shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
|
Post by shortie on Jul 29, 2013 0:58:48 GMT
Well, I came home today to find that the fungus gnats have gone. And I mean completely disappeared! All I did was bath my snails and take the old food out! I think they followed the food? I have cinnamon powder on stand by cause I know they'll be back! As for the mites, I had to purchase some predatory mites. There'll be enough to go around all the tanks and egg clutches. I found mites in my cepaea egg box  They're awful little things!! Luckily, since the snails are native here I can set them free. But Thor, my fulica, laida huge clutch of eggs, half will be frozen but the other half I'm hatching and I don't fancy them getting horrible little mites on them! |
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 1:36:50 GMT
Well, I came home today to find that the fungus gnats have gone. And I mean completely disappeared! All I did was bath my snails and take the old food out! I think they followed the food? I have cinnamon powder on stand by cause I know they'll be back! As for the mites, I had to purchase some predatory mites. There'll be enough to go around all the tanks and egg clutches. I found mites in my cepaea egg box They're awful little things!! Luckily, since the snails are native here I can set them free. But Thor, my fulica, laida huge clutch of eggs, half will be frozen but the other half I'm hatching and I don't fancy them getting horrible little mites on them! Gone just like that? I don't believe it... Be careful with gnats, the adults have short lifespans (only about 7 days) and sometimes it seems like they are totally gone, but the adults have just died off and then the eggs they've laid in the soil hatch out later and you have a whole new infestation for awhile... |
|
shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
|
Post by shortie on Jul 29, 2013 1:48:24 GMT
Or maybe I'm just not looking close enough haha! I'm down with food poisoning today I'm so worn out after going out and getting the snails food and soil. I'll have cinnamon on standby if they come back and if that doesn't work then the predatory mites will do their job! |
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 2:21:27 GMT
Or maybe I'm just not looking close enough haha! I'm down with food poisoning today I'm so worn out after going out and getting the snails food and soil. I'll have cinnamon on standby if they come back and if that doesn't work then the predatory mites will do their job! Ooh, the food poisoning sucks. Sorry to hear that, good luck! Hopefully you're predatory mites will be just the thing! |
|
|
|
Post by muddydragon on Jul 29, 2013 8:22:16 GMT
get better soon  |
|
shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
|
Post by shortie on Jul 29, 2013 8:33:24 GMT
Thank you feelahthetigress and muddydragon I think the tigers new tank will have to wait another day but at least they'll be mite free! |
|
|
|
Post by malacophile on Jul 29, 2013 13:56:09 GMT
Somehow, food poisoning seems to be one of the most horrific everyday afflictions one can suffer. Blehh...  They say (and I can personally back it up) that drinking a bunch of hard liquor right after you eat something bad will prevent most food poisoning. The alcohol kills the bacteria. |
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 14:55:39 GMT
Somehow, food poisoning seems to be one of the most horrific everyday afflictions one can suffer. Blehh... They say (and I can personally back it up) that drinking a bunch of hard liquor right after you eat something bad will prevent most food poisoning. The alcohol kills the bacteria. But then you'd be hungover... Oh, and how would you know what to drink the liquor right after? Once you feel sick, isn't it already too late? |
|
Kitana
Achatina achatina
Religion is not a choice. You are either convinced, or not convinced.
Posts: 91
|
Post by Kitana on Jul 29, 2013 16:37:55 GMT
I've just been over run with them, bowls of water left around the place and sticky fly paper worked well, However the snails were eating the sticky paper inside the cage so in the end I set up a tank with moist substrate and some unfinished compost, then put the sticky tape inside the tank and waited for the substrate to dry out. Now I don't get them in my cup of coffee lol but still filling a sticky strip every 2 weeks (as opposed to one a day). |
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 16:41:04 GMT
I've just been over run with them, bowls of water left around the place and sticky fly paper worked well, However the snails were eating the sticky paper inside the cage so in the end I set up a tank with moist substrate and some unfinished compost, then put the sticky tape inside the tank and waited for the substrate to dry out. Now I don't get them in my cup of coffee lol but still filling a sticky strip every 2 weeks (as opposed to one a day). I'm not surprised the snails ate the sticky paper. They love eating paper! |
|
Kitana
Achatina achatina
Religion is not a choice. You are either convinced, or not convinced.
Posts: 91
|
Post by Kitana on Jul 29, 2013 16:49:52 GMT
They just like rubbing it in our faces that they can digest cellulose! I also chucked in a few golden wire centipedes (geophilia sp. Something like that) to control the flies and mites/springtails. They do a good job!
|
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 18:28:54 GMT
They just like rubbing it in our faces that they can digest cellulose! I also chucked in a few golden wire centipedes (geophilia sp. Something like that) to control the flies and mites/springtails. They do a good job! I remember before someone gave me some snails in a cardboard box and they were eating holes in the box. Quite happily, in fact. I don't much like centipedes... They sting and bite and have too many feet.... |
|
Dumbledore
Achatina immaculata
#heavily caffeinated
Posts: 251
|
Post by Dumbledore on Jul 29, 2013 18:48:23 GMT
Wait, so I can put cardboard in the box and they'll EAT it and be fine?!
|
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 19:02:41 GMT
Wait, so I can put cardboard in the box and they'll EAT it and be fine?! Um, I don't know how nutritious it is...cardboard's processed and full of potential chemicals. They'd probably be fine if they ate it every once in a great while, but I certainly wouldn't put them on an all-cardboard diet or anything... |
|
Dumbledore
Achatina immaculata
#heavily caffeinated
Posts: 251
|
Post by Dumbledore on Jul 29, 2013 19:07:30 GMT
yeah, wasn't planning that. What about just plain printer paper?
|
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 19:11:27 GMT
yeah, wasn't planning that. What about just plain printer paper? Some people feed their snails that too occasionally. But it too was made with chemicals. Probably won't hurt them though. In fact, the cardboard probably won't hurt them either in moderation... |
|
Dumbledore
Achatina immaculata
#heavily caffeinated
Posts: 251
|
Post by Dumbledore on Jul 29, 2013 19:37:46 GMT
Okay, thanks! The snails you sent me are doing great, two smaller snails have shell issues but will hopefully recover. They love watermelon; I put them in a watermelon rind and they were happy for a really long time!
|
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 19:44:18 GMT
Okay, thanks! The snails you sent me are doing great, two smaller snails have shell issues but will hopefully recover. They love watermelon; I put them in a watermelon rind and they were happy for a really long time! That's good! But to get back to the original topic... Once I'm finished with my gnatrol treatment, I'm going to try the cinnamon treatment. I'll let people know how that goes. |
|
Dumbledore
Achatina immaculata
#heavily caffeinated
Posts: 251
|
Post by Dumbledore on Jul 29, 2013 19:48:30 GMT
Yeah, I get distracted easily, sorry. I don't think I have any gnats. |
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 19:49:11 GMT
Yeah, I get distracted easily, sorry. I don't think I have any gnats. Well, aren't you lucky? Be watchful for them... |
|
Cashell
Archachatina puylaerti
Posts: 1,124
|
Post by Cashell on Jul 29, 2013 19:50:18 GMT
This post has nothing to do with fungus gnats, but I just read some of the recent posts about snails eating cardboard and paper and wanted to be another person to confirm that it's true! My goodness! I had an escaped snail once bore holes in a old letter I got from the mail, and my current snails also have a tendency to eat the temporary papertowel I put them on during cleaning. What do snails find so tasty about processed trees?!  Anyways, I've thankfully never had a problem with fungus gnats, but I guess it's because I only use soil in my breeding jars which are only seldomly used for breeding. |
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Jul 29, 2013 19:59:22 GMT
This post has nothing to do with fungus gnats, but I just read some of the recent posts about snails eating cardboard and paper and wanted to be another person to confirm that it's true! My goodness! I had an escaped snail once bore holes in a old letter I got from the mail, and my current snails also have a tendency to eat the temporary papertowel I put them on during cleaning. What do snails find so tasty about processed trees?! Well, paper is just cellulose (and other gunk) which is found in many different plants. I imagine it's just like eating leaves to them. Also, cellulose breaks down into sugars, so I imagine they like that too. I once fed my beasts a bunch of snail mash and I soaked it in beer to make it more enticing and I put it on a scrap of paper towel to keep it off the dirt and they ate the whole thing, paper towel and all! |
|
shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
|
Post by shortie on Jul 29, 2013 20:57:08 GMT
Day 3 of food poisoning And I can't drink alcohol because I'm allergic to it. I need a new stomach  Anyone willing to help? Haha! And plans to put the tigers in a glass viv have fell though. It's too tall and I can't take the risk of any of them to fall off the ceiling and it's not deep enough Hypoaspis miles should arrive tomorrow, still no fungus gnats since I last checked but plenty of mites. Temperatures have dropped and I'm typing this whilst wearing a long sleeve top and an ice hockey jersey! Typical Scottish weather! |
|
|
|
Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 16, 2013 16:24:04 GMT
Hey guys, I'm here with an update on the fungus gnat situation. I tried the cinnamon, but it doesn't seem to have had much effect. I had tried the Gnatrol but I wasn't able to effectively use it because the new glass lid I had switched to was holding way too much moisture in the air, so I couldn't do the gnatrol drenches since it was getting way too wet in there. The cinnamon not working may be due to the excess moisture as well. My fungus gnat problem has been greatly exacerbated by all the wetness. Thankfully, I have DIY'ed my own Lexan lid, with more vent holes in it, and I'm thinking it'll work better for moisture control (hopefully, and if it doesn't, I'll drill more holes!). Anyway, I wanted to share a new discovery in our never-ending fight against the gnats! I know I said at the beginning of this thread that those vinegar traps don't work...but I tried it again, this time with different baits. I've found that white/red wine, Mirin (it's a Japanese wine), and Kirschwasser (it's a cherry brandy) all work better than vinegar as a bait. Basically, those gnats like their alcohol! Anywho, I've also found that putting saran wrap with holes over it doesn't help at all, it just makes it hard for the gnats to find their way in. I've caught quite a few gnats with just an open jar full of wine (with a few drop of dish soap to break surface tension, of course). I wanted to find a way to use it inside the snail tank, but couldn't use it open since the beasts would drown. I've come up with this: farm3.staticflickr.com/2859/9774332221_127ed1d6ef_c.jpgYou'll notice that it's just a small half-pint canning jar. I put some white wine and a few drops of dish soap in it, and over it is a plastic wide holed mesh (which I bought at Hobby Lobby). I imagine any rigid mesh with wide holes would work (although metal will rust a bit). I cut the mesh to a circle to fit the jar mouth, and put the screw-on ring part of the lid over the mesh to hold it in place. This is good because it allows gnats to fly through the spacious holes but doesn't let snails fall in. I've already tested it and it worked great - I'd caught about 50 gnats! More still, unfortunately... Still, I thought I'd share it as a way to reduce their numbers or at least keep them in check. If I find that my new lid allows better ventilation, I may start testing with the gnatrol again... |
|
Dumbledore
Achatina immaculata
#heavily caffeinated
Posts: 251
|
Post by Dumbledore on Sept 19, 2013 0:39:50 GMT
I had a bunch of mites/gnats in the tank that were driving me insane, and I got them all away by freezing the soil. Not seen them since.
|
|
They're awful little things!! Luckily, since the snails are native here I can set them free. But Thor, my fulica, laida huge clutch of eggs, half will be frozen but the other half I'm hatching and I don't fancy them getting horrible little mites on them!
They say (and I can personally back it up) that drinking a bunch of hard liquor right after you eat something bad will prevent most food poisoning. The alcohol kills the bacteria.
