GNATS!!!!!

Question
i have an odd problem with my iguana. i recently went out of town and left him with a friend. i showed her his daily routine. the only thing that happened while i was away is that his daytime heat lamp blew out. everything else has been ordinary. when i got back, i noticed gnats were hanging around his food dish. his food hasn't been altered in the past 2 months. i cleaned his tank. removed feces, washed bowls, put in fresh bark, etc. there were still some, but not as many, gnats. when i saw gnats in the kitchen, i thought it might be the environment. since i was in the process of moving, i figured they would be gone with the move.he was fine the first day, until i fed him after we got everything moved in. now the gnats are back again and i have no idea how to get rid of them.

Answer
Hi Layla,
Chances are what you are seeing are fruit flies and not gnats. It is the time of year for them to become a pain in the butt.  
You can buy traps for them at various stores like Lowes and Home Depot.  You can also make your own traps using a funnel and a glass or glass jar or a water or soda bottle.
Glass and funnel... place a piece of fruit or APPLE CIDER VINEGAR in the glass/jar...make sure the funnel fits securely in the glass/jar with an inch or so space at the end of the funnel. The flies will go into the funnel to get what is in the jar but cannot get back out...
For the soda/water bottle... cut the top of the bottle off (about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the bottle)..again, place the fruit or APPLE CIDER VINEGAR in the bottle...invert the bottle top into the lower part of the bottle...tape the two pcs together... again, the flies will go into the "spout" but will not be able to get back out.
If you don't have either of the "supplies" above, you can use a jar, plastic wrap and a rubber band.. Place the APPLE CIDER VINEGAR or Fruit in the jar..cover with plastic wrap..secure with rubberband..using a fork, poke some holes in the plastic.
Of course it is important to keep all fruits, veggies covered so as to not attract more flies.  Take garbage out daily and you may want to feed your iguana smaller amounts of food several times a day so there isn't food in his dish at all times.  The good news is that over time,the fruit fly problem usually goes away on its own..but..when they are around, they are a real pain and helping to get rid of them with the traps does help in controlling how many we have in the house.One of the biggest draws for the fruit flies are bananas.