Hamster food and moths

Pebbles82 · 10-06-2016, 09:28 AM

I just wanted to make this into a post on the subject to help people avoid an expensive and unpleasant time I had with moths!

Dried hamster food and treats can sometimes have moth eggs in them - which are teeny tiny like specks of dust. They can exist there without anyone knowing. Under certain conditions, they can hatch out. And that's what happened with me. I used to keep my bags of hamster food in a cupboard with pots and pans, with the bag cut open.

This issue can be avoided if you freeze the bags of hamster food (I leave them in the freezer for a week) and then store it in an airtight container like a lock and lock box. Since doing that I've had no problems at all.

It isn't the manufacturers of the food, it is probably from warehouse storing, and the moths can get into sealed bags of food (they chew through plastic bags) or lay eggs on the outside of the bags.

It's the kind of thing you don't know about unless they hatch out. Moth eggs can be in flour as well (hence Indian Meal Moth) and we don't know and it doesn't do any harm.

In my case though I saw a moth go in and out of Charlie's cage. And the substrate was swarming with them underneath - totally disgusting! Presumably hatched out from his food hoard. Did a full cage clean, disinfected the cage (had to throw away some toys) and a good hoover round and hoped that had sorted it. But bought some food moth pheromone traps as well - which didn't work and didn't catch any even when a few appeared in the room each evening.

Unfortunately once they are hatched they can go anywhere in the house and lay eggs - particularly food cupboards in the kitchen. And sure enough they were in there. Had to throw away all dried food in the kitchen cupboards and clean them out with vinegar. Then purchased lock and lock boxes and new food.

I thought I had cracked it until I found some crawling around inside my pots and pans in a different cupboard. It was the cupboard I had had the hamster food stored in and seemed to be the source of the outbreak. So another big cupboard clean and washing out everything in there.

The worst bit was underneath that cupboard was a storage area with all our board games in and there were moths crawling all over those too. I wiped down the outsides with disinfectant and bagged the board games up in black plastic bags for a few months, hoping they would survive. When I opened them recently there were no moths but chrysalis's were inside the boxes and had spoiled the contents - so I ended up binning the lot and have just replaced them.

So I would really recommend putting bags of hamster food and any pet food or hamster treats in the freezer - or any wood or hay toys that aren't sealed when they arrive (although it does seem to be from food items really). The only exception is anything that is not suitable for freezing. Some Rosewood treat sticks use raw egg to bind the ingredients - according to them - so read the ingredients before freezing some foods. It may be that some hamster mixes aren't suitable for freezing either. If something isn't suitable for freezing, store it in airtight containers like lock and lock boxes (according to my research those are the most airtight! More than tupperware). You'd then see in the box if anything hatched out!

The cost has been quite high. I spent a fortune on lock and lock boxes and vinegar. Replacing the board games was upsetting and costly. And I also had to re-buy some hamster toys. The wood and cork items were impossible to clean to make sure there were no eggs in little cracks. The time and hassle and feeling invaded drove me a bit crazy for a while and I really didn't have time to be dealing with it. And Charlie had a rather bare cage for a while and had to cope with a full cage clean all in one go and things being different for a while.

Don't get me wrong - they're just little moths - and I only ever saw four or five at a time, in the room, usually at night. But they can wreak a bit of havoc.

On a slightly interesting technical note I identified three varieties. Not all of them were pantry moths, some were general house moths (which will eat anything - food, clothes, carpets, the lot). And some white shouldered moths as well. I was like David Bellamy at midnight with my camera, photographing them and then squashing or hoovering them.

The only traps that worked for me a bit were the carpet moth pheromone traps - that caught about four, plus a spider.

Prevention is better than cure. I would recommend freezing pet food.

I had been buying Harry Hamster for 18 months with no issue whatsoever. I still think it wasn't from the Harry Hamster, but from either some treats or a bag of Oxbow Essentials that had been imported. But it could be from any pet food that has been stored in a warehouse that is mothy.

The amount of cleaning is enough to make you paranoid for a while! Hoovering really helps - not just carpets, but curtains as well, and inside hinges and crevices in food cupboards. The moths apparently are crafty at laying eggs where you can't wipe them out. Otherwise just wiping out cupboards with soapy water or white vinegar does the trick. After each hoovering session though, you need to empty the hoover bag or the moths just crawl out again and start all over again. So it also cost me a fortune in hoover bags.

huri ur · 10-19-2016, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I just wanted to make this into a post on the subject to help people avoid an expensive and unpleasant time I had with moths!

Dried hamster food and treats can sometimes have moth eggs in them - which are teeny tiny like specks of dust. They can exist there without anyone knowing. Under certain conditions, they can hatch out. And that's what happened with me. I used to keep my bags of hamster food in a cupboard with pots and pans, with the bag cut open.

This issue can be avoided if you freeze the bags of hamster food (I leave them in the freezer for a week) and then store it in an airtight container like a lock and lock box. Since doing that I've had no problems at all.

It isn't the manufacturers of the food, it is probably from warehouse storing, and the moths can get into sealed bags of food (they chew through plastic bags) or lay eggs on the outside of the bags.

It's the kind of thing you don't know about unless they hatch out. Moth eggs can be in flour as well (hence Indian Meal Moth) and we don't know and it doesn't do any harm.

In my case though I saw a moth go in and out of Charlie's cage. And the substrate was swarming with them underneath - totally disgusting! Presumably hatched out from his food hoard. Did a full cage clean, disinfected the cage (had to throw away some toys) and a good hoover round and hoped that had sorted it. But bought some food moth pheromone traps as well - which didn't work and didn't catch any even when a few appeared in the room each evening.

Unfortunately once they are hatched they can go anywhere in the house and lay eggs - particularly food cupboards in the kitchen. And sure enough they were in there. Had to throw away all dried food in the kitchen cupboards and clean them out with vinegar. Then purchased lock and lock boxes and new food.

I thought I had cracked it until I found some crawling around inside my pots and pans in a different cupboard. It was the cupboard I had had the hamster food stored in and seemed to be the source of the outbreak. So another big cupboard clean and washing out everything in there.

The worst bit was underneath that cupboard was a storage area with all our board games in and there were moths crawling all over those too. I wiped down the outsides with disinfectant and bagged the board games up in black plastic bags for a few months, hoping they would survive. When I opened them recently there were no moths but chrysalis's were inside the boxes and had spoiled the contents - so I ended up binning the lot and have just replaced them.

So I would really recommend putting bags of hamster food and any pet food or hamster treats in the freezer - or any wood or hay toys that aren't sealed when they arrive (although it does seem to be from food items really). The only exception is anything that is not suitable for freezing. Some Rosewood treat sticks use raw egg to bind the ingredients - according to them - so read the ingredients before freezing some foods. It may be that some hamster mixes aren't suitable for freezing either. If something isn't suitable for freezing, store it in airtight containers like lock and lock boxes (according to my research those are the most airtight! More than tupperware). You'd then see in the box if anything hatched out!

The cost has been quite high. I spent a fortune on lock and lock boxes and vinegar. Replacing the board games was upsetting and costly. And I also had to re-buy some hamster toys. The wood and cork items were impossible to clean to make sure there were no eggs in little cracks. The time and hassle and feeling invaded drove me a bit crazy for a while and I really didn't have time to be dealing with it. And Charlie had a rather bare cage for a while and had to cope with a full cage clean all in one go and things being different for a while.

Don't get me wrong - they're just little moths - and I only ever saw four or five at a time, in the room, usually at night. But they can wreak a bit of havoc.

On a slightly interesting technical note I identified three varieties. Not all of them were pantry moths, some were general house moths (which will eat anything - food, clothes, carpets, the lot). And some white shouldered moths as well. I was like David Bellamy at midnight with my camera, photographing them and then squashing or hoovering them.

The only traps that worked for me a bit were the carpet moth pheromone traps - that caught about four, plus a spider.

Prevention is better than cure. I would recommend freezing pet food.

I had been buying Harry Hamster for 18 months with no issue whatsoever. I still think it wasn't from the Harry Hamster, but from either some treats or a bag of Oxbow Essentials that had been imported. But it could be from any pet food that has been stored in a warehouse that is mothy.

The amount of cleaning is enough to make you paranoid for a while! Hoovering really helps - not just carpets, but curtains as well, and inside hinges and crevices in food cupboards. The moths apparently are crafty at laying eggs where you can't wipe them out. Otherwise just wiping out cupboards with soapy water or white vinegar does the trick. After each hoovering session though, you need to empty the hoover bag or the moths just crawl out again and start all over again. So it also cost me a fortune in hoover bags.

Hello I have a hamster food that might have moths in it ( I saw a Amazon.com review of the food ) the review said the food has moths I talked to my parents if we should through it out ... They said they don't want to was money
I haven't noticed any moths or eggs for Peanut my female Syrian Hamster
What do u think I should do ?
Thanks in advance

Pebbles82 · 10-19-2016, 06:17 PM

If you can't see any I shouldn't worry. You can put it in the freezer for a week and that would kill anything. A reviewer may have had moths in their bag due to the warehouse storage - and might have bought it from a different place to you. So I shouldn't worry. Just keep enough food for 7 days out and put the rest in the freezer

. The 7 days worth you can keep in an airtight storage container (eg tupperware, lock and lock type thing). You'll know there aren't any moths because you'd see them in the container if there were.

huri ur · 10-20-2016, 08:23 AM

Ok thanks i will do this ! thanks it's good help.

flowerfairy · 10-20-2016, 10:39 AM

Goo reminder. Just ordered a load of food and treats so will put them in the freezer just in case.

Sounds like a real nightmare.

huri ur · 10-20-2016, 11:12 AM

Ya it sounds like a big nightmare to clean all those stuff

huri ur · 10-20-2016, 03:50 PM

Do you see any eggs ?

I'm sending pics

Please reply

huri ur · 10-20-2016, 03:53 PM

Here's some more pics
I don't see any but you know how they looks like

Fluffagrams · 11-10-2016, 02:32 AM

I've brought this topic back up as I've recentely had to throw away two bags of my homemade mix due to grain weevils.

After I made up the mix, I put them in plastic food bags, tied them with a knot and put the extras in a drawer in the hamster room. As all of the hamsters haven't been up there recentely, I'd gone up to clear the desk ready to take James and Victoria back up. It was then that I noticed some funny brown bugs on the wall in one corner. During the clear up, I traced the source back to the bags of food.

The food went straight in the bin and I began clearing out the hamster room but the hamsters won't be going back up there until I'm happy that the bugs have gone. Meanwhile, the hamsters will have to eat the commercial mixes that I'd bought to feed the Nobrias when they were small and what I had left over from Henry's stay until I'm able to sort out the new mix for them.

I think that it was most likely to have come from the commercial base mix that I'd used but could also have come from one of the components that had gone in. Most of my hamster food is kept in plastic tubs so I don't know why I didn't think to use tubs for the spare food as well.

Vectis Hamstery · 11-10-2016, 02:41 AM

Dog biscuits should also be kept in airtight tubs for that reason! When I was show manager I had 10kg of the club's dog biscuits which I'd thankfully divided into smaller 1kg tied bags from the large 10kg one. One small bag got horribly infested with weevils and had to be thrown out - though the other 9kg survived as it was in different bags.

I have an ongoing war with Indian meal moths that came in with several orders of straight seeds. It's been hard to get rid of them as I can't physically clean all my cages and everything else in one go! I have specific pheremone traps for Indian meal moths which work wonders.