# Dermestid Beetles, is there any interest?



## Mendi (Apr 16, 2008)

I've got quite a growing colony of dermestids cleeaning some skulls and a couple small frog skeletons. It is really amazing to watch these little bugs dig into their job, literally. I was wanting to check with my fellow AB members to see if there is any interest for starting a colony of your own. I bought 100+ and now in just a hair over 3 months, have likely 2500+. I've also checked the internet and eBay for them and found that they are both rather close in price range


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## apidaeman (Apr 16, 2008)

Yes, I had a guy ask me last fall if I could get any for he to clean boar skull and other things. I will have to get back with you to see if he still wants them I am sure he does.


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## Scolopendra55 (Apr 16, 2008)

I'd may be interested   How much would 100 cost?


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## Xaranx (Apr 16, 2008)

I might be too, can they climb glass/plastic?  Might be cool to have some in my roach/cricket bins to keep it clean.  Maybe strip a skull for me so I can use it in a scorpion tank.


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## Mendi (Apr 16, 2008)

They can't climb glass or plasic, but if using an old aquarium you might want to make sure that there is no silicone they can climb. I keep mine in a sweetbox. On cut up cardboard


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## Mendi (Apr 16, 2008)

They can't climb glass or plasic, but if using an old aquarium you might want to make sure that there is no silicone they can climb. I keep mine in a sweetbox. On cut up cardboard

The First 2 pics are my current project, a badger

The 3rd pic is a muskrat and raccoon


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## Mendi (Apr 16, 2008)

Oh, they do have wings but I've never yet seen them use them. I believe they would really have to be desperate to fly anywhere


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## apidaeman (Apr 16, 2008)

Mendi said:


> Oh, they do have wings but I've never yet seen them use them. I believe they would really have to be desperate to fly anywhere


I think in the wild they use them to get to decaying corpses. No need to fly anywhere, if they are where the food is.


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## Mendi (Apr 16, 2008)

Scolopendra55 said:


> I'd may be interested   How much would 100 cost?


Groups of 100+ ship included $40
Groups of 100+ @ $30 +sh usps priority

Also included will be a general care sheet and some of the frass which very likely has eggs in it.


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## Mendi (Apr 16, 2008)

apidaeman said:


> I think in the wild they use them to get to decaying corpses. No need to fly anywhere, if they are where the food is.


They know from birth where the food is, and when you add something fresh the gravitate towards it. But if you want to keep the smell down, gut the animal, and leave mostly meat. And if doing somwthing like a full rat skeleton you will need to keep the sections seperate so you won't have so much trouble figuring out where this and that bone goes.

I am rather lucky I know plenty of hunters and trappers, but I'm not above stopping and picking up road kill


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## dtknow (Apr 16, 2008)

Just a heads up to anyone who gets them...make darned sure they stay contained. They can be pests and will eat just about anything. Could make carpet beetles look like chump change.

I'd love to try this in the future for any amphibian losses I have. What are the smallest skeletons they can do? I'm guessing at a certain size you'd be better off simply burying the body and waiting a few weeks.


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## kingfarvito (Apr 16, 2008)

good luck moving these i tried to sell them for 240 for $15 and almost no one from AB ordered any


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## Choobaine (Apr 16, 2008)

Hah! I breed them but I need to top up my numbers at some point, I have a different beetle species that has taken over their role and I've got thousands of those. 

They can fly, and will with no problem if you spook them too much. 

They are VERY fun to keep and very active beetles too! I'm setting up a new tank to revive my dermestid numbers  I've got so many of a very similar looking beetle but with no fuzz and smoother larvae. Not sure what they are but I'll find out eventually. 

You can use 'em to clean most things but the smaller the thing is the more chance of them dragging the bones around the place. It will be a game of find the complete skeleton after a while, but it's not impossible, of course.


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