My Dermestid Colony Updates

[koolkid98]

October 16/09-Day#1-Well as some of you may know i started up a dermestid colony i now have around 10 beetles.I hope the females start breeding soon and lay me some eggies:} Anyway so far i have them in a small kritter keeper with some cardboard and paper towel.I feed them dry cat food and mist them lightly.[seems to disaper in like 2 hours!] I also seem to have no larvae which sucks as i love the larvae and they eat and eat all day long pretty much!
Just gonna keep this as a journal feel free to comment also the reason im not posting pics is because my pictures suck so badly :8o

 

[Finntroll86]

Where did you get your beetles? I know I find one or two of the larval stage in the cricket boxes I buy from the LPS from time to time. Is there a website/dealer/store that sells them, or are they common in your area? I also know that they are in the family Dermestidae, but is there an actual "Dermestid Beetle" following the exact family name or is that just a general term for any of the species? If so do you know what species of Dermestidae are best used for taxidermy(or commonly used in the practice)? Sorry for all the questions, I am curious, and Google doesn't provide accurate or factual answers compared to experienced users IMO.

 

[koolkid98]

I found them in my house as larvae only started with 5 and now i got double in beetles.The common name is larder beetle the latin name is Dermestes Lardarius.Most taxidermists use Dermestes Maculatus.Larder beetles seem to be easy to identify for me anyway thanks i don't think im an expert though LOL but pretty damn close!

 

[Finntroll86]

Lol well more of an expert than I. Thanks for the info!

 

[TheHolyToast]

Hey is this a dermestid beetle? I have a bunch of them living in the sub of my roach colonies.

Is there a use for them as feeders, or they are mostly for taxidermy?

 

[koolkid98]

No i think its a grain beetle type thing and yes you can use em as feeders im not using them for taxidermy i may feed my ants them.

 

[TheHolyToast]

OK. Thx, some body told me they where most likely dermestid, but there is no dead meat in my roach tank, only dried dog food. So grain beetle makes more sense.

 

[koolkid98]

LOL my dermestids eat cat food dry they don't have to eat meat all the time i also feed them hotdogs.

 

[Matt K]

" ~demon" I am pretty sure is also on these boards as " boeshecod" or something like that. He has some...challenges. But keeping a few local dermestids in western Canada is about all he can do due to limitations set by his mother.... despite that I give him kudos for his adept use of internet search engines, which so many seem to not know about....

Dermestids that I am aware of are normally around a 1/4 inch long but can be 3/16ths of an inch up to 3/4 of an inch in size and will eat anything at all. A few different dermestid beetles commonly inhabit roach colonies and seem to have no significant impact on the roaches even in large numbers, despite that they are consuming the same food you feed the roaches; therefore a nuisance in that regard.

 

[koolkid98]

What you have many typos and if your trying to say im the same as that [edit] then your wrong.

 

[Matt K]

What you have many typos and if your trying to say im the same as that [edit] then your wrong.

Please stick to the topic in some way, and if you are going to say I have typos or grammatical errors (which there are none) then you should make sure to edit your post first. Thanks.

 

[koolkid98]

Sorry ill go back onto topic Anyway it seems as if my dermestids are eating their food and i think i may just stick with cat food for a while do they have to have meat to breed or can they still breed without it???