Bugs in chin food?!

[sarah999]

The SAME EXACT THING happened to me a long time ago with my hamster. The bugs are called Wowbugs (I don't know why) and often get into petfood and multiply. I totally freaked out when i found them in the food!!!! Ever since then, I keep ALL of my pet food in air tight containers in the fridge. Not only does this make it last longer...but my chin actually seems to prefer her food cold....I hope this helps!!!!

 

[JennyBug]

We get weird beetles in with our crickets, but never in our chinchilla food (man, even thinking about bugs makes me itchy!!)

Acidopholus (sp?) is a good probiotic. You can go places like GNC or even Wal-Mart and find it. The higher the count, the better it is. Basically it helps to keep the digestive tract somewhat normal and moving. Please note that if you are giving any sort of antibiotics, you have to space the dosing of each out (they negate one another).

I use Oxbow, and we have never had a problem (I even went in and checked after reading this post!). Best of luck finding something not buggy to feed your chin!!

 

[Olallie]

At my house in California, i got those brown beetles. I would find them in my room every once in a while. It was gross... I didn't find out until later they were in the chinny food, After I was feeding it to them for a few months...(i didn't think the food was bad they ate it all up until their bowls were empty, in one and half day! the usual for them) I thought they were coming in through my window, from the KOI food outside. So when I moved to Canada I had a plastic container of the food for the road trip, couple months later I took it out of the bag i had it in, found that there were lots of tiny brown beetles in the container, omg totally grossed me and my husband out. *ick* I wont think like that anymore I always check to see if there are beetles around my food. So far nothing! yay. I would get a new bag of food if I were you anyway.

 

[AZChins]

I've never let bugs come in. Once someone brought me a bag of supplement with bugs in it...I wouldn't let them bring it in! I have actually never had a bag of feed end up with any bugs in it at all. My food is stored in a climate controlled environment at all times, even before I pick it up. At home the food is stored in the back bathroom...there's no chance of it becoming infected with bugs.

The only thing that I ever see around here is little moths that are everywhere to begin with! I have the shop vac out every morning and evening and I vacuum behind everything...so I only see one of those teensy tiny moths once a month as it flutters in from outside as I am coming into the house.

The trick to keeping bugs out of food is to keep it sealed and to use up the food in timely manner. Any bag of food that comes here is usually used up withing four to five weeks.

 

[Ippo456]

What are the probiotics?

Good bacterias for the digestive system. You can find probiotics in yogurts that we eat. When my animals are on antibiotics (which can kill the good bacteria), I supplement their diets with probiotics. The one I use is Bene-Bac.

 

[Jenn]

we have been fighting bugs like that in my home for a while. They haven't gotten in the chin food, but I've found them in my food cabinets - any flour products and cereals/pastas. I keep flour and pastas in the fridge now. They got into the dog biscuits. They got into the bird's calcium powder. Once they are in the home, they seem determined to find new food sources and are really difficult to get rid of. Everytime I get rid of a proven food source, I'll find that they have moved on to another area...from my food, to the bird's food...to the dog biscuits. So just keep an eye open for awhile. Even if you got rid of the chin food with bugs in it, they may have already spread throughout your home. The agriculture specialist that works with my husband said they were some sort of beetle ( I forget the name, and they do fly) and they can come in on our food we bring home from the food store. Good luck with ridding your home of them!!!

 

[menagerie]

I've never let bugs come in. Once someone brought me a bag of supplement with bugs in it...I wouldn't let them bring it in! I have actually never had a bag of feed end up with any bugs in it at all. My food is stored in a climate controlled environment at all times, even before I pick it up. At home the food is stored in the back bathroom...there's no chance of it becoming infected with bugs.

How the heck can you "never let bugs come in"? It's one thing and common sense if they are obviously in food, as you've shown in your example. I don't bring in anything that has an obvious bug contamination either. However, this is not the case in most situations. Insects come in as eggs hidden inside things, you have no idea that the product is contaminated until the bugs have had a chance to grow and usually reproduce. Since you have lots of chins, you are more than likely going through the feed faster than the bugs have a chance to develop. It would be interesting for you to take some of that food and put it in a container and leave it for months on end and see what happens.

 

[ann1]

Well im just grossed out totally now guys....thanks....bugs!!!! They give me the heeby jeebies.....yuck.....we go through our feed pretty quick here too. Thank goodness....

 

[AZChins]

How the heck can you "never let bugs come in"? It's one thing and common sense if they are obviously in food, as you've shown in your example. I don't bring in anything that has an obvious bug contamination either. However, this is not the case in most situations. Insects come in as eggs hidden inside things, you have no idea that the product is contaminated until the bugs have had a chance to grow and usually reproduce. Since you have lots of chins, you are more than likely going through the feed faster than the bugs have a chance to develop. It would be interesting for you to take some of that food and put it in a container and leave it for months on end and see what happens.

Because if I see bugs, it won't come in the house. If you see bugs in anything, throw it out, don't bring it in...put it in the trash outside. But, other than that, I must not be too smart? Why are you asking me this? Of course, I am not going to let bugs that are obviously there in. I got through my pantry and cabinets all the time to throw out anything old before it can get bugs. Ensuring that no bugs are in the house or let in the house takes vigilance and work - I don't want any of my supplies to ever be infected with bugs...once you get them, it is hard to get them to go away.

I still don't understand why you posted that!

 

[menagerie]

Because if I see bugs, it won't come in the house. If you see bugs in anything, throw it out, don't bring it in...put it in the trash outside. But, other than that, I must not be too smart? Why are you asking me this?

I'm pretty sure that everyone does the same. My point was that most people don't knowingly bring bugs into their homes. You are claiming that you "never let bugs come in" and I was wondering what your secret was because you made it sound like people that do end up with bugs are letting them in on purpose.

My suggestion of you putting some of your chin food in a container and letting it sit for several months was so you can see if your food does indeed have eggs or larva. Most people with lots of chins go through food fast enough that it isn't a problem. But people with only a few chins or any animal and don't go through food as fast, often have food that develops bugs.

 

[AZChins]

LOL People don't let them in on purpose, but some people get lazy and don't keep their guard up against bugs. My secret is to never have dirty dishes around, vacuum often and keep anything that is food well sealed and use it in a timely manner. You can BRING bugs in by keeping flour, grains or really any food too long.

It's best to just buy as much animal food as you can use in six to eight weeks, keep it in sealed containers and throw away anything OUTSIDE if you see any bugs in it at all. Keep the food that gets tossed around the cages swept up and off the floor, as well. Granted, chin food isn't a huge draw for ants or other bugs, but it will be if it gets wet or rots or sits there long enough. (I won't tell you the story about one "person" who got the worms growing in back of her cages because she never cleaned up back there. ick)

 

[sublime5981]

I don't think I agree that using it faster is "hiding" the bugs because, they don't have time to hatch out. For a couple years it took 5-6 months for my chins to eat a 50lb bag of feed and I've never seen a bug. I store it in the original bag inside of a basic pet food storage tub sold at Walmart.
Now I have had bird seed that was infested with some kind of nasty wigglers. :vomit: I will never buy bulk seed again!

 

[AZChins]

Seed gets icky fast! I've had the same thing happen with bird seed. I always store that outside.