Help, Fruit fly problem!

[Conure & Macaw Mom]

My hubby has turtles & the food he feeds them drew in a bunch of fruit flies. I've changed their food but how can I get ride of the flies (what spray)without hurting the birds? My hubby wanted to use spray for mosquitos or cock roaches but I know that will hurt or kill the birds. Please help if you can. Thanks, Crystal

[JoanneinNC]

Crystal,

I have a read at work with fruit fly problems. I did a google search and found many homemade remedies to trap and catch the flies..that I think would be safe to use around the birds. One has to do with vinegar in a bowl..

if you can't find any ideas after searching, let me know and I will look for you. I copied and pasted the ideas for my friend and gave them to her today actually, but didn't save what I found. But I would be happy to search again for you

Joanne :0)

[stepht25]

Here's a few suggestions from Land of Vos http://www.landofvos.com/articles/clean.html

FRUIT FLIES
Place some of the birds' discarded soft food in an open Ziploc bag in the evening. By morning, the bag will be full of fruit flies and can be sealed and discarded.

Place saucers of fragrant wine with a few drops of detergent in areas frequented by fruit flies. They will die happy!

Place fragrant fruit such as mango peels in the bottom of wine bottles. Fruit flies go in and cannot get out.

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They also make fruit fly traps - some of the online bird stores carry them. I've also heard and have tried with a little success - vacuuming them up using the wand extension (I don't know what else to call it? ) on the vacuum.

Last year our neighbor brought me over a bag full of veggies from her garden. We got seriously infested with the little buggers . We eventually had to bomb the entire house. It was awful! The worst part was removing everything out of the house and then putting it back in.

Hope you can get rid of them before they take over!

[Conure & Macaw Mom]

THanks for the help. They haven't taken over yet. Thats why I wanna try to kill them now before they do. I tried spraying them will the birds vinegar & water cleaning solution but it didn't affect them. I'll try the vinegar in a bowl & I just bought zip lock bags the other day. So I'll try that to. I don't have wine but I have wine coolers. I'm sure it would work the same. Crystal

[radiogirl995]

Crystal-

I ran into this problem when I first got Tuki, the only fruit he would eat was bananas and I was constantly getting the little buggers.

I can tell you the Ziplock baggie trick WORKS GREAT! You may have to do it several nights in a row...but they will be gone. I recommend the type of baggie with the "zipper" style closure...you need to close it quickly before they fly out!

[stepht25]

Originally Posted by radiogirl995

Crystal-

I recommend the type of baggie with the "zipper" style closure...you need to close it quickly before they fly out!

The first time we dealt with the fruit flies I was suprised at how fast the little were! I think the food in the plastic baggies overnight works the fastest. The wine and stuff that you sit in a bottle or dish usually take awhile to work.

[radiogirl995]

They do fly fast!!! Made me furious when I first just tried to catch them with my hands!

I couldn't do the wine, vinegar or anything I have to leave out in a dish or my dog will have a little party!

[CALVINS MOM]

The wine or a sweet juice works well too. I have done that. You only fill the glass about 1/2 to an inch high. Leave it in an area where the birds cannot get to it for a day or so. The flies will all be doing the backstroke in a matter of a couple of days!

[grandma]

I always put my pet food in the freezer for a couple of hours after I bring it home. This kills any bugs that might be in it.

[Conure & Macaw Mom]

Thanks so much. I'm gonna do all these things. One of them should work. Crystal