I think i may have a big prob please can you help?

Question

I went to get some food for my hamster (a cereal mix that we keep in a container with a lid, in the shed) and to my surprise it was crawling with little black bugs! hundreds of millions of them. So i picked them out Of the hammys bowl. Checked the container and the food was alive with them ! i don't know how long they have been in there (hopefully not long as my hamster has been eating the food) What they are, how to get rid of them and if anyone else has encountered this prob. So any ideas & information will be gladly appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

sounds like mites.  i would throw out the food, clean all containers and start afresh.  

When i cleaned out my disabled mothers kitchen cupboards once, i found those mites in an old airtight container of flour.  erk!

Dont buy huge bulk bags of food, keep it somewhere damp free inside and wash containers each time you refill with fresh food.

Answer 2

just clean the cage and it probably wont hurt her because hamsters probably ate bugs in the wild and just get new food

Answer 3

sounds like weevils,nasty critters that will consume all your hamster food.burn the food and buy some new

Answer 4

Well to make sure clean out yahh hamsters cage just to make sure there not crawling in there with the little hamster and dnt keep you food in the shed no more keep it in a nice dry place in your home were there isnt any bugs..

Answer 5

Throw that package of food away, then buy a new fresh package of hamster food. I don't think it will do any harm to your hamster... the best thing to do is just get rid of the food and feed it veggies and fruits until you can buy a new fresh package of hamster food. Oh, and change it's bedding and clean his container and make sure NONE of the bugs are on your hamster!

Answer 6

Sounds like they may be flour/biscuit weavels, these little black bugs that commonly infest dry goods such as pet food. More than likely they came in with your food, throw it all away and buy fresh, clean your hamsters cage out so they can't breed otherwise you can get over-run. Don't worry about your hamster, they won't bite her and she will probs just eat them herself if she finds one!