Fruit fly infestation with keeping crickets

[wilwarin712]

I keep crickets in a cricket keeper for my baby beardie and things have been fine for the first 3 weeks of keeping them, but now in the past couple of days, all of a sudden, there are fruit flies breeding like mad inside the container and I don't know how to get rid of them/keep the problem from getting worse. I know most of you guys keep crickets for your beardies, so do you all have any suggestions?

 

[CAInstaller]

I have the same problem. What I did to limit the flies was more trips to the feeder store and less crickets in the keeper. I did try putting the keeper in a cupboard, not sure which one worked. Good luck!

 

[patrickb]

Try a glass or jar of apple cider vinegar with a couple of drops of dish washing soap. The flies will be attracted to this and fall in and drown. It may not eliminate them completely, but will definitely keep them under control.

 

[wilwarin712]

Thanks so much! I'll give both of these a try and let you guys know what works.

 

[wilwarin712]

The vinegar/dish soap mix works like a charm, and I've been putting the container in a drawer. No more fruit flies!

 

[patrickb]

Awesome! Glad it worked. I recently have had a problem with phorid flys infesting in my drains and tried this. Doesn't seem to attract them as well as it does with fruit flies. Guess I am gonna have to flush the drains some on my off day.

 

[Paradon]

Try an opened top for your cricket cage so there is plenty of ventilation and feed them low fat, crushed dog food more than you feed them veggies and greens. I used to have problem with phorid flies, but ever since I keep an opened top, I have never had problems with phorid flies since.

 

[patrickb]

Yeah, except I keep my crickets outside. They are breeding in the drains. There is that sludge that builds up on them and is a favorite breeding ground for them. Time to scrub some drains heh