# Raising Dermestid



## krtrman (Nov 24, 2006)

okay...so i tried the search function and got nothing useful.

my questions are: anyone here raise dermestid beetles?

what do you feed them?

Substrate?

any other useful info will be appreciated.


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## Crotalus (Nov 24, 2006)

http://www.drwhitey.com/Skulls/dermestid.htm


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## lucanidae (Nov 24, 2006)

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=80580

In this thread are some good tips on how to raise/utilize dermestids.

You can feed them dry lunch meats, dog food, fresh dried meat..... dead crickets, and number of things.

Substrate should be some ripped up cardboard which will eventually become covered in frass, this is all you need.


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## Bigboy (Jan 31, 2008)

My department just got a couple dozen beetles in today and gave them to me to start up.  I'm so psyched.  They're working on a mouse ribcage as we speak.


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## Choobaine (Feb 1, 2008)

Well I have three dermestid colonies at the moment. I started from 25 in little cricket boxes and have over 500 now (the most impressive thing is most of mine had to be thrown out not that long ago because of mites and had barely any left and look at me now!). I have one colony to clean cricket tanks, one colony to clean the locust tank (which has the most) and one for meat. 

They are pretty easy to keep, as long as it's warm, plenty of food they will breed a lot. I keep them on the weird wood shaving soft stuff that comes with the locusts for about a year now, sometimes I drop some meat in but generally they eat whatever dead feeders are in there. 

There is one BRILLIANT thing about Dermestids. Complain about Crickets smelling? Put dermestids in, no smell. That's why I love those little things!

Keep a lid on them, they fly. Enjoy! They are gorgeous little creatures.

I've been meaning to ask, if I put a picture up of mine can we all confirm if we have the same species and what it is? I have had such trouble identifying them.


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## Bigboy (Feb 1, 2008)

I like the idea of using them as feeder cleaners.  What temp would you say you keep yours at?  And certainly, post a picture, the more pics the merrier.  Once I get my camera up and running again I'll post some pics of them at work.


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## Choobaine (Feb 1, 2008)

I keep 'em at the same temp I used to breed locusts at, roughly 90f most the time. They will breed with less heat too but the more the merrier it seems. These things have got out and bred at room temperature too so it's no concern really, it's just the speed it affects.


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## Bigboy (Feb 4, 2008)

I put them onto a heat pad and observed one adult seemingly depositing eggs into the corrugation of the cardboard I'm using as medium.  She seemed to be feeling about with her ovipositor.  Is this true laying behavior or something different?


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## kitty_b (Feb 4, 2008)

i wonder if a colony could thrive in a (not working) chest freezer in a garage. :?


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## Choobaine (Feb 5, 2008)

As gross as this is, I left a chicken leg in my cupboard and it dried out, I found a small colony growing in it. They can live in ANYTHING. Though I don't know if I'd put them in a freezer because of chemicals? Mine has no effect on Food but Flo's changes the texture of food so I wouldn't take the risk.


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## Bigboy (Feb 5, 2008)

Well, they were breeding all right.  I have newly hatched larvae eating some dead B. dubia and mouse parts with the big boys right now.


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## CustomNature (Feb 6, 2008)

From what I've heard, that carefresh bedding is some of the best substrate you can use for them.  Though, I'm sure torn up cardboard would work just fine.  Also, alot of ventilation is required.  If it gets humid/damp, bacteria and mites come in waves whipping out the colony.  Keep these buggers dry.


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## Thrasher (Feb 6, 2008)

I was reading somewhere saying that the colony can create some major smell. Is it true? after reading all these, I would love to have a colony started, whats the best way to keep the smell away? I have dead mices and small roadkills everywhere in my living area....

Thank you


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## Bigboy (Feb 6, 2008)

So far on only freshly killed roaches, cut/skinned feeder mice these things have been going nuts breeding.  I put them into a small container with a few air holes in the top.  The bottom has a few wood shavings in it from the container they came in (I'll be getting rid of it with the next container upgrade) and stacked cardboard.  No smell, dried droppings and eggs and new hatchlings by the day.  All my females are constantly probing right now for new places to put their eggs.    It is amazing.  Not even two weeks and the population size in that container has at least doubled.


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