Timeline of Dermestid beetles at work

Choobaine

Arachnobaron
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Oh bigboy, dermestids AND orchids? a man after my own heart ;)

the species I use are absolutely great for cleaning out invertebrates, I have a nice little collection of hollowed out bugs, if you keep a close eye on what they're doing it's very possible to have prefectly preserved specimens, but light as air. no mess, no fuss, no smell!*


*I must add the process is quite risky, especially for fragile bugs, but perfectly seethrough Schistocerca makes it all worth it ;)
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
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So, from my experience with these, they fly like mad. How do you keep them from flying out when you remove the lid? Just try and be quick about it?

Really cool pics and info, thanks. :)

--Joe

EDIT: I also meant to ask what you use the colony for. Feeders, I assume?
 
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Widowman10

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So, from my experience with these, they fly like mad. How do you keep them from flying out when you remove the lid? Just try and be quick about it?
depends on the species. the kind i have locally here don't really fly at all, never had one fly away on me. what species do you have?
 

Bigboy

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So, from my experience with these, they fly like mad. How do you keep them from flying out when you remove the lid? Just try and be quick about it?
I also meant to ask what you use the colony for. Feeders, I assume?
From what I've learned, the adults will only fly if the temperature exceeds 80degrees f.
Feeders, oh my no. This is a colony I am raising for the University of Rhode Island's Natural Resource Science Department. They are strictly for the creation of skeletal specimens.
Truth be told, having seen them squished before I'd feel bad for the animal that has to eat one.
 

BeetleflyGuy

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Excellent, and informative post! Any pictures of skeletal preparations, preferrably of anurans?
 

Bigboy

Arachnoprince
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Actually, I haven't prepped any anurans yet. Come to think of it I can't imagine why not. I have a domestic rabbit to prep for them this evening though. I'll see what I can do in the next week or so about getting a frog or a toad maybe from someones freezer.
 

Bigboy

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As promised, though a bit late I'm adding into this thread a quick caresheet for anyone who may be interested in how I keep these beetles.

Dermestes maculatus
The Container
The first thing we need to take into consideration is the size of container to be used and the material it is made out of. For a smaller colony of beetles, say something under 600 you would be best served with a 5gallon all glass aquarium with a screen cover. any colony between 600-3000 will be happily and safely housed within a ten gallon all glass aquarium with again a screen cover. My reasoning for this is simple. In a large container the beetles have to roam too much to find their food. When confined to where their food lies they will eat it faster and will in turn grow faster. I say screen covers because you want to keep the enclosure relatively dry and screens allow for excellent ventilation. When the cage becomes too humid it will begin to smell as various microorganisms take up residence in this little fleshpit/bug box that you have created. Increased humidity also gives rise to the possibility that your colony will become infested with mites. When this happens the only thing to do is start over. That means killing every beetle you have and starting from scratch with "uninfected" beetles in a sterilized new container. The reason I choose glass is because these beetles will chew through everything. I've heard people joke that they will chew through thin metal and the more I see of them the less I believe it to be a joke. They will chew through soft plastics, wood, and eventually hard plastics.

Substrate
I use styrofoam as a substrate. Nothing can grow on it whereas cardboard will harbor mold and the beetles like it just the same. The bore through it, hide in it, and pupate in it as they would cardboard. I keep my colonies on this almost exclusively. I also put several sheets of paper towel down on top of the styrofoam which I place their food on. The paper towel is also useful in holding in some moisture after misting and allows them to drink and maintains a slight background humidity.

Food and Water
For watering I use a spray bottle and lightly mist the colony every few days. They relish water and you will almost never see them as active as after a light misting. I'll say it once more LIGHT MISTING. Never spray them more than will evaporate within 10 hours at most. A wet colony is a smelly and unhealthy colony, neither of which you want in your home I assure you. Food is simple. They do not need meat on the bone. I for the most part give them strips of dried meat either from fresh roadkill I've begun to prep or organ meat such as beef heart that you can get at the grocery store for 80cents a pound. All of the meat you give them should be dried to a jerky-like consistancy. They will gladly eat wet food, but giving them this increases the chance that things will rot before they consume it all, adding to the smell and the chance of things dripping and oozing into the substrate... I dry all food with a heat lamp, the same kind as you would use for a reptile but I've seen it done with desk lamps as well. Some people use dog or cat food in a pinch but I don't for the simple reason that they don't eat it fast enough and it will work its way to the bottom of the substrate where it will grow mold. Keep meat in constant supply because there will be a constant demand for it. The more food you give them the bigger the colony will get. In the absence of food I've watched adults eat the eggs of others and I imagine they would do so happily to small larvae as well.

Temperature/heating
Above 80degrees f. adults will begin to fly. This is a problem because it means that you may start finding them around your home. You may not care, but your significant other, parents, or guests might. If you have any uncured furs, pelts, meats drying, etc, these beetles will find it and begin eating it. Best temps are in the low to mid 70's. Below these temps you will see much less activity from the colony and I would never risk letting them get below 60. I heat them with an under the tank heater which you can find in the reptile section of your local pet store. During the summer you may not even need to plug this in but during the winter I leave mine on constantly.

Lighting
I've kepth beetles in total darkness and in direct sunlight and neither seems to phase them. you will see them scatter if you shine bright light on them but they soon become accustomed to it. I prefer to keep mine in the light simply for the pleasure of seeing them work.

So there is is. Simple and to the point
 
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WhiteyMcFreckle

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Thanks for the care sheet, and for the rest of this thread.

I'm keeping them in the dark for the most part, but I'm thinking of moving them somewhere with steady light. As of now they still kind of scatter when I come in and flip the switch. They seem most active during the morning, and like you said, right after a misting.
 

Bigboy

Arachnoprince
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Thanks for the care sheet, and for the rest of this thread.

I'm keeping them in the dark for the most part, but I'm thinking of moving them somewhere with steady light. As of now they still kind of scatter when I come in and flip the switch. They seem most active during the morning, and like you said, right after a misting.
Never thought I'd see you posting here again Whitey. Give us some pics of that colony one of these days.
 

codykrr

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ok i have the american carrion beatles..and was wondering. a few things.

ok i want to drop a snake in to collect the bones for resin casting. say once they cleared all the meat from the bones. what is the best way to clean any left over particals. and give it a nice white look?
 

Widowman10

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correct me if i'm wrong, but from what i've observed, Necrophila do different work than dermestids. you would probably be better off using derms.
 

RoachGirlRen

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Oh wow. This is most fantastic. I've always wanted to have a bug box, and seeing this only makes me want one more. I'll be saving your tips for when I have my own place and can start up one of my own :)
 

bhoeschcod

Arachnobaron
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I agree with widow man you may not get the same results as dermistids you should use something small[like a mouse]just to be sure the beetles do what you inteanded them to do if they don't then get dermistids they will do the job right you also need a larger amount of larvae and beetles as larvae eat more hence making the skull or snake cleaning faster[they eat off the meat faster as they eat more as larvae.]
 

codykrr

Arachnoking
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well so far they have striped 2 full grown mice in amatter of days. so i dont know if there as good as dermisted(spelling?) beatles but may come close? ok but either way. what would i need to do to make sire all the bones are spic and span clean?
 
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