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... I've got a species of Drosophilid (small fruitfly-like, but NOT common fruitfly) that is infesting my hamster cages -- they seem to be specifically attracted to the urine and/or droppings, and are NOT seemingly attracted by fruity stuff as is the typical Drosophilid. I just did a massive cleanout of all my cages, and within a day, they were back in them, flying around. (In the back of my mind, I'm also wondering if they are coming in from the commercial litter or food-- I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.)
So what I need is: something I can spray or apply in there which will kill them or at least keep them away, but not be poisonous to the hammies. I could use traps, but likely to not be of much use if they keep flying in there. I'm thinking maybe something lavender-based, but am not sure.
Anyone have a good idea about this? TiA
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Give the hamsters little flyswatters.
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Any USEFUL suggestions, plz
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I suggest a test of the food or litter: take a good handful and put it into a jar with a screen lid. If they are inside after a day or so, the eggs are probably in the food. If they're on the outside, you have to check elsewhere.
I'm guessing you've googled for an answer, and checked any appropriate hamster forums? Good luck!
-Tofer
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When you clean the cages of infested litter & droppings, you also have clean any parts & accessories that have fly eggs on them. The eggs look like brown grit.
We had guinea pigs, and (eventually) the flies. Changing the litter wasn't enough; I had to move the piggies to a new cage, and scrape & bleach the old cage & cavy condo, dry completely. And bathe the piggies (they didn't mind too much as long as the water was warm). That worked, no flies for a long time after that. Repeated as needed...
Good luck! We only had 3 piggies at the time, so the problem was fairly easy to deal with.
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Tofer, probably what I'm seeing now are the few remaining flies who were around before, who made a direct beeline for the newly cleaned cages. So they may have started out from the litter or the food, has now taken on a life of its own.
Quickly Googling didn't help, and it's esoteric enough of a problem that I doubt fellow hamsterers would be able to help.
The one thing I have thought of -- I have (from previous problems with fleas) an anti-flea spray, which is supposed to be small animal-safe. The problem is that the insect population here (in NOLA) is ridiculous-- mosquitos, fleas, roaches, flies, Africanized bees, fire ants, we have everything nasty here. (About the only nice bugs-- we have more butterflies down here than I'd ever seen in my entire time up North.)
Edit: TheCaber, yes, all the cages (and everything that goes in them) gets cleaned with a bleach/detergent solution. That should pretty much kill everything...
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is this a problem for the hamsters?
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space-time, no, but it is a major annoyance for me. These flies are extremely persistent and try to get into everything.
