black flies

[darkdrako]

I need some help! I have had Essie for almost three years (she will be 4 in January) and she has been doing great. Starting last year though, I have been having a problem with these small black flies. They are a bit bigger than a fruit flies and all black. They seem to hang out on the walls away from the cage and any fruit/food.

She hae been feed fresh fruit and veggies everyday and always has pellets available. Any and all messes are cleaned and the cage gets wiped down but these bugs just won't go away. I am running out of ideas. Tried changing pellets, foods fed, tried cider vinegar fly traps.

If I cant get this figured out either I am going to be rehomed or Essie will be kicked out by the rest of the family. There is NO WAY I am losing Essie or this fight.

 

[Greenwing]

Find out how they are getting in.. Clean up often.. And pick up some fly tape.. Make sure the bird cannot come in contact with it..

 

[moni.k]

I had a huge moth problem (bad bag of seeds), then a fruit fly problem (I have a crested gecko that eats a fruit based diet, and then there's Nalani's fresh fruits/veggies), lastly we had an ant infestation.

For the moths we used month traps that lure in male months, thus preventing reproduction. It worked like a charm after about a week the infestation was under control.

As for the fruit fly, I found that taking the food out after they finish their meal helps reduce the amount of fruit flies. Nalani's bowl of fresh fruits and veggies are out only for an hour. She eats her fill and I throw the rest away. But I do feed her 3 times a day (7am, 12pm, 5pm) and once in the evening (seeds/pellets). I know people leave food out all day for their fids, but on a hot day I wouldn't eat a fruit salad that's been sitting out for more than an hour anyways, so why should Nalani.

Try a full blown spring cleaning: dust, vacuum, mop, wipe every corner of the house. Then continue to clean the cage every day. I know it isn't much help, but there is something that's attracting these bugs and they must be eating/reproducing in your home (as nasty as that sounds). Sorry it isn't a whole lot of information, but don't give up! Who knows, maybe the infestation has nothing to do with Essie, it would be a shame to have re-homed her for the wrong reasons.

 

[HalfInsane]

I think the advice so far has been good. I'll just add in making sure you don't have any food available to them sitting on your countertops (fruit, bread, etc). And keep ALL your garbage in cans with lids. Perhaps you could temporarily keep Essie and her food in a separate room that you meticulously clean, keep the door shut, and wait for the flies to die off in the rest of the house. If they have no food source they'll eventually disappear.

 

[natv]

I periodically have the same issue.

We make a chopmix for him so it attracts fruit flies. I feed him in the morning before I leave for work, but I have no choice but to leave his bowl out during the day (he's groggy in the morning and doesn't start to eat right away or finish his food even if he does start to eat), so removing his food within an hour or so is not an option as i'm out the rest of the day.

He doesn't eat his food once it gets 'old' or I guess once he's full he just leaves it alone. The house is air conditioned anyway, when I get home I throw out the food right away but it never smells foul or anything like that.

Anyway, I haven't tried the sticky tape yet, sounds like a good idea.