Weevils?

[Ablebreeze]

I've noticed if the rabbits don't eat all of their food and it sits waiting for 2ish days, small (weevil?) bugs appear in the food. There's nothing wrong with the food in the bag/buckets, no sign of bugs at all.

Just wondered if anyone else has experienced this.

 

[tambayo]

No, but to prevent pests like mice the rabbits get no more pellets than they'll eat within about 15min. max. Other pellets/cubes are alfalfa, gras, or hay that is just not nearly as attractive to mice or bugs.

 

[Ablebreeze]

I think I figured out what's going on, based on life experience.

All dry goods (grain, pasta, pellets, etc) potentially contain insect eggs (like weevils). If they sit long enough in the right conditions the eggs hatch, and voila, bugs in the food.

The bugs and eggs are SO small, you don't see them unless you look for them and sometimes you still don't see them. It's possible that there are eggs (or bugs) in the dust trapped in the nooks and crannies of the Feeder or cage. So if there's food around they'll get to it. So, it's not really a feed infestation issue, it's that the Feeder has the issue and they get what they want from there.



@tambayo Thank you for your response. I free feed my kits up to 12 weeks. I'm guessing you free feed yours something other than pellets.