As you know I have an open enclosure with wire mesh walls.
Over the past month, when I go in to clean, I sometimes notice one insect, like a small fly (not big ones, mosquito sized type fly) flying around. It didn't bother me much because now and then you see an insect in your house, not a big deal.

However, yesterday and today, I notice that there were like 3 or 4 of them which would hover near the food bowl. I am worried that there would be more and more.

Before, I have had these flies in my house, when I left food out overnight, or sometimes hovering near the trash bags/trash cans etc. or what have you. They disappear within a couple days or so once I removed the food, trash or source of attraction and make sure that area is clean and free of organic matter. Obviously, I can't do this for the enclosure as I have to give food to the iguana twice everyday.

Pesticides are not an option for obvious reasons. I have visited the houisehold goods shop and they have a wide range of gadgets for ridding flies and pests from your house, ranging from things you plug into an electrical socket that give of waves that repel insects but do not affect humans, thus driving any insects out of the room, to lights that have an "electrical shield" wire mesh that attract the flies to the light, and once the flies fly through the mesh, they get electrocuted, to incense type stuff that you burn etc.

Many of these are well known to work and harmless to humans. However, I do not know if they are harmful to iguanas. I would like your advice on this before I proceed ot buy one of these gadgets. Of course, any and all these would be used OUTSIDE the enclosure fence, to drive the insects out of the room. So the ig will not get electrocuted, burnt or touch them, but I still want to make sure there are no harmful waves of any kind that can penetrate the walls through the air or whatnot.

if thier the same things i've often seen in my terrarium and hovering around potted plants, thier harmless little fruit flies.

What I used when I had my enclosure housed in a garage was those flypaper strips. You could hang one outide his enclosure near his food bowl. They're not attractive but they have no harmful pesticides and are inexpensive.

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Jan. 25, 1963 - Sept. 10, 2006 (R.I.P)

They are probably harmless but they are really annoying.

I can look for the pest strips, but how about those electrical gadgets are they harmful to the ig?

I wouldn't think so. They may annoy him at first though--noise or light. But not sure.

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Jan. 25, 1963 - Sept. 10, 2006 (R.I.P)

I would advise against the use of any of these electric gadgets.. the plug-ins that emit a high-pitched noise may not be detectable to us, but I would suggest that it might be irritating to your Ig, and would end up causing stress. Anything that emits a smell or fumes to get rid of the flies could be potentially harmful to animals, and I'm not sure about the electrical "shield".

I would be careful before using any of these products, and it might just be better for you to just ignore the flies if they are not harmful; by your description and the food they are attracted to, they sound like fruit flies.

Otherwise, the flypaper strips suggested by empoyner sound best, although again you must be cautious and make sure they don't emit any fumes, sounds or smells that might be harmful to your Ig, as the no-pest strips that used to be used to get rid of mites were discovered to be harmful to the reptile as well.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

So what kind of shop would one go to find these flypapers? I have never seen them around. We don't have home depot or anything like that here so I wonder what general kind of shop would have them.

The electrical shield light thing does not emit waves, only a blue light which I can turn away from the ig is that alright?

I can't advise on where to purchase the flypaper - I don't recall them here in the UK. If it is what I am thinking of then it could be harmful to your Ig, but it may not be so be very careful to check what fumes etc it gives off.

I'm not so sure about the electrical shield light. I would definitely face it away from the Ig and the enclosure if you use one, but it would need to go off at night of course in the same room so it didn't disturb the photoperiod.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I pretty much agree with Rachel. I would not use anything that puts off smoke or fumes around the ig. These would most likely be in the nature of an insecticide. In fact anything that claims to repel or kill the insects by scent or vapor should be avoided. This includes the no pest strips.
The sonic waves devices you describe have never really caught on over here and I highly doubt their effectiveness. And it could be irritable to the iguana.
The electric mesh device that attracts them and then electrocutes them is known over here as a "Bug Zapper". They work quite well outside but I don't know that the fruit flies would be attracted to them. But the small amount of light that the bulb produces should not be a problem to the iguana. It isn't even as bright as strong moonlight.
One thing about fruit flies is they seem to be attracted to the color yellow. Gardening shops will have what is called yellow sticky traps that are yellow in color (duh!) and coated with a highly sticky material that the flies get stuck in. As you said not very appealing to look at but they do the job and are completely non-toxic.
Something you might try is placing some mashed banana in a deep jar with a bit of water or beer in the bottom. this will draw them and they will drown in the fluid. It won't eliminate them but it may decrease their numbers a bit.
About the only other option you are going to have is to feed the iguana and as soon as he finishes eating remove the food. Inconvenient but it will remove the source of the insects food and there will be no reason for them to stick around.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I like the fly paper. I never spent over a buck for a pack of four. Where? Hardware stores, drug stores, large grocers usually have them with cleaning and household supplies.

Bug zappers are generally for use outside not inside where there are three or four flies.

You can also make it so the flies can't get to the food by training a small fan on the plate. These things are not strong enough to handle the wind generated by the fan.

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~ Mark