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possible bug in Oxbow hay?
I had to switch away from SmallPetSelect (at least for now until they get their hay from a new farm) and was looking for an alternative. KMS is nice (takes a LONG time for delivery), but I also tried Oxbow (ordered through Chewy). The pigs liked the 9lb bag, so I just ordered a 25 lb box, got it the other day. Well, I was just loading the bin I keep hay in (by their cage) and I "thought" I saw something drop out of it -- it was brown and looked like it could've been a bug (LONG since dead)...if I had to guess, it would be about the size of a shield bug/beetle? But like I said, it was shades of brown and would be long since dead.
Now, I didn't examine it very well (to be honest, I was kinda freaked out, but also in a hurry), so I grabbed it along with the rest of the hay that had fallen on the floor, and placed it in the garbage bag. We have not had ANY bugs show up in hay EVER, and now I'm just freaked out....what would happen if the pigs got a hold of that and ate it?
Since I didn't examine it closely enough, there's actually a chance it wasn't even a bug, just a random clump of dead hay. I'm obviously ticked off at myself for not checking closely enough, but like I said, I had other things going on at the time that needed attention and I just picked it up and threw it out.
So, anyone got any advice? I'd rather not pitch the entire 25 lbs since it just arrived yesterday, however, if that's what would be most prudent, I would do it for the safety of the pigs. Thoughts?
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Administrator
Re: possible bug in Oxbow hay?
Hay harvesting is a highly mechanized process, with almost no human intervention. If a bug is all you find in it, consider yourself very lucky. Fields of hay have mice, deer, birds, bugs, worms and everything else you can thing of in them. Some of them get sucked up with the harvested hay and packaged for consumer consumption. It's not a big deal.
A dead bug won't hurt the guinea pigs. They probably wouldn't even pay any attention to it.
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Re: possible bug in Oxbow hay?
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Cavy Slave
Re: possible bug in Oxbow hay?
I’ve found grasshoppers in mine.
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Cavy Star, Photo Contest Winner
Re: possible bug in Oxbow hay?
Just picked a beetle out. I'm a bit ocd with her, not with me. I pick out the browns and twigs and such and examine it all before it goes in the hay rack. Do it in front of the tv.
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