# Black bugs in my arps food!



## SoontobeGrandpa

while i was giving new food that i bought from the petshop, i found 3 black bugs! eww. its a mixture of hamster and mice food and this is the first time i saw something like this. ive been getting this kind of food for months already hopefuly it will be the last...what is this and is this a danger?


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## moustress

I'd freeze the food to kill any bugs and hopefully any bug eggs. The meeces may actually enjoy the extra protein in their diet, but I'd worry about microbiota in the gut of the insect.


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## SoontobeGrandpa

can i put the entire plastic bag with food inside and do i have to tie up the plastic bag or leave it open when i freeze it?

when i get some food, do i give them that frozen and cold or do i have to warm it first?


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## Rhasputin

What do the bugs look like?
Are they beetles? Mites? Do they look like furry worms?


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## SoontobeGrandpa

the bugs are small like the size of a ant. its all black and from what i can see, it looks like there are 2 small horns on each side of the face but i think its part of the face. kinda look like a very small beetle


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## CatWoman

I'd take it back to the store and return/exchange it, just on principle.


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## Mymouse

CatWoman said:


> I'd take it back to the store and return/exchange it, just on principle.


Agree!
Also good to keep all food in sealed containers just in case, bugs can come at any time, somtimes from eggs in the bag and many bugs we really don´t want to get loose in the house, are a pest :-/ like little wheat beetles, some little dark red beetles that often are in pet food and can go all over the houes and eat our biscuits, cerial, wheat ect.


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## ripley's mice

do they look anything like any of this lot of pics 
1








2


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## SoontobeGrandpa

oh god! yes the 1st picture of them on the tissue are the black bugs thats crawling inside my arps food!
i might get a jar soon but what if i just tie the food in 3 plastic bags all tied up? thats what i do. i know about freezing but is there anyother way and how can i prevent this?


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## Rhasputin

If you bake the food with the beetles in it, then your mice can still eat it. 

I had some of those recently in my grain, and baking them kills the bugs, and the parasites inside of them.
The mice really love the crunchy beetles as treats.

You can take it back to the store and get a new bag, but the beetles probably came from your house. What they do is, they chew a TINY hole in the bag, and get inside. They breed like crazy too, in a few days they can double or even triple their population. I had so many in my grain bag, that I could HEAR them moving. It was awful. But I just baked the food at 180 farenheit for an hour or two, and all the beetles were dead, and cooked up!


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## SoontobeGrandpa

ok do i have to use foil?
can i bake every food that i get from the petshop?


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## Rhasputin

You can bake pretty much anything, as long as it doesn't have pieces that might melt of something. 
Just keep the temperature low, otherwise you'll end up with popcorn or popped oats!


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