bug infested food -- yuck!

[downtown]

I bought a container of Hartz Nutrition Bonanza, Hamster and Gerbil Gourmet Diet at Target in Seattle. Only when I got it home did I discover that is is simply crawling with minute beetle-like insects, brown with long, slightly flat, oblong abdomens. They are about 2 mm long. Thank goodness I never fed any to my gerbils. I'm going to take it back, obviously. What are they? Is there an animal equivalent of the Health Dept that I can call?

[doomgerbiluk]

They are grain beetles. They are harmless but not pleasant. The eggs are laid on the grain before it is harvested.

Take the bag back, get yoru money back and contact the manufacturer, preferably with a batch number.

Many of us freeze our feed to prevent anything hatching or infesting it.