

Maybe ill put some pitcher plants on the bottom of his cage where he doesnt go!

Ill keep you updated!