General little flies

[nmhofherr]

the landlord was having us put the garbage in the halllway which created fruit flies. Some got into my apt and now i cant get rid of them no matter how hard i try. There especially around the piggies cage and i keep it really clean have can i get rid of these buggers before my pigs get sick from them?

 

[CavyMama]

There are some natural remedies that you can find by googling it online. I've tried a few and they were hit or miss. The one thing that worked for me more often than not was putting a fly strip over the area where I saw the majority of them

 

[bpatters]

These things work really well. I don't know how long they'll last, at such a cheap price, but I'm going to buy several just to get rid of little flies that get in the house.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=fly+swatter

 

[Beatrix187]

I heard a trick that you take a bowl, fill it with fruit, and put plastic wrap over it and poke little holes. Watch your problem disappear

 

[bpatters]

I heard that, too, [MENTION=34899]Beatrix187[/MENTION]. I tried it. I would have needed two dozen bowls scattered around the den, and then I'm not sure it would have worked. Maybe it was the kind of flies I had, but if they weren't within a foot of the bowl, it didn't attract them.

 

[Beatrix187]

I think I also heard though that you can fill the bowl with soda instead [MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION]. Have you tried that? Just another option.

 

[wombats]

[MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION] You're right, there are more kinds of flies than just fruit flies and that's probably why it didn't work. There are plenty of common species that it could have been, like gnats, drain flies, house flies, bluebottle/blow fly, fermentation fly...there are others, but these are the only ones I can think of that you could find indoors.

What do they look like, [MENTION=35836]nmhofherr[/MENTION] ? About how big are they? Are they brown, or more colorful, like an iredescent blue or green? Because depending on what kind they are that might explain how to get rid of them. But when in doubt, use fly paper. They all fly around so that's bound to get most of them, at least.

 

[k5mow]

I also have pet frogs. I culture wingless fruit flies for the frogs. The best way to get rid of fruit flies is take a some apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dawn dishwashing soap and put it in a bowl and leave it out on the counter.
This is the best way to go it works great.

Roger

 

[nmhofherr]

Ive tried fruit, apple cider vinegar w dawn, hell last night got mad and was spraying them with freaking air freshener lol. There small tiny amd leaving specks on my walls to

 

[Beatrix187]

Well, I've never had fruit fly problems, thank goodness, but I have had ant problems in spring (like a lot of people) And I think I have a wasps nest on our front door somewhere (We don't even use it anyway). And I don't know if this may work, I sorta mad it up in my head but maybe the apple cider vinegar, soda, or whatever sweet drink and put some borax in it? Borax kills, like all bugs. But make sure it does not get near your guinea pig or anything, I think it could be very bad for them. So maybe keep it in the hallway or something.

 

[jplgiggie]

My friend had this problem, and they found out where it was coming from. They were laying their eggs in the drains. The washed down food bits is enough for them to live on, the only way to get rid of them was to hang up fly paper and cover the drains every second they weren't being used.

 

[Beatrix187]

My friend had this problem, and they found out where it was coming from. They were laying their eggs in the drains. The washed down food bits is enough for them to live on, the only way to get rid of them was to hang up fly paper and cover the drains every second they weren't being used.

Aw geez, that sounds terrible. I'm lucky that the wasps are in the front door which we never use. :/

 

[nmhofherr]

Im going to try the borax and dump bleach down the drains. Yeah they suck i cant wait to get rid of them if worst comes to worst ill just call an exterminator

 

[wombats]

If they're breeding in the drains they're probably drain flies...they're very very tiny flies with large, round wings compared to their bodies. If you look up "drain fly" and they look anything like that then that might be what you have, but I'm a bit doubtful. I think there are a couple others that can breed in drains, but these ones are more common.

But my main concern is it doesn't sound like they're fruit flies as they aren't attracted to the fruit, and as you said they were attracted by the garbage and are most likely not coming FROM the drain (although they could be breeding in it, who can tell) they might be phorid flies. These are another tiny fly that often breed in garbage and rotting organic matter, and one website says they sometimes wander in from outside trash containers, so that might be it...'course, I'm not an exterminator, but there are only so many common tiny flies out there so hopefully you can at least figure out what they are. Good news is they don't sound like houseflies. Houseflies (the big fat black ones that bump into windows) carry tons of diseases and are potentially a lot more dangerous than any of these tiny flies. I mean, it's not great that you have flies, but it's good that they're not freakishly dangerous. Just try a few methods or at least try to narrow down what they are and go from there. Something simple like flypaper might help, but if you can't keep them from coming back then call an exterminator.

Best of luck by the way! Flies really bug me (get it) too so I hope you can get rid of them.

 

[nmhofherr]

Every time i think there gone there back. It sucks and it makesme feel dirty and i spend hours a day scrubbing hoping these thing will not come back

 

[nmhofherr]

So i read up those type of flies and basically could the guinea pig bedding make it hard for me to get rid of them and if so what should i do

 

[Beatrix187]

Maybe use fleece instead of bedding?

 

[nmhofherr]

Ill try it

 

[jplgiggie]

If they're breeding in the drains they're probably drain flies...they're very very tiny flies with large, round wings compared to their bodies. If you look up "drain fly" and they look anything like that then that might be what you have, but I'm a bit doubtful. I think there are a couple others that can breed in drains, but these ones are more common.

From what I know the flies were also attracted to garbage and their rabbit's litter (carefresh). They were weird.

So definitely try a different litter, maybe fleece or hard paper cat pellets?

 

[nmhofherr]

Im going to but i think ill still call him to be on the safe side thanks guys