Bugs in Feed!

[AccentOnHakes]

[This isn't a chicken question, but I figured I'd get the reply faster here anyways]
NOTE: I am not an adult, so keep that in mind!

My friend is on vacation for a couple weeks, so I'm taking care of her hamster while she's away. Today I realized the the bag of hamster food she gave me is crawling with little tiny bugs! She doesn't exactly take the best care of her hamster, and the reason the feed is infested is because the bag was never sealed, or so I assume.

For now I just gave the hamster some chicken scratch, which contains corn, millet, and wheat. Millet and corn are found in the hamster food(it's a mix, not just a bunch of pellets). I figure that in the short term, it shouldn't do much harm.

As for the hamster food, I have it bagged(not airtight) and in the freezer right now. It's been in there for about two hours now, and I have to take it out soon because my parents are germophobes(especially when it comes to animals!) and would flip if they find buggy hamster feed in the same area as our food. However, I've read that it needs to be frozen for 48 hours to kill all the bug eggs.

I'm also going to be away next week(leaving tomorrow) and my parents will be taking care of both the hamster and my chickens, so I can't really do anything after today.

What else can I do? Microwave the food? Stick it in the oven? I'm not too sure if that would be safe, though. Help?

 

[Member 151789]

exactly how old are you? haha just kidding. i am sorry that i know NOTHING and, i mean nothing about hampsters. all i know about is horses and chickens. haha

anyway, good luck though and hope your friends hampster if fine too

Caohorse

 

[kelly77]

You sound like you know more then most adults! Deff good thinking with putting it in the freezer, that will kill the bugs...pretty sure if you do a google search you will get some answers too. I think your on the right track ..maybe her hamster is used to eating bugs..in nature they would eat bugs http://www.hamsterific.com/nutrition.cfm

 

[AccentOnHakes]

You sound like you know more then most adults! Deff good thinking with putting it in the freezer, that will kill the bugs...pretty sure if you do a google search you will get some answers too. I think your on the right track ..maybe her hamster is used to eating bugs..in nature they would eat bugs http://www.hamsterific.com/nutrition.cfm

Haha, thanks very much! All the time I spend on BYC really pays off; there's a wealth of information that can be applied to things other than chicken-keeping!

The search I did on Google told me 48 hours, that's why I was wondering if there was any faster way to kill off the bugs. Most of the results I got concentrated more on what to do to avoid bugs next time, rather than how to get rid of the ones that were already there.

Thanks very much for your help, especially the fact that hamsters will naturally eat insects. I did not know that!


EDIT:
Well, my parents are coming home now, so I took it out of the freezer. It was in there for about 4.5 hours. I opened it up and I didn't see any visible bugs crawling around, but they might just be dormant from the low temperature and not actually dead. Not to mention there are likely eggs in there, too.

*sigh* Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. At least these bugs don't pose any real danger, they're just a pest.

 

[kelly77]

Well if you think about it all our lil critter pets came from the wild and in the wild the best protein comes from insects! Although I do know dogs and cats will not eat their food if there are ants in it. Make sure you let the hamsters owner know about your efforts so she maybe will take better care of him. Good luck!