disgusting critters in my quail feed :/

[jbobs]

Five minutes ago I opened up the lid on the can where I keep my bird's food and noticed some stuff falling off the lid. I thought it was dust but it was dripping like water. Then I noticed that it was ALIVE. They looks like dust bunnies but they are little mite-like things and there are millions of them. Never seen this before. I washed the lid out with 10:1bleach solution and wiped down the inside of the can too, but they're all through the feed. I did notice after a couple weeks the feed seemed warm and musty when i took the lid off, but didn't think much of it. I don't go through it fast because I'm only feeding one bird indoors at the moment. I'm supposed to go out of town early tomorow morning for the weekend, I am supposing since she has been eating it this long another couple days won't hurt, but I'll get a new bag on Monday. Anyone know what the heck these things are and how I can prevent it from happening again?

 

[nurse_turtle]

Grain mites?

 

[jbobs]

uuhg yep that's them, looked it up. How gross. Everything I noticed checked out with grain mites - right from the yeasty smell to the wamth and moisture seemingly comming from it. I've always stored feed outside but now that it's inside I supose the warmth and humidity facilitates their growth.

I'm not so much worried about the mites themselves (other than the fact that they are gross) but that the feed is spoiled with mold or fungus as well that I can't see. I can't get any new feed till monday now.

Do you think storing the feed itself in air-tight ziplock bags would prevent it from happening again? I can't control the temp or humidity in here much since it's a dorm room.

 

[nurse_turtle]

The grain mites shouldn't hurt anything and I would continue to use that feed. I would get an airtight plastic container to store the feed in.

 

[jbobs]

Apparently if you stir it and shake it up a bit every day, it dries them out. Apparently they need about 80% humidity to thrive so maybe it needs more air circulation or something. I just don't know how I feel about it being 4 feet away from my bed LOL I can hardly wait till I live in an actual house again.

Good to know it isn't a health hazard for the bird, though.

 

[TwoCrows]

I have found that those zip lock bags are not that air tight. So when I want to store something that needs to stay dry, I use canning jars. Those ball jars with the rubber lined lids. Once you tighten those lids on, no moisture can get inside the jars.

 

[alishabusch]

I am so going to take this into consideration...time for a new approach to storage just in case. I have only had my babies a week and I am not gonna let that start.

 

[alishabusch]

Ima puke.

Five minutes ago I opened up the lid on the can where I keep my bird's food and noticed some stuff falling off the lid. I thought it was dust but it was dripping like water. Then I noticed that it was ALIVE. They looks like dust bunnies but they are little mite-like things and there are millions of them. Never seen this before. I washed the lid out with 10:1bleach solution and wiped down the inside of the can too, but they're all through the feed. I did notice after a couple weeks the feed seemed warm and musty when i took the lid off, but didn't think much of it. I don't go through it fast because I'm only feeding one bird indoors at the moment. I'm supposed to go out of town early tomorow morning for the weekend, I am supposing since she has been eating it this long another couple days won't hurt, but I'll get a new bag on Monday. Anyone know what the heck these things are and how I can prevent it from happening again?