Question:
Bug's in Hamster food! HELP PLEASE!! ASAP!!!?
anonymous
2009-03-11 23:30:31 UTC
I just got a hamster about 3 days ago he is about 2 years old, I gave him a scoop of food and I noticed these tiny little bugs, they almost look like black seed's. Iam sure they were bugs because they were running around, and I crushed a few and they hade little guts flying out of them!
They are pretty tiny, about the size of my hamsters 'fingers'. I also have rabbits and a litter of bunnies in the same room as the hamster, I threw out the bag of food. what else should I do, will they harm my bunnies, or hammy?
How do I make sure they are totally gone?
I'm about to scrub out the hamster's cage's..

BUG JUST TOTALLY CREEP ME OUT! HELP!
Six answers:
notmyfirstrodeo
2009-03-12 06:08:17 UTC
It wouldn't be fleas or ticks in the food. It's most likely some type of weevil. They are similar or identical to the bugs that can sometimes get in flour or dryed pasta. Freezing the food will kill off eggs to prevent hatching and the adult bugs.



You did the right thing by tossing the food. The bugs are unlikely to hurt your pet (hamsters actually eat insects in the wild), but are unappealing to have in human homes! While the bugs are unlikely to cause harm, the food may be old and starting to rot or mildew which would hurt your pet, so it's always best to toss it.



Check your other pets food to be sure none of the bugs got in there. Chances are you got the bag of food already infected and it's confined to that one bag.



Clean the cage and be sure to dispose of any food in the cage. Chances are those measures will solve the bug problem. I'd avoid spraying or putting stuff on your pet needlessly.
?
2009-03-12 00:07:30 UTC
you can take it back to the store depending on how long you've had teh food.



Since hamster food is mostly carbs i believe (the pellet stuff), just like rice it prob gets infested with the black bugs. What happens is while the food is processed and cleaned sometimes stray eggs of these black bugs will be missed. These bugs(at least the ones in the rice) aren't poisonous at all.



A lot of times we don't notice it if we use the product within say a couple weeks or so(roughly how long a 40lb bag of rice lasts my family). So the harmless eggs just get cooked/ eaten/ rinsed away.



We only notice bugs in our grains when it has been sitting either in the store for too long or in our house too long. The bag could be infested even if it was NEVER opened, but we notice it since after the time period the eggs have hatched and then have started eating the food and then of course reproducing.



If it was a long time you had it and then opened it, nothing you can do really, unless you know where ur friend bought the food from and they have a really long return period.



If it was on the shelf awhiles and you just bought it recently then you can definitely and should definitely be entitled to a refund



if the bag was open already when you got it, then sorry to say, but you just gotta buy new food. Although i doubt the black bugs are harmful, i still wouldn't feed ur hamster them.



So yeah i don't think the food came from your hamsters cage, it came from the bag itself.



The best thing for you to do is what your planning to do. Empty all the bedding and jst do a full clean up. then keep then store you food in an air tight container or even a casual bucket with a rubber cover is fine. It will also make it easier to check the food. What i use to do with my cat food/rice for awhiles is run my hand through the food in the bucket to see if any black bugs start moving around. Lately in the past year i haven't seen any bugs in mine so i sorta jus stopped.
anonymous
2016-03-01 03:44:41 UTC
Hey there Well first you should stop panicking and relax a little bit ok first figure out why is there flys in your room is it an open window a hole in the wall etc.... Second for your hamsters need you said that the water was gone really quickly check if the water bottle leck because flys love being near water. Also it proberly the water bottle the flys want so take it away and feed it to your hamster once in a while but dont put it near the cage. If that dosen't work take the hamster to th vet. Hope I Helped :) good luck
*Ferret Lover*
2009-03-11 23:39:09 UTC
If they came out of the food bag, they could have gotten into it at the store you purchased it at, or they could be ticks or fleas, in which case you would need to purchase some medication to put on them. For your hamster, put one small drop on its neck. You should put three or four drops on all the bunnies necks. This is perfectly safe, I have asked my vet about this before. You should thoroughly clean ALL their cages and wash all your linens to get rid of them totally. If it is still a large problem you may need to have an exterminator spray your house.
?
2016-02-09 09:25:36 UTC
bughamster food asap
spider pig!!!1
2009-03-12 01:24:03 UTC
get rid of the food and buy him some new food


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