Anyone notice gnat/fruit fly sort of bugs with reptichip?

I often notice small gnat type of bugs when using reptichip? Anyone know how to control them?

Could be mites, which are a massive problem. If you can confirm they're mites, there are a lot of threads explaining how to deal with mite infestations on the forum :)

Sent from my vivo 1601 using Tapatalk

It isn't necessarily mites. I get what your talking about as well, they have wings so they for sure are not mites and don't seem to go on the snakes. They are just little nat like flys that I do believe they come from the reptichip. I don't know how to control them because I never saw enough of them to bother me, just every once in a while.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by highqualityballz

I often notice small gnat type of bugs when using reptichip? Anyone know how to control them?

---

"gnat type"...you mean tiny flying bugs? (mites do not fly)

If gnats, mostly an annoyance: I've heard of some people 'baking' substrate (in low temp. oven) to kill any such bugs, but that's not too practical if you use a lot
of substrate for a larger cage or multiple cages. If you happen to live where it's really hot & dry (desert?) you can put the sun to work: put substrate in clean metal
trash can out in the sun (with lid on) & let it bake a while...gnats won't live thru that.

Obviously, you don't want to use any sort of pesticide to kill them as it would kill or make your snake sick too.

Depending on your location, during the summer they seek out the areas of higher moisture. Reptichip hold moisture really well, as such these little flying pests can be a problem. the only thing I've found to combat this is to switch to newspaper in the summer more humid months and then to a natural substrate during the winter when the humidity is lower.

The plague of living in the south

Fruit fly trap or a hot shot no pet strip in your room will help

what kinda water did u soak your reptichips in?

:confusd:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tonald Drump

Could be mites, which are a massive problem. If you can confirm they're mites, there are a lot of threads explaining how to deal with mite infestations on the forum :)

Sent from my vivo 1601 using Tapatalk

---

Lol it’s 100% not mites. Some kind of fruit fly

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ax01

what kinda water did u soak your reptichips in?

:confusd:

---

That was almost funny. You must have a pretty bored life. Stop stalking me and my threads

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Deborah

The plague of living in the south

Fruit fly trap or a hot shot no pet strip in your room will help

---

Are they actual fruit flies?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ax01

what kinda water did u soak your reptichips in?

:confusd:

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by highqualityballz

That was almost funny. You must have a pretty bored life. Stop stalking me and my threads

---

awww almost made u laugh but yes life is boring. anyways i saw the thread b/c it's recent and on the front page and it's a pretty interesting topic and i asked a pretty relevant question. flies and other flying bugz like to lay eggs in water. so it's entirely plausible that water coulda been the medium in which your Reptichips got gnats or whatever. i would switch out the current Reptichips or switch substrates and stay on top of husbandry until the flies go away.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ax01

awww almost made u laugh but yes life is boring. anyways i saw the thread b/c it's recent and on the front page and it's a pretty interesting topic and i asked a pretty relevant question. flies and other flying bugz like to lay eggs in water. so it's entirely plausible that water coulda been the medium in which your Reptichips got gnats or whatever. i would switch out the current Reptichips or switch substrates and stay on top of husbandry until the flies go away.

---

I don’t think it has anything to do with husbandry tbh, I think it’s just a common “problem” with reptichip. Just trying to figure out the species of bug so I can figure out how to control them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by highqualityballz

I don’t think it has anything to do with husbandry tbh, I think it’s just a common “problem” with reptichip. Just trying to figure out the species of bug so I can figure out how to control them.

---

How long have you had them and how bad is the infestation? I only ask because I've seen a few on a couple different occasions after fresh reptichip was put in but I just ignored them and each time they go away in a fairly short amount of time. You may be able to just wait it out and they'll go away on their own.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rufretic

How long have you had them and how bad is the infestation? I only ask because I've seen a few on a couple different occasions after fresh reptichip was put in but I just ignored them and each time they go away in a fairly short amount of time. You may be able to just wait it out and they'll go away on their own.

---

Wouldn’t call it an infestation by any means, I occasionally see them with fresh reptichip, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one.

Are they fungus gnats? In house plants they can emerge from too wet soil, and I've only seen them in plants that were freshly re-potted. For fungus gnats I've heard the suggestion of baking the soil before use to kill off the eggs, but I don't when I re-pot because I think it contributes to healthier soil with more balanced decomposition. I can see how if you were needing to change out substrate regularly how you could wind up in a perpetual fungus gnat stage though...good luck!