How To Keep Bugs Out Of Dog Food
Then, y'all demand to go rid of bugs in your canis familiaris food.
In this commodity, nosotros'll encompass:
- Mutual bugs found in domestic dog nutrient (weevils)
- How to go rid of beetles, worms, ants, etc.
- Ways to protect your dog food from pests
- How to shop canis familiaris food
- And more than
You lot'll have everything yous need to know past the end of this page.
Sound good? Let's never bargain with pests in Fido's bowl again.
Practise bugs eat domestic dog food?
Yep, bugs consume canis familiaris food.
The nutrient y'all buy for your dog has a lot of nutrients, vitamins, carbs, and protein which attracts a host of pests like beetles, weevils, and flies.
Well-nigh bugs will swallow and deposit eggs in both dry and wet dog nutrient, so it's extremely critical that you store the food properly.
This is the just possible mode to protect information technology from pests that are practical.
Why does dry canis familiaris food get bugs?
The bugs are afterward the variety of proteins, sugars, and other nutrients found in the dry, processed dog nutrient.
Think about it:
If you left cookies out overnight, wouldn't it attract bugs?
How about crackers?
Or processed?
All of those are "dry out" and are loaded with carbs and other essential nutrients. Canis familiaris food is no exception.
Bugs don't fifty-fifty recognize food as "human" or "dog" food- they just come across information technology as nutrient that'southward edible and has the stuff they need to survive.
What are the bugs in my canis familiaris nutrient?
At that place are many unlike bugs that'll eat dog food depending on what species are native to your surface area.
Common pests include beetles, worms, flies, weevils, and ants. You may see varying bugs that change with the season and temperatures.
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Where do the bugs in canis familiaris food come up from?
Worms and maggots come from flying pests, such as Indian meal moths. Beetles and weevils are as well common and come from outdoors or directly from an infested bag.
There are ii principal entry points for these pests.
Outdoors
If your kitchen, basement, garage, or wherever you store your dog food isn't completely secure, this allows outdoor bugs to infest the purse.
Almost people keep their dog food in the kitchen or basement, which are rarely completely safe from outdoor bugs!
Things similar cracks in patio doors, windows, nether door frames, and even within the home'southward foundation are all entry points.
Sometimes pests can make their mode to your kitchen through the screen windows!
Unless your kitchen is completely secure, there'south no real style to forbid bugs from eating your dog nutrient.
From the factory
Aye, domestic dog food factories can be a source of pests equally they're non always 100% clean.
You may likewise see flour weevils, warehouse beetles, and more.
Because in that location are hundreds of dog nutrient brands, it'southward difficult to appraise which are clean or dirty. Even third-parties that are storage facilities for pet food tin be a source of pests earlier it reaches the consumer (you).
Mutual bugs institute in dog food
The nearly common pests you'll observe eating your dog'south food are copra beetles, pantry moths, drugstore beetles, ants, grain weevils, flour weevils, worms, and other flying pests.
We'll cover how to become rid of each other using calm remedies and then you lot tin restore your dog'southward appetite.
Though, he probably doesn't mind munching on a few bugs here and there (rarely do bugs harm your domestic dog from beingness eaten).
Copra beetles in dog nutrient
Copra beetles are a prevalent pest that's frequently found in dry out pet food.
They're as well known every bit the Red-Legged Ham Beetle or just Ham Beetle.
They attack both dog and cat food and are also establish in small animal feed. The copra beetle is also called the carmine-legged ham beetle and has a distinct metallic blue appearance.
They're about iii-7mm in length and are unremarkably blue, light-green, or whatsoever other combination of the two.
Appearance
They have ii antennae that are distinguishable from the residual of the body. There are also 3 segments: the abdomen, thorax, and caput. Copra beetles have 6 limbs that are tan or black in colour.
Copra beetles are a lot larger than carpet beetles and a bit larger than cigarette beetles, both of which are common household beetles you may have seen, for comparison'due south sake.
You'll frequently find these beetles in your domestic dog food deep under the superlative surface. They may migrate from your pet nutrient to other kitchen edibles like dried meats, fish meal, os repast, crackers, and domestic dog treats.
These pests are difficult to control every bit they take a difficult and protective crush to defend against predators.
They also like to use the nutrient they eat as a encompass from attack. Because of their exoskeleton, they're difficult to squish and are resistant to beingness squished and other predators.
How to get rid of copra beetles
The best way to get rid of these beetles is to only dispose of the production. Since these beetles are so hard to kill and control, you may better off just ownership a new pack of domestic dog food and practice skillful storage measures.
The beetles breed, lay eggs, and will too migrate to other nearby nutrient sources.
Yous'll desire to go rid of them ASAP and treating your dog food with chemicals or even DIY sprays may not be safe for your dog.
Thus, you should use the best course of action and eat the price of the food. Next time, store the food correctly to forestall carpet beetles!
If you really want to save the food, you lot can endeavour to manually remove the pesky beetles if the infestation isn't huge.
But this really isn't applied considering they lay eggs and also are very difficult to fully eradicate.
Use a plastic handbag and sunlight
Yous can utilise sunlight by placing your dog food outdoors on a hot day. Get a plastic trash handbag and fill it upwards with the infested canis familiaris food. Spread out the food so it lays out into a unmarried layer.
And then place the bag into the sunlight. The heat will kill the copra beetles if it gets hot enough. Because the oxygen levels are restricted, this blocks them from being able to receive the oxygen they need.
And the heat in the bag volition eventually overheat them. Every single piece of kibble should exist fully encased in sunlight. Leave information technology out for one whole mean solar day and collect it at night.
Don't exit information technology out overnight. This will just allow bugs to eolith eggs or swallow up the food.
Note that this method can easily spoil the food because of the sunlight. Y'all should just utilize modest portions that you plan to feed the next day.
Don't use the entire pocketbook or else y'all'll spoil the unabridged thing. The point of this is to use the power of UV to impale or deter the bugs AND prevent other bugs from eating the dog food by using the plastic by sterilization.
Dog food should exist kept dry and cold, then this will facilitate spoilage. You can do this before every meal in small-scale batches as you work your way through the package of morsels.
Don't use the whole bundle unless it's the dog's last meal from that pack.
Worms in dog nutrient
Worms are the larvae class of moths.
This comes from diverse pets that have found their way to your handbag of canis familiaris food, probably from outdoors or straight from the manufactory. Weevils are worms when they're withal larvae, but volition spin a cocoon and emerge as a moth.
If y'all have worms, you probably also have moths.
The most mutual types found in dog food are grain weevils (sawtooth) or flour weevils. Both of these eat dry processed foods and dog food is usually loftier in vitamins and nutrients, so it'south no surprise they're all over it (literally!).
Don't underestimate weevils- they can eat upward a bag of dog nutrient faster than yous can say "fetch!"
Thankfully, they're not harmful. The worms you lot come across are somewhen going to turn into moths.
But for now, they'll crawl around and feed on the food. Eventually, they'll pupate in a dark corner somewhere or on the edge of your purse.
Take you lot always opened a bag of quondam domestic dog food and found remnants of cocoons all over the edges of the packet? Those are weevils.
What causes worms in dog food?
The worms come from adult moths, such as pantry moths or Indian repast moths.
Sawtooth weevils and flour weevils are the larval grade and are worm-like pests.
They also spin web-like threads that will exist found all over the food. They tin can easily eat foods in your kitchen like rice, grains, pasta, oatmeal, and other dry out grains.
There are over 60,000 different types and some are more "worm-like" than others. But almost dog foods are definitely not safe from weevils, especially how the typical dog owner stores their food!
To get rid of the worms, you demand to get rid of the adult moths.
Here's a guide for eliminating pantry moths.
In essence, you'll desire to:
- Utilise sunlight to impale the worms only using batches you'll feed that 24-hour interval
- Feed minor proteins that have been sterilized from the sun
- Set up sticky traps around your kitchen to catch escapees
- Freeze the product for iii days kills larvae
- Dispose of the remaining product that you tin can't salvage or store
Grain mites in dog food
These are too considered "weevils" and are part of the aforementioned problem- pests!
Weevils are small pests. They're hard to see because of size equally the only span about 1/10 of an inch and are hiding in dry foods.
Other than dog nutrient, you may discover grain weevils in cereals, flour, oats, and other pantry foods. These bugs will speedily eat up a food source as they multiply apace.
An adult female person lays a few hundred eggs each time and they tin quickly reach sexual maturity to repeat the cycle.
Considering weevils are minor, this allows them to enter areas like food packaging, cereal boxes, and dog food numberless.
Can grain weevils make dogs sick?
Grain mites are not harmful to dogs.
If your dog eats a grain weevil, they're non known to harm the dog. These are no poisons, not toxic, and don't seize with teeth or sting.
Even so, large quantities of weevils may crusade some reactions in your dog depending on its size. Smaller dogs will react to eating weevils in a negative style every bit information technology overwhelms their organization. Larger dogs tin handle a lot more.
Merely that doesn't mean you should be feeding them food that has weevils as this encourages bacteria and fungus, which will harm your pet. So you need to get rid of the grain weevils quickly by disposing of the infested nutrient.
Don't try to salvage it. The eggs and hidden nymphs will just stick to the food $.25. Throw information technology out and buy a new bag. But this time, use the proper canis familiaris food storage technique.
Grain weevil in canis familiaris treats
Yous may likewise find grain weevils in your dog treats.
This is no different than finding in your canis familiaris nutrient. Since treats are dry and processed, they offer plentiful diet and carbs (sugar) for the weevils.
And so it should be no surprise that they appear. They may besides accept entered from the outdoors or came from the food directly.
How do you get rid of weevils?
Y'all can use the sunlight method (put small-scale portions of the dog food/treats in the sun) to suffocate a lot of the weevils.
Sadly, at that place's no way to completely become rid of them without altering the taste of the domestic dog food. You should dispose of the residuum and brand sure you practice condom storage methods for your adjacent batch.
Here'due south a post I wrote about managing weevils in food. You can employ the same practices to dog food.
Flour weevils
These weevils are ordinarily found in rice, powder, and flour. They are night in color and look like tiny ants.
Each weevil is nigh half the size of a rice grain, so they're pretty piece of cake to spot especially confronting a white rice groundwork. Each adult female has the capability of laying upward to 500 eggs on boilerplate, so they're no joke.
They kickoff out and brand their way into your domicile through infested products from the store. This tin can and then allow these pests to find their way to your canis familiaris nutrient.
Are weevils harmful to dogs?
Similar to grain beetles, they're just going to just eat the dog kibble and goose egg else. But they can still be a nuisance to see itch all over your dog'south food.
I'd suggest just ignoring them as they're harmless to both pets and humans. But if you have a lot of them, be sure to store your food securely next time. Remove as much of the weevils as you lot tin.
You lot can also dump out the top layer of kibble, every bit they usually hang out right at the surface. Likewise, consider putting the dog kibble under the sunlight on a hot 24-hour interval.
This scares them off and tin be a quick way to repel a agglomeration of weevils simultaneously.
Ants
Ants are a given. Any kind of food that is bachelor to them will be eaten, especially sweets or carb-loaded dog food.
The common house ant is a pest that'll form its ant trail to your canis familiaris food or treats and soon y'all'll exist seeing that familiar stream of ants.
You probably already accept a bunch of DIY home remedies to get rid of them, merely here are a few quick ones:
Dish detergent
Y'all can make your own quick and easy dish soap to impale ants at dwelling.
Add together 8 drops of Dawn dish soap to 1 cup of water. Give it a swirl and so use information technology to spray the ants. This volition kill upon contact.
Of course, don't get it into the dog food. Only use it to cease the trail of ants.
Vacuum
You tin use a shop vac or standing vacuum to suck up any ants crawling out your dog's food bowl. This makes it easy to control them and quickly get rid of the ant trail.
Keep the feeding area clean
After your dog eats, you should ever clean up whatsoever mess and never leave food in the bowl overnight. Avert free feeding when possible equally it's no good for dogs in my opinion.
You lot can wash the basin after the night's over and get all the sticky residue, buildup, and crumbs out of the basin.
This will ensure that no viruses and leaner build up in the bowl. This deters ants, beetles, and weevils from eating up your dog's nutrient bowl.
Brand a dog bowl moat
Y'all can buy or build your ain DIY canis familiaris bowl moat.
Ants and many other pests can't swim, so they'll avert the water and tin't get to your dog'southward bowl.
You can use a shallow pie tin and put the bowl of food in the center. Then fill it upward with h2o around the edges.
The water blocks and prevents any bugs from crossing over to the food. The pie tin should be a few sizes larger than your food bowl.
After you make full-up the outer basin with water, ants will never be able to touch your dog nutrient again!
This also works against many other pests. Only doesn't work on indoor flying pests like meal moths.
Volition ants in dog food hurt the dog?
Ants aren't harmful to your dog and many dogs will actually eat them naturally.
They actually have a fleck of protein and vitamin C and then they're beneficial in small-scale quantities.
Y'all shouldn't TRY to feed your dog ants, but there'southward no need to be worried if it eats a few from its food.
Ants are not toxic and harmless to dogs in minor quantities.
How do I continue bugs out of my dog's water basin?
The absolute best mode to keep bugs away from your canis familiaris'due south water bowl is to make a moat.
This will foreclose many different pests from beingness able to attain the basin such every bit ants, beetles, and spiders.
Flight pests such every bit moths and flies will nevertheless exist able to eat beverage the h2o, but the bulk of crawling pests tin can't.
Some bugs really like humid and wet like silverfish, daddy long legs, and the common centipedes.
This is exactly why you should make a moat to go along them out!
Replace the water daily
Never leave the water out and let information technology go dried.
Y'all can pour out the water left in the bowl and refill it every 24 hours. Give information technology to your indoor succulents or something.
Pour out all of the water, don't merely top it off. This is because concerneth topping off your canis familiaris's water bowl volition go out the sediments and impurities stuck at the bottom of the basin.
You lot want to bicycle it completely on a daily basis and wash information technology at the same time.
This volition preclude many bacteria from developing.
Use stainless steel
This should be pretty obvious, only you should only use stainless steel or metal bowls.
Avoid plastic because plastic has microscopic holes that harbor bacteria. Plastic besides contains harmful residues that may leech over time, especially if you feed your dog in the sun.
Always utilize stainless steel considering there are no areas for bacteria to grow.
Wash the bowl oft
You should always completely rinse the bowl every day.
This will help eliminate harmful bacteria and viruses that are growing slowly in the water.
You can also exit the bowl outdoors in the sunday after yo u rinse it to impale whatever remaining bacteria. This will besides eliminate the bowl from pests.
Avert rubber basin feet
Some stainless steel bowls accept rubber feet for anti-slip measures.
Peel the rubber off as this just harbors a TON of bacteria. This will stink over time and besides allow mold to grow.
You lot don't want to use rubber or plastics well-nigh your nutrient bowls. You can use steel or wood bowl holders as a replacement.
Elevate the bowls and brand a moat
Since nearly pests are crawling on the flooring, you can utilise an elevated food basin holder to reduce the number of pests that have access.
A quick and piece of cake solution that'due south very effective is to apply an elevated basin holder that'south slightly larger than what you demand. Use the two bowls that information technology comes with and buy 2 slightly smaller bowls.
Place the small bowls into the larger bowls.
And then make full the space betwixt the bowls with water.
This volition create an elevated moat and is extremely constructive to go on bugs out. It's one of my top tricks =]. Let me know if y'all try this out.
How practice y'all go on bugs out of dog food?
There are some tips you can practise at home to aid safeguard your dog food. Hither are the quick solutions.
E'er go along information technology cool
You should never identify your dog food in the sun or a hot surface area.
Avoid places that have hot air such every bit heaters or poorly ventilated areas. Keep the domestic dog food under 26C.
Apply closed storage
You should always use an airtight storage container to store your dog food.
This ensures that food stays fresh and that pests can't get into the container. Don't use cheap plastic or regular food containers.
Use an airtight 1 that has a rubber seal effectually the lid.
Or has pressurized clips that snap onto the bottle. This will guarantee that no pests, no matter how small-scale, tin make their fashion to the stored contents.
Use glass or stainless steel containers because these prevent bacteria from growing.
They also help reduce the number of pests who are attracted to these microscopic flora that abound in the dog food.
Only store limited amounts
When you buy a new bag of domestic dog food, don't store all of it at one time. Here'due south a trick: only pour a good corporeality into the closed container.
And then fold up the rest of it slowly to clasp out all the air.
Curlicue upward the top of the bag down and go along rolling down as the bag empties. Then plow the bag upside down and seal information technology on its own weight.
This volition prevent any pests from getting into the bag and will also stop oxygen exchange to continue the nutrient fresh. The next fourth dimension your closed container runs depression, get more from the handbag and transfer.
And echo the procedure as needed. This is to prevent the abiding exposure to air from the original bag.
Since this reduces the number of times you lot have to keep messing the original package, this means less oxygen exposure, which means the nutrient will store better.
Use the airtight container as your primary quick admission to dog food.
And save the handbag for just when you need it. Minimize the constant exposure of the domestic dog food to the air and yous'll preserve the quality of it much longer.
Don't skimp and yous'll be surprised at how long your food lasts when stored like that.
Always use a little at a time and portion fe ed.
Freeze unused portions
You tin freeze domestic dog food if you don't programme to use it for a long fourth dimension.
This will merely affect the texture depending on how long it's been frozen.
Still, if properly stored, there are no worries equally frozen food retains its nutrient limerick. Only the texture and flavor may alter. For picky dogs, this may exist a trouble.
Further reading
Here are some references you lot may notice useful:
- 25 Pet Food Storage Tips – Homes Alive Pets Web log
- Tips on Proper Dog Food Storage – Pet Central
- Tips on How to Store Your Dog or True cat Nutrient Properly | Hill's Pet
Did you lot go rid of the bugs in your dog food?
By now, y'all should accept a practiced foundation for eliminating, decision-making, and managing pests in your dog food.
You should now be able to identify, kill, and prevent future bugs from eating up your puppy'due south food.
Let me know if you accept any questions past posting a comment.
Also, consider telling a friend if you found this page helpful =]!
Cheers for reading.
Currently an active researcher in the pest control industry for the past 8 years- with a focus on using natural and organic methods to eliminate pest bug.
I share handy DIY pest techniques I come beyond here to aid out others (and possibly save them from a mental breakdown).
Fight nature with nature.
Source: https://bugwiz.com/bugs-in-dog-food/
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