House fly, possible infestation

[DRB]

Last summer in July I had a fly problem, finding at least a dozen new flies in my house a day sometimes as many as 30. I would kill most of them only to have more the next day. Never got to the root cause.

This week it has seemed to start again, very hot here so I understand why the flies are appearing out of nowhere but I am concerned it's an infestation in the house or that they are getting in somewhere with ease.

So one concern I have is that the location of Perjo cage in my home is part of the problem. It's near a vent on the floor and we all know how messy birds are when they eat. I'm guessing she's flung enough food in here 28mos on this planet or created enough crumbs that food has fallen into the vents, thus creating a breeding ground for flies.

Anyone have any issues with flies since you've had your FID or know of issues with flies related to birds etc?

I think I need an exterminator and or a vent cleaning company to resolve this.

Ugh

 

[EllenD]

DRB, I see you're in Ohio...I'm in central Pennsylvania, and you're right, it's so feaking hot here right now it's terrible...I too have been seeing little fruit flies in my house for the past week or so, and they are congregating/flying around the bird cages, as that's their only source of food in the house...So you're not alone in this problem at all, and I've not ever had this issue before myself, and I've lived in this house since 2010...

I've been trying to kill them too, but as you well-know, they reproduce so quickly it's impossible to keep up with them just by killing the ones that you can see/get to. The only good thing is that they only live for a day or two at most and then die, so hopefully once this heat dies down they'll go back outside...I've been trying to find the source of them getting inside too, but I have no idea, except through the door...it only takes one fly to start this process...I wish I had something better to add, but I'm trying to figure this out myself...hopefully someone will have a good answer to add...

 

[DRB]

I was not talking about fruit flies, but standard typical house flies. My problem has been mitigated it seems as I bought an outdoor fly trap and placed it near some plants outside my house where many flies seemed to appear inside the house. Within 24 hrs what looks like 300+ flies have been trapped and I've found only two in my house since.

 

[EllenD]

So today I went to Home Depot and bought a "Fly Bottle"...It cost around $6, and you unscrew the top, take out the package inside, tear it open and remove the little pack of stuff from the inside, put the little pack inside the bottle, fill the bottle with water to the fill-line, and put the top back on. Then place the bottle near where the flies are...

So as soon as I got home I did it...it says that it will take between 2-5 hours for the attractant to "activate", and then the flies (any flies) will start being attracted to the stuff, go in through the holes in the top of the lid, and die in the water...Well, as soon as I set it down they were all over the top of it...It's working already, I haven't seen a fly anywhere since I put it down...says it's good for 30 days, then you can either throw the whole thing away, or they sell refill-packs (Not that I'm going to want to clean that thing out, ewwww...it's only $6, I'll just buy a new one if I need it)...Bird safe too, by the way!!! All-natural, it's like hummingbird-nectar basically, like sugarwater. It's no where near my birds anyway (my problem is in my kitchen right by the window above my sink), but I wouldn't use it if it wasn't bird-safe and all-natural anyway...So far, so good...Way better than fly-paper traps, I can't deal with those..

 

[ChristaNL]

Fruitflies just get in by the eggs that are on the skins of fruit (almost impossible to prevent) but easily trapped.


Houseflies ... not so easy... if there is a source of (rotting) food around .. those maggots can be in there for a long time.
But...they come in from outside rather than grow/ live the vents?
That is good news
How about just covering the vents (outside or in) with screendoor material (no idea what its called in english .. in dutch it's "mosquito-gauze" - horrible translation, sorry)... just a thought .

 

[WakaWaka]

Is it possible that an animal (mouse, racoon, bird, snake) found its way into a crawl space or attic and died? That would be an attractant for flies in a hurry.

 

[EllenD]

Well my fruit-fly situation is totally under control after only 12 or so hours of having this "Fly Jar", haven't seen a single fly anywhere in my house this morning! In my case, oops, I bought bananas (the little ones) that weren't yet ripe, and put them on top of the windowsill (there's a ledge above my window, stupid place to put things, but it's out of the way)...I forgot they were there...live and learn I guess...but it's good to know that these "Fly Bottles/Jars" work really well...

Just as an FYI, I went back and read the packaging again just to make sure, and it does say that it can be used for ALL flies, and then lists fruit flies, house flies, blow flies, etc. So might be a temporary help for you DRB, until you can figure out the source of the flies coming into your house. I can't imagine having a bunch of those big flies all over the place, the little tiny ones are bad enough once they get-going...

 

[texsize]

For those of you who would like a different approach totaking out the occasional fly you should try the assault gun.

It’s a bit pricey $69.00 as I remember and you can google it but it shoots a shotgun like blast of common table salt. It takes a bit of skill and practice but is of course totally non toxic.

I have had mine for years and it still works great.

TiredOldMan. This should be right up your alley though the humidity in Texas may cause some problems with the salt.

https://www.bugasalt.com

I just ordered the laser pointer they just came out with. I had not visited the website since I had ordered my gun.

 

[DRB]

My fly trap bag (from Black Flag) worked incredibly well. No lie, within 48 hrs it captured well over 300 flies, 96 hours later I took it down and tossed it in garbage b/c the smell was so awful, it weight minimum 4-5lbs with the amount of flies it caught.

The vegetation I have on my patio attracts flies and they must have been finding a way into my home, not anymore. Only one fly inside my home since this post.

Me-1
Flies-0

 

[TiredOldMan]

For those of you who would like a different approach totaking out the occasional fly you should try the assault gun.

It’s a bit pricey $69.00 as I remember and you can google it but it shoots a shotgun like blast of common table salt. It takes a bit of skill and practice but is of course totally non toxic.

I have had mine for years and it still works great.

TiredOldMan. This should be right up your alley though the humidity in Texas may cause some problems with the salt.

https://www.bugasalt.com

I just ordered the laser pointer they just came out with. I had not visited the website since I had ordered my gun.

We have one and it's blast. I swear the flies and wasps know when you get it out.
The humidity doesn't seem to bother it as long as you unload and clear it before you put it away.

Yes, it is an expensive toy but it sure is fun

 

[EllenD]

For those of you who would like a different approach totaking out the occasional fly you should try the assault gun.

It’s a bit pricey $69.00 as I remember and you can google it but it shoots a shotgun like blast of common table salt. It takes a bit of skill and practice but is of course totally non toxic.

I have had mine for years and it still works great.

TiredOldMan. This should be right up your alley though the humidity in Texas may cause some problems with the salt.

https://www.bugasalt.com

I just ordered the laser pointer they just came out with. I had not visited the website since I had ordered my gun.

We have one and it's blast. I swear the flies and wasps know when you get it out.
The humidity doesn't seem to bother it as long as you unload and clear it before you put it away.

Yes, it is an expensive toy but it sure is fun

This is one of the most bizarre things I have ever heard of, lol...I'm kind of sorry I got rid of my fly problem with the $6 jar

 

[TiredOldMan]

The gun is expensive but the ammo is really cheap!

 

[Derbyan]

So... silly question: Has anyone tried Maggie's Farm Home Bug Spray? It's made from essential oils (Active ingredients: Thyme oil 1.2%, 2-phenethyl propionate 0.8%, rosemary oil 0.25%)


Is this safe for birds? My parrot is currently at my parent's house since I had to go on a 2 week work trip so I went ahead and sprayed some of the stuff around the patio door, front door, bathroom, etc. in hopes of repelling insects trying to get inside. I guess worse case scenario I have to leave Frankie with my parents another week until the stuff fades away...

 

[Jottlebot]

I have the same problem. It happened a couple of years ago, nothing last year and the this year nothing until last weekend when it was like a scene from a horror film in my living room! Flys everywhere! Living room and kitchen are the worst. I use bug spray in other rooms, but obviously not in any of the rooms near my birds. It's been a long, slow battle, but I'm probably down to 5 flys in each room now. They don't seem to be interested in sweet-baited bird-safe traps, so I'm trying milk as a bait at the moment, hopefully they will smell it as it goes off and we won't! I don't want to use anything shop bought that has a smell because I'd be worried about the birds. Fly papers worked when there were lots, but we're gross and I had to take them down whenever my birds were out. So I don't have any particular solution and wished I did. I'm getting quite handy with a dish towel, but when I used a spatula I was in the middle of cooking with to kill a fly the other day I realised the battle is far from over... Pretty sure it's the heat - the UK has been crazy hot for weeks now.

 

[EllenD]

Well, I can speak from experience that the "Fly Jars" or "Fly Trap Bottles" work wonders...I kept the bottle out in my kitchen for a week (it says they are good for 30 days before having to dump them and insert a refill-pack), and every fly in my house is gone. And there were tons of them...they were fruit-flies, but it says they are good for all flies. I mean every little fly is gone, I haven't seen a single fly in the couple of weeks since I threw it away...And they are totally bird-safe, more-so than any spray is going to be...

I will point out though that there is no way you could keep one of these jars/bottles out for 30 days, as after a week it started to smell (dozens of dead flies, yeah, it stunk)...I noticed that the actual stuff inside the jar (you add a packet of powder and then fill the far with water) turned into a hard gelatin kind of substance, and the flies are attracted to it, crawl into the jar/bottle, and then get stuck in the gelatin and die...and the nice thing is that they can't leak if you knock them over because the liquid turns into gelatin...But it did stink pretty badly after a week, though all my flies were totally inside the bottle and gone within 2-3 days...

$6 at Home Depot...They also sell little organic fly-jars, same thing but organic and made by a small company, online...They come in different scents that are supposed to cover the smell of the gelatin...haven't tried these, only the "Fly-Trap Bottle" from Home Depot. Don't need any more, one did the trick.

****Just a note to the member who posted above about the essential-oil spray, you must investigate each and every individual essential-oil that you spray/burn/diffuse in your home for any reason, as some are fine, some are extremely toxic to birds (like Tea Tree Oil diffused), some will make them very sick...Cinnamon, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Bark, Tea Tree, Pine, Basil, Wormwood, Spruce, Birch, Juniper, Marigold, Pennyroyal, Ylang Ylang are the most toxic to diffuse/spray into the air for birds, Tea Tree being the most toxic, followed by the "tree/wood/bark" scents...Rosemary as far as I know is fine, but the Thyme oil was not good, hopefully your bird didn't breath a lot, or any of it in, just watch him for any signs of illness, and get him to his CAV asap if you notice any, specifically any breathing/respiratory signs/symptoms...And "hot" essential oils are usually toxic for birds, for example Cinnamon, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Nutmeg, Clove, etc., as they cause irritation throughout the respiratory system....

It sounds like the insect spray your parents used were supposed to be "natural" or similar, as it consists of essential oils and then the phenethyl-proprionate, which is also made from certain natural plant-esters...However, "natural" doesn't mean "bird-safe", and again not all essential oils are safe, some are deadly to birds. And most-all "cheap" essential oils are not safe for birds, regardless of which they are, as most "cheap" essential oils have additives, or even worse, are not actually natural, essential oils at all, they are synthetic scents made in a lab, the equivalent to burning a scented candle unfortunately...Real, natural, organic Essential Oils that are unadulterated and have no additives at all are extremely expensive....

On a side-note, I was buying vitamins at Walmart a couple of weeks ago and I noticed that Walmart started selling a new brand/type of Essential Oils...They always sold very cheap ones along with cheap diffusers in the vitamin/supplement aisles, but this is different...There is a huge case taking up the entire top shelf of one of the vitamin aisles, it's wooden, and it's some new brand of 100% natural, organic Essential Oils, all in this huge, wooden case...They probably have 30-40 different oils...I read the bottles and they are in-fact pure, natural, organic, no additives, etc...and yep, even at Walmart they cost a small fortune for a tiny little bottle with a few ounces in them..I'll stick to buying mine at Wegmans, same price and better quality...

 

[Derbyan]

Frankie hasn't been exposed yet; She's at my parents' house and I sprayed my apartment. Just wanted to know if it was safe to bring her home or if I should try and wash away the spray.