Keep Your Pet Food from Becoming Pest Food
The types of pests that can be drawn in by pet food are too many to count. Depending on where you live, the kind of food you purchase, and how your pet's food was transported and stored before purchase.
To get an idea of some potential problems, let’s look at some of the common pests that target pet food:
- Warehouse Beetles: These insects might be from around your home environment but more often hitch a ride from the factory or pet store. They can chew through protective wrappings, cause allergic reactions, and reproduce quickly.
- Ants: Ants lack the ability to get into most properly stored food but will swarm an open and available food source. They won’t harm your pet if ingested, but they can be a pain to remove once they find a way in and a food source.
- Rodents: Mice and rats are the larger furry combination of ants and beetles. They can gain access to sealed bags and will make a home infestation if they find easy access to food.
As you can see, some pest problems start at the production source; others invade from your own home’s surrounding environment. Many common pests will take advantage of poorly stored food or unprotected pets. No matter the source or type, you can take some practical steps to keep your pet food from becoming pest food.
1. Check Your Pets Food When Purchased
At the store or as soon as you have a shipped item, check the packaging. If you notice any holes or breaks in seals, that is a sign pests have had the opportunity to set up shop. Just like you wouldn’t buy food with a safety seal broken for yourself, the same goes for pets.
Even if the bag looks intact, pests can still have found a way inside at the factory before the packaging occurred. When you get a new bag of food, open it up and look for any signs of pests.
You aren’t just looking for the pest itself. Keep an eye out for molted skins, larvae, or webbing.
2. Store It Tightly
Once you have inspected the product and are confident it didn’t come with a pest problem, ensure you have it stored correctly. For the best deterrence, make sure it is in a dry, clean environment, and for best results, you may want to invest in a hard plastic container that air-seals.
This will keep rodents and insects that can chew through packaging away and cut down on odors that might draw them in.
3. Use What You Have
Buying in bulk can be tempting. It saves trips to the store and often some money.
But you may be incubating a pest problem if you are storing pet food for more than thirty days. Keep your pet's food fresh and rotating on at least a monthly cycle. If you do need to buy in bulk, freezing the excess until use can keep it fresh and pest free.
Use what you have opened completely before storing a new bag. Mixing old and new keeps stale food around longer than it needs to be, and if larvae or dormant beetles are present, it gives them a chance to multiply into fresh, clean food.
4. Sanitize Pet Food Storage
When you switch out a new bag of food in storage, take a few minutes to lightly sanitize both the container and the area around where it sits. A light vinegar and water solution is enough to help eliminate pests, clean up food residue, and remove tempting smells.
5. Keep a Clean Feeding Area
Pets can be messy eaters. Make sure to routinely clean up dry and wet food spills around their eating area.
Cleaning will significantly help keep ants, rodents, or flying pests from congregating in your home. Clean the same way you sanitize the pet food storage.
6. Don’t Let Food Sit Exposed
While dry food attracts pests slower than wet, it is best to keep any food sitting out for no more than thirty minutes. This goes for indoor pets and especially for those fed outdoors where other larger and more dangerous animals may come to investigate sitting food.
7. Get Help With Repeat Infestations
If you have implemented both clean storage and eating environments and are still having issues with pests getting into your pet's food, you may have an infestation elsewhere in your home. Even the best-laid plans can leave behind survivors. It just means you may need a little more help to get rid of them.
Call a local pest control service. They can look at your home to find the source of your pest problem and recommend solutions.
Pest Cleanup and Prevention
Preventing an infestation before it starts is always the optimal solution. But sometimes, stubborn pests find a way despite our best efforts.
When it comes to dealing with pests around pet food, you want to select a pest control company that will take an environmentally friendly approach to eradication. Harsh chemicals can deal with pests quickly but can leave behind residue that is dangerous to pet health.
Our expert team Rid-A-Bug Exterminating has the experience and knowledge required to prevent and treat pests safely and effectively around your home and pets. Based in Wilkes County, NC, we can be on-site within 24 hours throughout our service area.
If you have noticed repeated problems with insects or wildlife around your pet's food storage or eating areas, give us a call or contact us online. We can help take care of the issue before it becomes a significant problem.