Fruit Flys and Soil Mites

[little_dragon_]

I've been getting a lot of fruit flys lately in my crested gecko tanks,
they are breeding in the soil. Anyone have tips on how to get rid of them. Also are soil mites common for cocobark I seem to get a lot in my egg boxes?

[DragnDrop]

Fruit flies don't breed in soil. You probably have fungus gnats. They look like fruit flies but not quite. They tend to run, or walk very very fast, prefer to run away and leave flying to the last minute. They also have a bit of a humpback. They live on fungus, rotting organic matter and apparently have been accused of attacking eggs in the soil. The easiest way to get rid of them is to repot every plant, don't leave rotting fruit or cricket carcasses in the cages - basically remove anything that can decay. Same with soil mites, they help decompose organic matter. If they thrive, you've got a lot of food for them, including poop. Soil mites aren't bad, work wonders for the soil your plants grow in. I'd be more concerned about the 'flies'.

[little_dragon_]

Thanks for the reply. I keep my enclosures pretty clean but I guess it's time for a scrub down. luckly I just picked up some more potting soil.