# Bugs in rice??



## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Alright. Here's a question I never thought I would have to ask. I went to go cook with rice and found little bugs in it. They kind of look like white mealworms. They are thriving in the container! Lol. Can't even keep my regular meal worms alive. 

Can I feed the bugs to the hedgehogs?

There is nothing in my house that is poisonous. I'm pretty sure they come from the rice itself. It's brown rice if that makes a difference.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Or it came from when the rice was packaged.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Yeah. Possibly that as well. No longer have original packaging. It's been in a glass container in my pantry for months now. Actually over a year.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Whenever I've heard of dry packaged goods like that getting bugs I've heard people refer to the bugs as weevils. Still no idea if they're good to feed (or if that's even what they actually are!), but maybe it's a starting place?


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

The weevil larva look bigger/fatter than these guys. Lemme see if I can find a picture of the larva.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

http://f.a7.org/Resizer.ashx?source=albums&image=31675&a=470&b=950

Looks like this.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Or some type of moth larvae? We shall name them rice crispy critters


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Those look like meal worms. Meal worm eggs are in a lot of the grains (rice, flour, pasta, oatmeal) that we buy in stores. A way to stop this is to put the food in the freezer if you plan on keeping it a long time. They should be fine to feed.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Just found that out about the freezing. Have my new flour and rice in the freezer now. 

Awesome. I'll let them get a little bigger and feed them off. At least some body gets to enjoy the outcome.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Looks like a pantry moth larvae to me. AKA grain moth, flour moth, cereal moth, etc etc..

https://www.google.com/search?q=pan...a=X&ei=r8-bVYu5K6XXywPXn6voCg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

Absolutely nasty creatures to get rid of once you have an infestation. If you see any moths at all, you will need to watch any food, even those you think are sealed up for larvae. Watch for any webbing... webbing means larvae have been there.

I've seen some chameleon people say they will feed pantry moth larvae. So its quite possible they are safe for hedgehogs, but I have never researched it as a possibility for a hedgehog, so recommend doing more research first.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Thank you! There is webbing in the rice now that I look at it. I've checked the pantry and this is the only place I have seen them. I'm freezing the rest of the food that may contain any eggs. I'll do my research now that I have an idea of what they are.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Good luck! Hopefully you caught them before they got out of the container. I absolutely hate those creatures. We had an infestation once from an infested bag of bird seed. It took ages to get it under control. What started out as just a couple of moths ended up with a lot of food being thrown away, and a 10+ year old mealworm colony having to be destroyed. They were tough to get under control as they seem to have the ability to get into things you never thought possible!


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

Yes, the horrible pantry moths.

There is a solution--there is a pheromone available that attracts them and traps them. It will get rid of the new ones, but you still have to get rid of everything that they have infested. Since it isn't a poison, it's safe to use around food and animals (and kids). 

You can sometimes find them in the grocery store near the flour or in the housewares dept. They work quite well.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Or there is traps available. Bird supply catalogs carry them. I don't know if they work or not though as I religiously freeze my bird seed, pellets, treats, and some of their toys. 
*i have birds I swear I'm not feeding bird food to hedgehogs*


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Thank you. I'm hoping I caught everything in time. They are interesting to watch, building webs a lot. We have a lot of moths in this area so it would be hard to know if they were from the rice or from something else but everything in the pantry is now being frozen. 

I will check out those traps asap. I would hate to lose all this produce.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

These are the traps I was referring to. If the link doesn't work, 
go to drsfostersmith.com
Click on birds
Click on pest control
Ta-da your there

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/bird-supplies/insect-control-traps/ps/c/5059/20783


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