How Can I Get Rid Of Flys ???

[Vi]

Jan 9, 2012 18:27:30 GMT tsrebel said:

I've tried to put a Sarracenia (carnivorous plant) in with the snails. Some snails took a bite and didn't die, but they didn't eat much. The plant died. It probably should have had its own substrate.
In one of my snailariums I have a mourning gecko as well. It eats flies and probably mites, but lives mostly of a gecko diet (powder mixed with water) that my snails really love. I hope the gecko gets some of it, and that it reproduces (yes, they don't have to mate) so I can have a couple in all of my snailariums.

And if you can't get a gecko, you should try the arboreal Tree Frog Species(yeah, some tree frogs like to swim occasionally, like Southern Bell Tree Frogs ) as they eat flies and small bugs(that don't bite). My favourite is the Brown Tree Frog, as it is not very big, low maintenance, and doesn't like water(except to sit in to rinse off- extremely shallow though! ), plus they are very abundant where I live(especially my backyard ).

[ness]

Feb 10, 2012 5:41:53 GMT Vi said:

Jan 9, 2012 18:27:30 GMT tsrebel said:

I've tried to put a Sarracenia (carnivorous plant) in with the snails. Some snails took a bite and didn't die, but they didn't eat much. The plant died. It probably should have had its own substrate.
In one of my snailariums I have a mourning gecko as well. It eats flies and probably mites, but lives mostly of a gecko diet (powder mixed with water) that my snails really love. I hope the gecko gets some of it, and that it reproduces (yes, they don't have to mate) so I can have a couple in all of my snailariums.

And if you can't get a gecko, you should try the arboreal Tree Frog Species(yeah, some tree frogs like to swim occasionally, like Southern Bell Tree Frogs ) as they eat flies and small bugs(that don't bite). My favourite is the Brown Tree Frog, as it is not very big, low maintenance, and doesn't like water(except to sit in to rinse off- extremely shallow though! ), plus they are very abundant where I live(especially my backyard ).

Oooh how I would love to have tree frogs near my house!
What other wildlife do you have near you?

[PennyFarthing]

I would never have thought of putting reptiles or amphibians in with my snails - or any other creature, for that matter! Is there any information regarding what would work best with the various species?

[tsrebel]

Very few reptiles have snails in their primary diet (slugs more likely). My mourning gecko seemd really scared of my large snails, and lives now only with subadult snails. In the future, I'd like to get a crested gecko or two. They are larger, but eat the same. Both species prefer quite humid conditions and seems like good matches for snails. They are arboreal, so they should have some space and hidings high up, and are best mixed with snails that stays mostly on the ground.

[PennyFarthing]

Sounds good! I've often admired cresteds. What about lizard foods, though? Won't crickets / locusts / meal worms upset the snails?

[jessicamartin]

Funny, never ever thought of putting any other animals in with my snails! Would love to put something in with them now, but would still be really worried.

I've been baking my substrate (compost) in the oven for an hour before spraying it with warm water and green tea and letting it cool down before putting it into the tank with my snails, and yet still I have a huge problem with the white little mites and with hundreds and hundreds of fruit flies all over my bedroom.
The only thing that I have found that has got rid of some of the ones in my room has been to burn incense, fragrance oils and candles at the same time, the flies fly into the candles and drown.
My friend's leant me some coir that he has for his horned frogs, to hopefully this will finally eliminate the problem.

[PennyFarthing]

Feb 28, 2012 0:14:51 GMT jessicamartin said:

Funny, never ever thought of putting any other animals in with my snails! Would love to put something in with them now, but would still be really worried.

Same here, Jessica. I'd love to have an excuse / reason to get some cute reptiles, but I don't want to make a decision that might harm any of my pets. My sister loves lizards but hates the thought of having insects in the house anyway and I don't like the thought of the things stressing my snails out. Don't cresteds need a tall tank / vivarium, too?

I'm not trying to put a downer on it - as I said, I'd love to own a lizard or two - but I don't want to potentially harm my snails or reptiles. Really, I just want to know more, I suppose.

[Vi]

ness- Well, let's see...
In my backyard, if it's;
Humid-Snails(Otala Lactea/Wolf Snails and a snail that only lives here, I have to look it up ), Slugs(Pancake Slugs/Common slugs), Tree Frogs(Litoria Ewingii), Regular Frogs,Toads and Caterpillars(Danaus Plexippus & Cutworms)

If it's wet(like puddles and stuff)-Tree Frogs(Litoria Ewingii), Frogs, Newts(very rare. I've only found 2), lizards and the occasional turtle(Scripta Elegans).

If it's really hot/sunny- A lot of birds, Lizards, Pill Bugs(which is weird, cause they like humidity-Armadillidium), a few mice(rare also), chickens and what not.

My backyard is like a Pokemon game lol, when the conditions are right, all the animals show up there. Like a watering hole in the Saringeti(?).

If I cross the road and travel abit, there's a beach, with a bit of forest-ish area next to it.

There you can find; Ghost Crabs, Sand Pipers, Jellyfish, Giant Land Hermit Crabs(near the puddles and in the trees and on the sides of rock faces), Giant Sea Turtles(if you're lucky and go at night), Giant and Small Chitons(they live on coral and eat algae), Dolphins(have to go out on a boat), Whales(during whale season), the occasional Crane(tall bird, likes to eat small animals), Pelicans, Seagulls, Longtails, Starfish, Some coastal sea snails(I've found a dead one before), Oysters and Clams(deep sea, but I don't go there), Hermit Crabs.

There's a lot on the island, but I won't go into too much detail. Luckily we don't have anything that could kill us like Snakes/Crocodiles/Bears .

~
penny- It's okay to keep Tree Frogs with snails(Not sure about those G.A.L.S), as in the wild, they prey on the young ones. Brown Tree Frogs here eat young snails and actively live amongst them for that reason. I'm not exactly sure if the slime would affect them in the tank, but I wouldn't think so, since they eat their prey whole, slime and all . I can't keep mine with my snails, cause I only have 1 sexually mature snail and no soil, so no babies for them to eat. So I'm just raising them seperately(and secretly hoping they mate and lay eggs ) until then.

[ness]

Vi you live in a nature paradise!
I know all places have their advantages and disadvantages, but I can't help but think how lucky you are to share your space with so much wildlife

[Vi]

ness- Yeah . Although, you have to go looking for a lot of the animals though. A lot of them got pushed up into areas where there's no buildings/ roads.

I don't always have time, doing music and all .

[PennyFarthing]

OK, I think I've just convinced myself that I can keep a Crested Gecko with my snail because...

• I can feed them on the diet that just needs water added (Crested Gecko Diet), rather than putting things like crickets in the tank and frightening / stressing my snail.
  
• My snail has stopped climbing the sides of the tank as she's got bigger and heavier. Perhaps partly because I've given her more compost to hide in.
  

I found the info on cresteds here: aqualandpetsplus.com/Lizards,%20Crested%20Gecko.htm

I hope that it helps you too, Jessica, and anyone else who is unsure about mixing species.

I'm going to wait until Penny needs a bigger tank at the very least, and as I'm unemployed I won't get more pets until I have an income. I just wanted to be sure that I would be doing the right thing if and when I made the decision.

[saki114]

Awesome!

[PennyFarthing]

Yeah, it's great that I can. I was a bit worried that I was going to jump in and get one just because I like them, instead of it being because it was OK.

[saki114]

Ive never heard of keeping lizards with snails! Interesting! Maybe you can post some pics (on a different thread of course )

[abisheridee]

I've always used old tights pulled over the tank lids to stop flies getting in. Give them a clean out, put the tights over, flies can't get in! Job's a good'un

[tsrebel]

My geckos are really shy and hard to get good pictures of. If I succed, I'll post them, but it may take som time to get it.
A little warning; my geckos are attacking my babies and I suspect that is the reason a lot of them are missing one eye stalk. No deaths. They don't attack larger snails (>2cm), and they started with this after they reached adulthood. So mourning adult geckos are safe with adult snails, baby geckos whith baby snails.
Cresteds are larger than mourning geckos, so they may attack larger snails (or not at all).
I feed my mourning geckos with the crested gecko diet (mixed with water) and my snails love it too. I tried breeding banana flies for mye geckos in the beginning, but I couldn't deal with them and the geckos seem to be doing fine without additional insects.

[feelahthetigress]

Hey guys, I think what you have might not be fruit flies, but fungus gnats. If they are fungus gnats, then the traps will not work on them. You could try using gnatrol. It's a product that's essentially a bacteria that kills only fungus gnat larva (you mix it with water and spray it over the soil - just don't spray directly onto snails!). I haven't tried it out yet, but I've read that people who keep red wiggler worms use it on their worm farms. As we all know, worms are a another species who are sensitive to things just like snails and it doesn't hurt them. I have some gnatrol but I haven't used it yet - I plan to do a soil change and a thin out some of my red wiggler population in my tank, as well as a thorough cleaning and then use some in my tank. Hopefully I can rid myself of the evil fungus gnat this way.

[shivles]

My mum showed me her most effective fruit fly trap ever this weekend. A regular malt vinegar bottle with tiny holes poked in the lid! I couldn't believe how well it worked, the flies are attracted to it and then obviously damaged by the acid and they drown in the vinegar.

[brunni]

We taking FLYS or FLIES ?

[feelahthetigress]

Just so you know guys, I went ahead and tried the gnatrol. It's still too early to see if it's working on the fungus gnats, but I can safely say that it's perfectly safe for snails, even sprayed directly onto them! I tried it out the past week, and it hasn't caused them any harm whatsoever.

[witchpig]

I had a few fruit flies in my tank, and so I opened up the lid and flew out. Or I swatted them in the tank.

[slimyrascal]

Their larva grow in the fungus that lives in fresh peat moss.

If you cover your substrate with 1/2" of vermiculite, they can't lay their eggs and die out in a few weeks. The snails are OK with vermiculite.

[MaSlugBoi]

If you use wire mesh for ventilation, the flies should only be able to get in through the soil, which you can simply put in the oven or microwave before use to sterilize.

[tweenytwinkies]

For me, I have issues with gnats but I get a small jar and put any sweet or food ( to attract them) and then apple cider vinegar. They usually get stuck in the liquid and die, make the holes big to get into but can’t escape.