Need Help with mysterious bugs in cages, Any Advice Please!
 

Hello everyone, so I have recently encountered an issue where I have what seems like tens to hundreds of these tiny black bugs(sort of resembling fruitflies), flying around the inside of some of my enclosures. It is only an issue where I have mulch/eco-earth fiber. The eco-earth to me, seems to be bringing them out but I can't understand why all of a sudden? I have not changed to any different brands, my cleaning techniques have not changed recently, everything I have is kept nice and clean, there are zero feces, zero spoiled food etc. Can anyone tell me what may have caused these to just appear one day and what I can do about it and to avoid this happening again. Thank you all for your time.

Sometimes natural substrates get contaminated with insect eggs. To avoid problems in the future you can put the substrate you're planning on using that day into a baking pan, and then bake it at around 150*F for an hour, to kill any insect eggs that may have been laid in it.

Alternatively, if you don't want to bake it, you could freeze the substrates for 72 hours before introducing it to the habitat.

Sounds like Gnats. I had for a while in my crested gecko tank. I put out apple cider vinegar mixed with orange juice in a jar. Put plastic wrap over the jar and poke small holes in it, so the animal can't get inside but the flies can. I set up a few of these traps around and inside the enclosure and it did the trick just fine