Maggots. Help!!

[BlastedPimples]

So I noticed maggots crawling along my pantry ceiling yesterday. I cleaned it all out, bleached every surface. Threw away loads of unsealed food stuffs. Put everything back. Pristine. Kept window closed.

And they're back! Not so many but there are six or seven inching about the ceiling again.

I found nothing rotting anywhere. Where the hell are they coming from? Do I I have to fumigate whole kitchen now?

You need to check if something has died above the ceiling.

Clean out every cupboard and microwave. It's probably rotten meat or potatoes that you've left unattended or left to defrost. If not it's mice.

Or a teenager has left a plate 🤢

Hmm, I’d remove all food and leave it somewhere else for a day or two until you’ve solved this.
Check the food again. Can you see anywhere that they may be getting in? Skirting boards, tiny holes. Any chance there’s a dead rodent anywhere nearby? Does it smell at all??

No smell.

No old food left anywhere.

All pots and pans cupboards cleaned out. There's nothing.

I have no way to access to see if anything died in the ceiling above.

What do you mean, it's mice? A dead mouse?

Are they definitely maggots? Can maggots even crawl along a ceiling?

Oh I googled it and I guess they are moth larvae from some infested food in the pantry. Apparently they are very mobile and active and can cling to walls and ceilings.

Super.

Happened to someone I know. Occupier in the upstairs flat had died. Are you in a flat?

Yes. Dead mice rotting can attract flies.

@TheYearOfSmallThings you're right. They are like little white caterpillars.

Thing is, I have chucked out everything unsealed from the pantry. And they're still appearing. Fewer in number for now. But still.....🤢

And it's a house, not a flat.

Never known of maggots to crawl across the ceiling. Sounds like my worst nightmare! Are there any obvious holes in the walls, floor, ceiling where they might be coming out from?

Check your bin, flies have laid eggs somewhere…

I would guess you have cleared the source but the ones already hatched are out looking for food - if you keep disposing of them you will hopefully get to the end fairly soon.

Slightly different but we once had biscuit beetle in DS's bedroom. Eventually traced it back to a papier mache model in his cupboard made with infested flour and water paste for glue, at school. Pest control solved it!

They sound like pantry moth larvae. Check all your food. Put everything in sealed plastic boxes if you can. They can live in the cracks between the back of cupboards. Behind light fittings, tiny cracks in the wall. Vacuum everywhere. I have fought a battle with them for years.

No cracks that I can see. But there is a ridge in the pantry where they seem to sit. I am hoovering them up when they appear. 'Orrible.

I've checked all the food. Chucked out stuff like flour, cereal, oats that aren't new.

My bin is emptied regularly into the main bin outside . Three four times a week - big family.

Keep going, you will eventually break the lifecycle. Just stay vigilant. I have had them on and off for years. I have also found them in sealed food like bulgar wheat or rice even when I put it straight into Tupperware. I now just buy what I need week by week.