How I got rid of phorid flies and their larvae (from hatching eggs)

[AnthonyCaponetto]

I recently had a python clutch become infested with phorid flies and their larvae shortly after pipping. At first, I didn't think they would hurt the snakes, but it quickly got out of hand and I noticed that a couple of the snakes looked chewed up for lack of a better term.

I emailed a few folks who were very helpful (Kathy Love included), but nobody seemed to have any ideas of how to get rid of the larvae once they've invaded an open egg.

This was a clutch that I was really looking forward to and I'm not the type to give up, so I decided to do something a little radical. I cut away the top third of the egg shells, gently pulled the neonates' heads from their eggs and proceeded to run them under luke warm tap water until there was no "egg goo" left in the egg. I basically rinsed everything out except for the neonate and the umbilicus/yolk sack. When I got done, there was obviously no "egg goo" left in the egg to keep things moist, so I filled the eggs back up with warm water. With a third of the shell gone, the water seemed to evaporate very fast, so I had to "top them off" a couple times a day. Long story short, this got rid of the larvae and allowed the snakes to finish hatching without being eaten alive...well worth the effort.

After the neonates left their eggs, I inspected the empty eggs and found no larvae whatsoever. The three "chewed up" neonates were too far gone and subsequently died, but the remaining ones hatched and seem to be doing fine.

I have several other clutches cooking and don't want to deal with this again, so I hung a large no pest strip above the incubator. As of right now, I have two clutches hatching and (knock on wood) have yet to see a single fly or larvae in their egg boxes.

Hope this helps!
-Anthony

 

[snakedancer]

how do those flies even get to the eggs?

 

[Sisuitl]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have never heard of that happening before. What part of the world do you live in?

Best of luck with the ones that made it out. I'm really glad to hear they are doing ok. I wonder if may saline water would work better in a situation like that, maybe keep the tissues more stable or something. Regardless though I'm glad it worked.

 

[lefty_mussolini]

Great post. Thank you very much for sharing your sucessful method.
I've battled those dang flys with every clutch that I've hatched so far this year. So far, none of them have done any damage to any hatchlings, but the concern is definately there.

 

[pcar]

how do those flies even get to the eggs?

Some people have noticed that the flies come from some brands of spaghnum moss, and other mosses. I had a problem with fruit flies last year, but not phorids. I hope that I never have to deal with them.

Congrats on the snakes that you were able to save.