# FF are taking over.



## addam4208283 (Feb 19, 2004)

Is there anything I can do, everywhere I look I see FF all over my room? I know that this is everyone’s prob. but it’s kind of getting to me, as well as my family and friends. The space that they are getting out of the vert tanks is about a 2 cm gap. 

Thanks in advance 
ADAM


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2004)

Pick up a green anole and let it run around your room.  The one I have usually hangs out right under the hood where it's warm, but sometimes I find it hiding high up in the corner of the room away from my cat :shock:


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2004)

a 2cm gap is pretty large, I would try and fix that even if there wasn't a huge FF escape problem.


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

How do your frogs not get out of a 2 cm vent?

I buy these fly catchers that look like shotgun shells. They unravel and you tack them to your ceiling.

Get rid of any fruit by putting it in the fridge.


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## addam4208283 (Feb 19, 2004)

Sorry I meant 2-3mm. 
Long day
ADAM


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

See if you can fix the gap somehow.
Try putting a small piece of fruit in all of you're vivs, to try and lure the ff's into staying put.
Take a wine or beer bottle(s) with a little left in, add a drop of dish soap, and some water and shake, put these where the ff's tend to gather(outside the viv) the detergent breaks the surface tension of the water and the ff's, lured by the yeast in the libation, drown in the mixture.
As pastor josh said, put you're fruit in the fridge.
Take you're kitchen garbage outside everyday.
Do you're dishes just as often...even if this doesn't improve the fly situation, you're housemates will like you better!

Do all of this, and you should see improvement in a week, if not, maybee you are feeding way too much.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2004)

*d*

I thought about setting a ffew anoles or maybe a house gecko or 2, but then I thought, what if a small frogs gets out? He'd be eaten before I had a chance to hopefully catch him. 

Thats the only reason I havent set something loose out there yet. I have a few 1 inch praying mantises loose in the animal room now that are fat when I do see them.


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

*Re: d*

Someone once got too smart and put Praying Mantis "egg sacks" in as a food item in one of their tanks. A great idea really... tiny little food that the frogs can nail as soon as they come out of the egg sack.

Unless one survives and grows up. A story has occasionally circulated about someone looking into a tank in horror to find a Praying Mantis snacking on a Retic like it was eating a chicken leg.

Brent Brock may recall the source of the story (I heard this on FrogNet), I don't.

So... if you're trying to avoid having frogs getting eaten (by anoles), I'm not sure a Praying Mantis is any better for your purpose.

s


wcumagic said:


> ... Thats the only reason I havent set something loose out there yet. I have a few 1 inch praying mantises loose in the animal room now that are fat when I do see them.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

here is what i do...

1. Silicone tops on to seal all cracks.
2. On tanks that have lids that do not shut all the way i use either weather stripping or no-see-um mesh taped around the edge.
3. Place a open container of water around the tanks.

With this I have very few escapes and almost none out and about. Unless I happen to spill them...


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2004)

Put a drop of soap in the containers of water. It'll make sure the flies that fall into the water don't come out.



> 3. Place a open container of water around the tanks.




-Tad


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## Guest (Dec 2, 2004)

For the gap go to any fabric store and buy a yard of bridal vail (same as mosquito net)but 1/3 the price . double it up and tpe it over the gaps ,,escape problem solved. Ive used little dishes of malt vinegar with plastic wrap over the dish with holes in it , it smells bad but brings the flys in quick. Ive also put 2-way tape around escaping doors on vivs and it helps to catch the ff also. good Luck :wink:


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

Be careful that you get the fine mesh stuff as I did not and suffered the consequences!



zoso said:


> For the gap go to any fabric store and buy a yard of bridal vail (same as mosquito net)but 1/3 the price . double it up and tpe it over the gaps ,,escape problem solved. Ive used little dishes of malt vinegar with plastic wrap over the dish with holes in it , it smells bad but brings the flys in quick. Ive also put 2-way tape around escaping doors on vivs and it helps to catch the ff also. good Luck :wink:


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## Dunner97074 (Sep 19, 2004)

I've heard a glass of wine will attract the escapies, so in the immortal words of Justin the Cajun cook a little wine for the cook a little wine for the cookin'
Mike


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Beer works also. I usually have Newcastle on hand, and have had good success.


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

*Re: d*

Large enough could geta full grown frog! I seen a pic of one with a humming bird!

Ryan




Scott said:


> Someone once got too smart and put Praying Mantis "egg sacks" in as a food item in one of their tanks. A great idea really... tiny little food that the frogs can nail as soon as they come out of the egg sack.
> 
> Unless one survives and grows up. A story has occasionally circulated about someone looking into a tank in horror to find a Praying Mantis snacking on a Retic like it was eating a chicken leg.
> 
> ...


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Apple or balsalmic vinegar with a drop of dishsoap will trap a lot of flies. I keep a piece of orange in the tanks and the flies tend to stay where the frogs can nab them and out of my food. 

Ed


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

So do you guys have anole poop all over your house? It would be sweet to have a couple in my house...


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

They get in our house unintentionaly! It gets annoying sometimes!

Ryan


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2004)

*e*

The dog would probably eat it. 

the poop, that is. 

probably the anole too, now that I think of it. :shock:


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## TimsViv (Feb 16, 2004)

When I was in college I kept two Tokay geckos in the bathroom at our fraternity house. They did a great job of eating cockroaches and other bugs and provided countless hours of entertainment, when an unsuspecting girl would use the restroom at night.

Tim


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

*Re: d*



Scott said:


> Brent Brock may recall the source of the story (I heard this on FrogNet), I don't.


I remember the story but not the source. 

However, the odds of an anole or house gecko nailing an escaped frog before it dries out are pretty slim. You shouldn't have that many flies running around the house though. I know people with huge collections who don't have a bunch of flies crawling on you when you visit.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2004)

*The Spider Factor*

I end up losing a number of flies in my frog room. Not because of tanks that are not "fly proof", but intsead due to my clumsiness. I couldn't tell you how many times I have dropped open cultures on the floor, or knocked over my feeding cup while opening up a tank lid. That said, I do not have any fly or cricket problem in my frog room whatsoever. Instead... I *had* a SPIDER problem. Well, I wouldn't call it a problem, perhaps an infestation is a better description. They are similar in body shape to a black widow, though they are small, brown, and almost have a white frosting to their patterns. They are actually remarkably handsome arachnids. The infestaton, it used to be horrendous, then two three things happened. The first was of course, I managed to control my clumsiness to a degree, the second was that I kept a vigilant eye on egg sacs, and dusted more often in the awkward places. The truly interesting thn however, was the final factor in the spider control. That of course, was a NEW speceis of spider that set up shop in my frog room. These spiders are extremely spindly, wildly long legged, and small bodied. What blows my mind is how staggeringly they have controlled the poplulation of the other infesting species. These new spiders have webs riddled with corpses of the other spiders. Honestly, I have seen only ONE of the small brown spiders in the past few weeks..... whereas I would see tons of them every day. The thing that I like about the new spiders, is the fact that they are far more stationary, and their reproductive rate is FAR more controllable (so it seems at the moment anyway) than the old infestors. Actually, there are only five individuals of this new species that I have counted, and they have done the work in cleaning up my frog room of other spiders. It is quite remarkable... Anyway, I will end my rambling.


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## bjdwa (Nov 26, 2004)

*Re: The Spider Factor*

Sounds like you have long-legged cellar spiders (family Pholicidae, genus Pholcus)! They're so cool! They look so delicate and fragile but they're really not. When I see them I can barely believe that they go about taking over the webs of much more robust spiders, eating the spider and anything leftover in its web (though they'll catch their own too). They're pretty wide spread and common but cool none the less. Also they will reproduce rather quickly, though you may have trouble telling how many are actually there because their legs tend to blend in with their webs. Google 'em, there's tons of info out there on them. 





Double J said:


> That of course, was a NEW speceis of spider that set up shop in my frog room. These spiders are extremely spindly, wildly long legged, and small bodied. What blows my mind is how staggeringly they have controlled the poplulation of the other infesting species. These new spiders have webs riddled with corpses of the other spiders.


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## Guest (Dec 6, 2004)

Doule J , I was gonna put a post up asking about the same spiders ive found. Today I did a complete cleaning in the frog room and found tonnes of them along with little blood splatters on the ground under the webs. Well its good to find out what they are , I thought they were some strange morph from the fruit flys :shock:


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2004)

I always had a problem with crickets when I ordered crickets for my larger frogs, such as horned frogs, they would get out and chirp for weeks on end from a spot under something I couldn't get to to get them. And when I had my golden mantellas wild fruit flies were the problem with me, none of the ones I bred got out and caused any problems, everyone used to complain about the flies in my room, but I'd rather have those than the crickets keeping me up all night.


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