Crickets in the hay

[Dwarf Sparrow]

Picked this out of the hay in Merida’s hutch earlier. Equal parts fascinating and gross, in my opinion:

 

Has anyone else had this? I use the bags of Kaytee timothy hay (can’t wait until we move somewhere that I can store a full bale and stop buying bags of hay every other week )

[Sarita]

I’ve found grasshoppers and other critters in my hay before – it grossed me out but I know that might happen with hay even though it still freaks me out.

[Amys Animals]

Yes, I have found crickets and leaves and such in my hay before… It’s gross and made me not want to give it to the buns but I was told it won’t harm them (just not the crickets or other dead bugs)

[LBJ10]

Perhaps more people’s buns have eaten bugs than they think. Hehe!

Hay is grown outside in soil. Bugs are going to be in there. It’s nature. I wouldn’t worry too much. If you find them, just pick them out.

[Beka27]

What’s that random statistic about PEOPLE?! Don’t people accidentally swallow like 7 spiders a year or something?!

***ick***

But seriously, even if a cricket gets into the hay rack, I assume the bun will eat around it. It’s very gross to think about, but hay IS a living thing!

[Dwarf Sparrow]

Haha. I guess I should clarify- I’m not terribly surprised there was a cricket in there. I just wasn’t expecting a WHOLE cricket.
Beka, I think Merida did eat around it, and that’s the only reason I spotted it.

[LBJ10]

Well, peanut butter can contain up to 30 insect fragments per 100 grams. For chocolate, 60 insect fragments are allowable.

[Beka27]

Oh no, LBJ.

I love both chocolate AND peanut butter… :o/

[Dwarf Sparrow]

Mmm, delicious ;P

 

Don’t they also coat apples with ground up bug bits to give them a nice shine? (and it’s “organic”!)

 

Because I’m just full of random today: 

Insect bits from the shale I studied for my masters! The amber brownish color is the insect bits. The blue line is epoxy (glue) in a fracture in the rock. (This is a picture of a thin section under a microscope; the brown bits are a few mm long.) These little bugs would be late Permian in age, so… around 250 million years?

[Deleted User]

I’ve found several in my hay before. The boys tell me about the bugs. They’ll stomp like mad and fling it out of their cage. It always seems to be that they end up with the crickets in their hay. -.-

On the number of bugs per chocolate. I’m actually allergic to chocolate because of the bugs. =p

Dwarf Sparrow that’s just crazy! I’m glad I wash all my fruit with vinegar/water.

[LBJ10]

Dwarf Sparrow – Oh that’s neat! Was this for a thesis?

They say that the actual content is more like 10% of what the allowable limit is. Others argue that it is more like 40%. Either way, it does seem like a lot of bug parts.

[Dwarf Sparrow]

Skipper’s Mama- that’s too funny that your buns don’t like the bugs, either. I wonder what Merida thought of the hay stowaway…

LBJ- yup! Masters thesis. Unfortunately the critters only got a sentence or two haha

[LittlePuffyTail]

I find those in my Oxbow Timothy occasionally. I am in the habit of putting handfuls of hay in a bin and checking it before feeding it to my buns (I’ve also found baler twine and feathers so I think it’s a good idea to give it a quick go-over first). Once, however, I missed a big cricket and I found it in Olivia’s bed. She must have thought it was very nice to bring it in her bed since that’s where she puts any new toys or exciting treats.

[NuggetBuns]

I haven’t found any bugs yet but I have been seeing a lot of crickets hopping around our apartment. They freak me out, so I really hope I don’t come across a dead one while topping off their hay. Nugget doesn’t even notice bugs, so I can’t count on him to kill them for me. Sigh.

[Dymii]

I’ve got “All Living Things” timothy hay, Kaytee Alfalfa hay, and oxbow oat hay. (Don’t worry, we do alfalfa very sparingly)
I’ve never found bugs in any of these.. though now I’m certainly going to be looking! The idea had never even occurred to me!

[Author]

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