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Post by senoritasalsa on Jun 4, 2023 8:33:52 GMT -8
Hi, I have recently done a deep clean of my gerbil aquarium and I found a colony of what I believe to be red flour beetles in their food stash. Now, I have thrown out all the stashed food and all their bedding in hopes of getting rid of them and I am not super worried, because according to info I have found online, they just destroy the food, but aren't exactly dangerous. I was just wondering if anyone had a same experience with those tiny pests and if they managed to elimanate them or if they (I hope not) caused any harm to your gerbils. Thanks.
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Post by icecontroller2529 on Jun 4, 2023 10:22:23 GMT -8
Sorry to hear about your infestation. It's one of the joys of summer.
I didn't have red flour beetles, but I did have red-legged ham beetles (Necrobia rufipes) back in the days when I still had dogs. They seem to be quite similar to yours (destroying food but not harming animals). I want to share my experience, hopefully it will be helpful to you or somebody else.
Where did they come from?
They most likely came in through hard crackers I used for the dogs to clean their teeth after eating. The pet supply store told me their eggs are in those crackers and normally nothing happens, but in summer, when temperatures are high, they can hatch.
How did I notice?
It all seemed innocent in the beginning. I noticed a beetle on the wall while talking on the phone. Next day, there was another one. It all seemed so harmless, it was one here and one there for weeks until I found the nest ... Lesson to learn: When you find more than one insect of the same kind, you need to search your entire house immediately.
What kind of damage?
Like with your beetles, mine were harmless to humans and animals. However, they caused tremendous damage to the flat. The renovation costs could have been high. Luckily, only the storage room was affected. The floor and walls in that room were severely damaged.
How to get rid of them?
I don't remember exactly as this was 20 years ago, but I used some kind of strong chemicals from a garden centre to clean the floor and walls. I threw out everything food related and everything that was fabric from that room, including the carpet. I had had flees in my home earlier and they were almost impossible to get out permanently, so I know of the importance of being thorough in your cleaning.
I hope this is useful information. Regarding your red flour beetles, I think you did well in throwing out all food and bedding. It might be wise to also throw out the wooden objects you've got in the gerbilarium, or give them a long hot treatment in the oven to hopefully kill all potential eggs. Needless to say, it's wise to watch the gerbilarium closely in the future in case there are more eggs in the next food/bedding you buy. And make sure to always keep gerbil food and bedding separated from your other belongings.
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Post by senoritasalsa on Jun 4, 2023 10:41:57 GMT -8
Wow, thanks for info! That sounds like a huge pain, so sorry for that.
I have actually put my wooden stuff in the oven, cause at first I was really worried, that they were woodworms, but apperently not (so glad). I guess I'll be freezing any food I buy from now on, just in case.
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Post by icecontroller2529 on Jun 4, 2023 10:56:52 GMT -8
Do you have any experience with freezing food? Is it safe for the gerbils to eat food that had been frozen?
(For humans, I know the basic rule that you should NEVER eat anything that was frozen without heating it up.)
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Post by senoritasalsa on Jun 4, 2023 11:05:10 GMT -8
Yeah, I have been freezing grains occasionaly, whenever I have had issues with flour moths in my bedroom. I have stored them in a freezer for like a week, then let them unfreeze and stored them in a really tight containers. My boys have never seemed to have any problem with such food. I guess it's because the grains are already very dry, so the freezing doesn't affect it.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 5, 2023 3:54:07 GMT -8
Do you have any experience with freezing food? Is it safe for the gerbils to eat food that had been frozen? (For humans, I know the basic rule that you should NEVER eat anything that was frozen without heating it up.) It is safe, as long as the food hasn't been in direct content with any raw meat while in the freezer. I think that rule is more important for moist foods which have been cooked, then cooled and frozen. Moist foods can grow bacteria while cooling which will still be present when it's thawed again. However dry foods like gerbil food don't easily grow bacteria so it's not a problem. I've did have issues with some small beetles once. I'm not sure of the species but they looked a bit like red flour beetles. They shouldn't cause any harm to gerbils. It may not be necessary to change all the bedding as a first resort as they tend to live specifically in food, but you may have to do that as a last resort if you can't get rid of them. I managed to get rid of mine just by replacing the food and killing the beetles as I saw them. |
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Post by icecontroller2529 on Jun 5, 2023 5:44:55 GMT -8
Do you have any experience with freezing food? Is it safe for the gerbils to eat food that had been frozen? (For humans, I know the basic rule that you should NEVER eat anything that was frozen without heating it up.) It is safe, as long as the food hasn't been in direct content with any raw meat while in the freezer. I think that rule is more important for moist foods which have been cooked, then cooled and frozen. Moist foods can grow bacteria while cooling which will still be present when it's thawed again. However dry foods like gerbil food don't easily grow bacteria so it's not a problem. Thanks for the info, Lily&Daisy. How exactly should it be frozen? In an extra plastic bag to avoid any contamination? |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 5, 2023 9:01:13 GMT -8
It is safe, as long as the food hasn't been in direct content with any raw meat while in the freezer. I think that rule is more important for moist foods which have been cooked, then cooled and frozen. Moist foods can grow bacteria while cooling which will still be present when it's thawed again. However dry foods like gerbil food don't easily grow bacteria so it's not a problem. Thanks for the info, Lily&Daisy. How exactly should it be frozen? In an extra plastic bag to avoid any contamination? You don't really need to take any special measures. Assuming the meat itself is in its own bag, the gerbil food should also be fine it its own bag as there are then two layers of plastic between them. |
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