# best free roamers to control spiders and stray flies?



## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

I'd like to know what others use in their frog rooms to control escaped fruit flys and invasive scary spiders. preferably something inexpensive like house geckos, or anoles. What are some of the pros and cons among the different species of "free roamers"?


----------



## nyfrogs (May 1, 2005)

i share a bedroom with my frogs so any animal is out of the question. but the spiders do a good job! if you have your own room and the temps are around 70 at all times i would say anoles they are the cheapest and easier to catch than house geckos what about some green tree frogs??


----------



## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

too dry in the room for free roaming frogs, and I am deathly afraid of spiders.


----------



## nyfrogs (May 1, 2005)

PAULSCHUMANN said:


> too dry in the room for free roaming frogs, and I am deathly afraid of spiders.


look into golden geckos they are cool and i think they can co-exist with anoles


----------



## Ridge (Jun 7, 2004)

Before I moved I had a few gold dust day geckos that ran wild around my frog room. I also had a few emerald swifts that seemed pretty happy running around in there on the floor. Since I never fed them I am assuming they ate the escapee fruit flies and spiders. I can't tell you for sure to what extent it reduced my spider problem but it seemed to get rid of them in my frog room at least. Kind of a neat thing was that even though my frog room was open to the rest of the house, the geckos and swifts stayed in there and seemed to thrive basking under the lights on the tanks during the day. I actually ended up catching and selling them when I moved. Dave


----------



## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

First, to the post above, thats awesome!

Secondly, you can buy house geckos really cheap at most pet stores. I ahve a couple dozen lose at work (I work at a Petco), and they do a great job of eating all the escapee crickets.


----------



## PoohMac (Aug 22, 2006)

i would have to agree with with house geckos and also you could buy some carnivores plants from home depot that attract flies and eat them


----------



## Alan (Jan 12, 2005)

My understanding is that with anything free ranging (geckos etc) that they poop all over the place. Is this incorrect?


----------



## PoohMac (Aug 22, 2006)

thats right!!!!!!!! poop everywhere and if you sleep in the same room...might just wake up with poop in your hair.


----------



## Ben_C (Jun 25, 2004)

> My understanding is that with anything free ranging (geckos etc) that they poop all over the place. Is this incorrect?


Yes!
We had some _Phelsuma laticauda_ and mourning geckoes that moved into our apartment before we moved and they pooped everywhere on the walls, floor, ceiling, etc... kinda gross...

If you're worried about escapee fruit flies just set up a trap...it'll be less cleanup than lizard poop...

My $.02
~B


----------



## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

I can handle a lil turd on the wall, and the fruit flys aren't the real problem...it's the spiders. I have a horrible phobia of small spiders.

I wasn't planning on buying the geckos from a pet store, I was going to order a 20-30 lot from an importer for a buck or two a whack. I'm just not sure which ones would fare the best, house geckos, anoles, or another species?


----------



## Ridge (Jun 7, 2004)

Paul - 20 or 30 sounds like a lot depending on the size of your room - if they are crowded they may start to venture out into the rest of your house or die off - or start breeding - who knows? 

I would suggest starting with a little spider hit squad of 6 to 10 and see if that controls your problem. Some wholesalers sell geckos as feeders for snakes so you may be able to pick them up pretty cheap. 

In my frog room there was always a little poop here and there from the free roamers which didn't bother me but I only had about 5-6 of them total. 

If you could just find something that eats spiders and poop...


----------



## monkey (Sep 8, 2006)

*geckos*

I have to agree A few gecko go a long way. They can eat alot and will make the rounds of the room.


----------



## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

This is a simple 2 step process:
1. Stop the ffs from getting out by sealing up the tanks.
2. Buy some sticky traps for the floor.

I've kept most of the larger spiders under control with the above steps.


----------



## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

yeah but it's tough to keep fruit fly numbers down with 50+ vivs in one room, and where there are flys...there are spiders, and the spiders don't seem to eat as many flys as baby spideys they produce. 

I didn't plan to use 20 or 30 geckos, it's just easier to get them cheaper that way, and I can sell the rest to the local pet shops to at least make my shipping back.


----------



## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

spiders are out of control in my room. all my tanks are in my bedroom and there are spiders covering everthing its nuts. And there are a few different species.


----------



## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

Has anyone tried hedge balls or hedge apples. I see them in the produce section of most grocery stores. They are ENEDIBLE, but are susposed to ward off spiders. 

My wife hates spiders and I was thinking of trying some, just wondering if anyone else has.


----------



## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

*GREASER* said:


> spiders are out of control in my room. all my tanks are in my bedroom and there are spiders covering everthing its nuts. And there are a few different species.


yucky, sounds like what my nightmares are made of.

The messed up part of this phobia I have is before I did dart frogs I used to breed gaboon and rhino vipers and I kept a few species of tarantulas and scorpions. But if you throw a daddy-long-legs at me I scream like an 8 year old girl with a skinned knee.

I just can't handle my frog room being infested with spiders.


----------



## Josh_Leisenring (Jun 19, 2005)

My place is infested with spiders as well; I swear the cobwebs and dessicated hydei bodies in every corner are far more annoying than a few flighless FFs crawling around (al least you can collect them again when you see 'em and toss them back in a tank). Don't get me wrong, I love spiders and think they're fascinating organisms, but this is getting ridiculous. Unfortunately, I'm renting out half of my uncle's townhouse, and I don't think they'd appreciate me letting geckos or anoles run about loose, otherwise I'm tempted to do so :? 

- Josh


----------



## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

anything wrong with spraying the perim of your house/room to stop bugs before they get in?


----------



## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

The best way I have found to control fruit flys is to place a small piece of banana in each viv every couple weeks. This attracts all of the stray flys back into the vivs and concentrates them on the small chunk of fruit for the frogs to eat.


----------



## Guest (Nov 1, 2006)

What about getting a Praying Mantis? Have a small bush in the corner of the room for it to live and it will venture out to eat all those unwanted bugs.


----------



## Guest (Nov 1, 2006)

Jason said:


> Has anyone tried hedge balls or hedge apples. I see them in the produce section of most grocery stores. They are ENEDIBLE, but are susposed to ward off spiders.
> 
> My wife hates spiders and I was thinking of trying some, just wondering if anyone else has.


I think those are osage orange fruits. Pretty sure that is folklore though.


----------



## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

I just let spiders be. There's this cute little species that has a brown body with little specks of white like a cappuchino jelly belly bean. They make their webs on the corners of the stands of my aquariums in the basement and catch all the escaped fruit flies.


----------



## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

spydiatures I like em they work.

Hedge balls are (maybe) an option,but if they deter, its for a reason and probably effect everything in a different way.

I wouldn't put them in the frog room but the kitchen would probably be fine.


----------



## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

Rain_Frog said:


> I just let spiders be. There's this cute little species that has a brown body with little specks of white like a cappuchino jelly belly bean. They make their webs on the corners of the stands of my aquariums in the basement and catch all the escaped fruit flies.


I noticed these just recently (within the last couple years) showed up in my region, I've never seen them prior.

Like mini black widows but brown with two rows of white connecting spots?


----------



## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

a cheap vacuum cleaner with a hand attachment or small shop vac with a hose :wink: works for me.

S


----------



## Danyal (Apr 15, 2006)

are you sure you want to buy in bulk? i've yet to see a house gecko being sold for more than 6 bucks each and a pair would probably do a fine job(you might even have to start letting small crickets loose to keep them fed) if you have a large enough population of spiders/flies 10 geckos might have an immediate impact but then they will run out of food and start wondering around the house, could cause issues.


----------



## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

well if you do a bulk order before Dec. 2 save a couple for me, im dropping the wife off at your airport and will take a couple home with me  

as for bug control, ive got the shelves below my dart tanks stuffed full of carnivorous plants. the sundews and nepenthes do wonders for escaped fruit flies, infact are so good at it that i rarely worry bout fly proofing my cages. course i still find the occational spider in other parts of the house, larger wolf spiders get put in the tank of one of the larger local toad species i have(still havent bothered to key it out to find out which). small ones get tossed in with the tincs course spiders of any shape or form dont bug me :lol:


----------



## Paul E. Wog (Jan 2, 2005)

PAULSCHUMANN said:


> The best way I have found to control fruit flys is to place a small piece of banana in each viv every couple weeks. This attracts all of the stray flys back into the vivs and concentrates them on the small chunk of fruit for the frogs to eat.


Paul, do you leave the piece of bananna in until it is gone or do you pull it and replace it when it looks bad?


----------



## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

I use such a small piece (about a 1/4" chunk) it just disapears after a week or so, and replace it when its gone.


----------



## PAULSCHUMANN (Apr 20, 2005)

A cheap vacuum works great, the only problem is that requires getting closer to the spiders than I'd like to on a regular basis.

Even if I buy the geckos in bulk I don't plan on using more than I need, it's just an easy way to try and brake even. for example if I order 40 geckos for 2$ each, and shipping costs me 30$, that 110$, now if I dump 35 of them off at various local pet shops for 4$ each thats 140$, just an example, and I'd still have a little extra to cover my gas and time.


----------



## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

Ben_C said:


> Yes!
> 
> We had some _Phelsuma laticauda_ and mourning geckoes that moved into our apartment before we moved and they pooped everywhere on the walls, floor, ceiling, etc... kinda gross...
> 
> ...



Just place a beer cup 1/4 full of white vinegar in the corner of your hobby room, fruit flies will migrate to it and it will be full every time you check it


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

Wusserton said:


> Just place a beer cup 1/4 full of white vinegar in the corner of your hobby room, fruit flies will migrate to it and it will be full every time you check it


Just place a full beer bottle in your frog room.
Get the Shop Vac out.
Drink the beer while running the Shop Vac.
Repeat this process as often as is required to contol the spiders.


----------



## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Is that what you did the night before the MADS meet????.......that post was pretty funny......


----------



## topher (Oct 9, 2013)

SMenigoz said:


> Just place a full beer bottle in your frog room.
> Get the Shop Vac out.
> Drink the beer while running the Shop Vac.
> Repeat this process as often as is required to contol the spiders.


I need to repeat that process 3 or 4 times... hardly any stray flies but its a good excuse to have a few brews lol


----------



## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

personally...I just park the vacuum cleaner so my husband thinks I've done something...and just go for the gusto....


----------



## MELLOWROO421 (Feb 21, 2007)

I have had a free range Chondrodactylus turneri (Turners gecko) running around my frog room for about a year now. I had no luck with the anoles or house geckos. They got out or died, never thrived or even lived for more than a few weeks for me.


----------



## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

What you're gonna' want to do is let 6-8 Tokay geckos loose in that room. They will eat a few bugs, but more importantly, they will completely displace spiders as your greatest fear. You will realize those spiders were downright affectionate.


----------



## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Wow this is my kinda thread. Spring is on the way so my house will soon be crawling with the little bastards. Last year I purchased one of those bug zapper tennis rackets. I was running around my house like Andre Agassi took another hit of crack


----------



## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

Enlightened Rogue said:


> Wow this is my kinda thread. Spring is on the way so my house will soon be crawling with the little bastards. Last year I purchased one of those bug zapper tennis rackets. I was running around my house like Andre Agassi took another hit of crack


There was me picturing you with a 454 magnum taser a bit like like clint used I'm all most let down John

Than again I read this and had tears running down my face and spilt my bloody tea,pricless mate thank you

Stu


----------



## hun73r (Jul 1, 2013)

Would there be any concern with introducing wild caught geckos purchased in bulk to a room full of QT'd and parasite free frogs? I would be concerned that they may have some parasites that would also be happy living in my frogs. Is that possible and something to consider?


----------



## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

hun73r said:


> Would there be any concern with introducing wild caught geckos purchased in bulk to a room full of QT'd and parasite free frogs? I would be concerned that they may have some parasites that would also be happy living in my frogs. Is that possible and something to consider?


Yes, a bulk quantity of WC geckos would likely be loaded with parasites, potentially some that could utilize your frogs as hosts. Additionally, it is highly unlikely that your collection is "parasite free", they may just not have been shedding eggs/worms/pathogens that would have been detected in your fecals/testing.


----------

