Frustrated Help! Flies!!!!!!

[Cathyann31]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and having a problem I hope you can help me with.

I have flies in the GP cage and I can't get rid of them; It's driving me nuts, and I'm sure it's driving them nuts too!

I have 2 male pigs in a decent size coroplast open cage. My guess is it's about 2 1/2 ft by 4 ft. I used fleece as bedding for a few yrs and have now gone to aspen shavings. It doesn't seem to matter if the cage is clean or not, the flies won't go away.

Yesterday I brought the cage outside and gave it a very detailed cleaning. I scrubbed with soap and water, then used a little bleach, then rinsed and did the soap and water again. Not just on the bottom of the cage but also the grids. I let it dry in the sun. During that time, I pulled the table out that the cage sits on, cleaned it, and vacuumed the floor. Once I brought the cage back inside, I filled it with new bedding. (I had thrown the old stuff away thinking that maybe the bag was contaminated somehow.) I then filled the cage with a combo of 1/2 cedar and 1/2 pine shavings. I know cedar is a no no, and that pine is questionable. I only used this because I read that cedar can be a good insect deterrant, and that pine can as well, but not as affectively. I wanted to see if it could help temporarily and perhaps break a life cycle of these pesky flies.

I was so discouraged this morning when I saw that they were back. My experiement obviously didn't do a darn thing. I need help getting rid of these things. I don't have a messy house, but I do have kids coming in and out all day. I generally only see 1 or 2 flying around the living room or kitchen and I swat those when I can. I'll go into the game room where the cage is, and I'll reach in and stir up about 3 or 4. I hate to think they are bothering Coco and Peanut too. I know that flies can carry disease.

Out on the back patio I have a real stinky fly trap thing the man at the hardware store recommended, and inside I have a no pest strip thingy that doesn't do anything. Are there any natural remedies/repellants I can try? I heard maybe eucalyptus oil? Would hanging some soaked euc. rags around the top of the cage help, or would it bother the animals? Is there anything I can do?

Changing all the bedding and washing their cage every singe day isn't practical for us.

All suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

 

[bpatters]

Well, for starters, I'd get the pigs off the cedar bedding. You won't help your situation by having to care for pigs with bumblefoot or foot infections, much less respiratory infections.

What kind of flies are they?

 

[Cathyann31]

I'm full aware about the cedar bedding. Surely 1 day isn't going to harm them. I'll scoop most out today and top off with the rest of the pine until I can get back to the store for more aspen.

They seem slightly smaller then a standard house fly.

They are driving me NUTSO!!!

 

[bpatters]

Are they the kind that come in with the groceries, from cereal and flour? If so, you'll have to tackle them at the pantry, not at the pig cage. If not, they have to be coming from somewhere, so you'll need to find the source.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

If flies can get into the house, they will be attracted to the pigs. There's nothing you can do to stop that. Mostly you just have to try to keep them from getting in the house.

You can use fly traps, but those usually smell bad as you've experienced. I've used the sticky fly strips, but they are unsightly (not to mention I kept getting my hair stuck on them).

I put a bounty on flies, and have a fly swatter. 50 cents per fly. My kids used to love swatting them.

 

[Cathyann31]

Are they the kind that come in with the groceries, from cereal and flour? If so, you'll have to tackle them at the pantry, not at the pig cage. If not, they have to be coming from somewhere, so you'll need to find the source.

No, I don't think so. These fully resemble a house fly, just slightly smaller. I 1st wondered if they were babies, lol.

LOL on the fly bounty!! I've seen those electric fly swatter thingys, guess they are like a bug zapper? I wonder how those work.

I'm not a very good fly swatter unfortunately.

 

[pinky]

I'd examine your guinea pigs very closely to make sure the flies aren't laying eggs on their behinds. That's called Flystrike and it can kill a guinea pig. Once you really clean out the cage and are sure they aren't any eggs or larvae, get pliable screen mesh from your local hardware store or fine mesh netting from a fabric store and completely cover the cage so no flies can get in there. Then, work on getting rid of them in your house.

 

[bpatters]

Not all flies cause fly strike. The main ones are blowflies, botflies and fleshflies. You can google pictures of these on the web.

 

[Zuidy]

@cathyann31

Do not use Bleach to clean anything the Pigs have access to. White Vinegar and Water mixed equally do the job just as well, and naturally over chemically.

 

[sakee]

If you think they are fruit flies try this:
3 -4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 piece of white paper 1 -2 drop liquid dish soap Directions: 1 Pour apple cider vinegar and drop of dish soap into glass or jar. 2 With the paper, make a cone with a 3/4-1" hole on the bottom. The cone should sit on the glass rim without the tip touching the vinegar. You may have to squeeze-shape the cone a bit to prevent gaps between the paper and rim. 3 Every day or two, switch out the vinegar. (You'll see when it stops being as potent. The flies/gnats will stop going in.).

Read more at: Fruit Fly Gnat Trap Recipe - Food.com - 187531

You can use white vinegar with a tiny splash of fruit juice.

 

[Cathyann31]

It's not fruit flies, but thanks for the info.

I googled the 3 fly types up above. I don't think it's those.

 

[sakee]

I know you are doing tons to get rid of them and look them up, but I have found orkin's website helpful in the past so maybe this link can help you
Types of Flies, Fly Control - Orkin.com

 

[Cathyann31]

Just an update-

The flies are gone! I now wonder if the bedding may have been contaminated or something.

2 days after putting in the cedar/pine mix, I cleaned the whole cage and added just the pine. Worked like a charm. I know that the pine isn't as ideal as the aspen or the fleece (which I HATED!) but I like it better, the pigs are happy, and my house smells a lot better. I am so glad to be done with the flies, knock wood.

Thanks 4 the advice everyone.

 

[applechih]

I heard that a sandwich bag filled with water pinned to the top of the door works or a bowl of water filled with a strong fruity smelling dish soap might work but i cant guarantee it will work as i haven't tried them myself i just found it while surfing the web

 

[GizzyandMe]

Next time you want to get rid of flies get yourself a "Basil" plant. Not only can you use the basil in your cooking but the plant keeps flies away! Also if you plant "Rosemary" it keeps mosquito's away.

Herbs are easy to care for and Basil will grow nearly anywhere! You just need a small pot plant of it and it smells divine. So you will have a great smelling great tasting flyswatter!

 

[Cathyann31]

Gizzy, too bad you didn't chime in last week, that's exactly what I was looking for. If I have another problem I will definitely try the basil.

I've heard about the clear hanging bags with a penny inside.

We were aerial sprayed for west nile virus last week, that could be another reason the flies are gone, too.

 

[cskalski]

I have been after these small, thin black flies for weeks. I pulled out the kids bunk beds that are next to my pigs cage, thinking there may part of a banana peel (or worse) under it. Well, there wasn't.

They were definitely breeding in the the cage bedding. I had to run out to the dumpster the first time while totally skeeved out and had to hold off the urge to vomit. Awful.

I am on my third bedding change in six days. I have about 10 flies left out of hundreds.....and even though I have made things difficult for the flies they still are trying to eat his carrots. I have never had them this bad before. I removed the guinea to a box and took him and the cat to my moms and set off a bug bomb. Then, I thoroughly cleaned his cage bottom and even wiped down the top part with the black bars. Painstaking work.

I have the cage set up next to a window in the kids bedroom, hoping that Peep's would be happy having a normal 24 hour day, with day and night. I dunno what else to do other than not give him his fresh lettuce and carrots....but then Peep's will suffer. any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Kfowler5]

We made natural fly traps to help catch all of the fruit flies we had. I took an old spice jar and put a drop of dish soap in it, than between 1-2 tsp of honey and than 1-2 Tbls of apple cider vinegar. They get drawn to it like crazy, but sometimes you might have to catch a few who stay on the top and give it a shake to get them to get stuck. But we changed it about every other day, but it really helped get rid of them. Also the vinegar/ water spray cleaner works real well to. Hope it helps we know how terribly irritating when they just won't go away.

 

[pinky]

If you have any plants in the house, check the soil to see if they're coming from there. I bought a small wheat grass plant from our grocery store and started noticing tiny gnat like flies. I finally realized it was coming from the plant.

 

[cskalski]

Thanks guys/gal's. I am going to construct a trap today, based on your advice. The good news is that I have noticed a serious drop in their numbers this morning. I think my diligence is paying off. They were definitely coming from leftover fruit in his bedding.

On the possibility of my indoor plants causing it; I would have to say no. I only have two scrawny plants, and they are in a different room. I checked the soil and they just are not there. Thanks! -Chris