Best source of rotted wood

[IndiTheBull]

Hey, I have a few flower beetles and some sun beetles with a mind to try and breed them for some friends and family who like creepy crawlies. I keep them on a mix of rotted leaf/wood but find it incredibly expensive to source. Does anyone have any secret sources for wood/leaf or any idea what kind of woods are best to compost down into rotted wood/leaf?

 

[IndiTheBull]

To clarify, I'm UK based.

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

Oak tends to work very well, and you can peel it right off of your local trees. You may want to bake it to get rid of any pesticides, but Oak is probably your safest bet.

 

[The Snark]

In the UK work the hedge rows.

 

[Hisserdude]

Oak tends to work very well, and you can peel it right off of your local trees. You may want to bake it to get rid of any pesticides, but Oak is probably your safest bet.

Are you thinking of bark? 'Cause while that can be easy to obtain, it is basically inedible, at least to flower beetle larvae.

To the OP, are there any forests around you where you can find rotten logs? If not, buying sawdust pellets used for grilling and fermenting those is a good way of getting rotten wood.

 

[Ratmosphere]