Are grain weevils harmful?

[Pastacat]

Yesterday, when I was making chew sticks for Topaç, a tiny black insect crawled out of the mass of seed and grain, which I think was a weevil. I researched about them online and there were conflicting reports about whether they are harmful or not. A lot of the reports say they are harmless, but I saw a source saying that they ruin the nutritional value of the mix and can give hamsters nutritional deficiencies and a lot of the articles mentioning them say to get rid of the seed mix and buy new. I wanted to ask here on what to do. If they really do ruin the nutritional value, I am going to give the mix to the wild birds and buy a new package from the pet store.

 

[Maz]

While grain weevils wouldn't harm your hamster directly and could even be eaten by him, yes they will lay eggs and a lot hatch out and they can hollow out seeds destroying the nutritional value.

So unfortunately yes, I would throw it out. If you get a new bag, then put it in the freezer for a week before using as that should kill any bugs and eggs. If needing to use it straight away you can just take a spoonful out daily while it lives in the freezer, and let that defrost for the day's ration.

Sorry you've had this. Is this his main food mix?

 

[Pastacat]

While grain weevils wouldn't harm your hamster directly and could even be eaten by him, yes they will lay eggs and a lot hatch out and they can hollow out seeds destroying the nutritional value.

So unfortunately yes, I would throw it out. If you get a new bag, then put it in the freezer for a week before using as that should kill any bugs and eggs. If needing to use it straight away you can just take a spoonful out daily while it lives in the freezer, and let that defrost for the day's ration.

Sorry you've had this. Is this his main food mix?

I'll feed it to the wild birds then. I didn't think of taking some out of the freezer each day to feed it to him. Would keeping the new mix in a sealed container be okay or would it need to be kept in the packet?
Also, yes it's his main food mix. I also feed him a quail egg once or twice a week and a piece of vegetable every other day and a piece or fruit once a week, but the seed mix is almost all of his food.

 

[Maz]

I put the packet in the freezer for a week, then take it out and when it's defrosted (it defrosts very quickly - maybe an hour or two), I tip that into a sealed container. I only suggested taking a spoonful a day out of the freezer for that week the bag is in the freezer As you probably wouldn't have any to give him otherwise.