Beetle!

[LazyHarpSeal]

I wasnt sure which section to post this in but wow I just had a major panic!
I was cleaning part of my dwarf hams cage to remove the dirty substrate where he had been nesting, as I lifted the substrate I saw a pretty big black beetle!
I am currently just trying to make sure there was only that one in there but it does have me kind of worried!
A quick search on the forum brought darkling beetles to my attention and after a quick google I do think it looked kind of similar but I only feed Tilly dried mealworms in the burgess dwarf hamster mix so I am a bit confused
It may have been from outside because I have had my window open during this horrible uk heatwave.
Any advice on what to do now?

[LazyHarpSeal]

I decided to do a deep cage clean just in case. I don't have enough substrate to refill his cage tonight but luckily I kept his old cage,a mini duna i think which is tiny in comparison but it will only be for tonight so hopefully he will be okay.
I'm going to freeze his food from now on just in case there are any insect eggs.
I did notice Tilly did have a bit of fur loss behind one of his ears which I am keeping an eye on. There is no scabbing,bleeding, etc and it is just in that spot so maybe it was irritation from a bug bite. The area doesn't seem to be sore though but of course if there is any change I will take him straight to the vets
I'm just so annoyed about the beetle! I clean his cage pretty regular so I don't understand how I managed to miss the beetle!
Hopefully I've done the right thing by doing a deep clean, I'd rather be safe than sorry

[cypher]

It's quite unlikely that a beetle would have come in from outside & got into the cage, more likely to be something in the food I would guess, it may just be a one off so have a look through the cage & keep an eye out for any more just in case.
It would probably be a good idea to freeze the food for at least a week just in case there are any eggs or anything in there, it's not a bad idea to do that routinely to avoid any chance of bugs!
Croos post!
The fur loss may not be related to the beetle but just keep an eye on that & see how it goes.

[LazyHarpSeal]

Thanks for replying I've put the food in the freezer (apart from a little I put in his food dish). I have been scatter feeding him for months. Would that have increased the chances of a beetle developing?

[cypher]

Scatter feeding shouldn't make any difference really so I wouldn't worry about that.