capturing wild dermestids and starting colony?

Submitted by zach on 8/11/04 at 12:11 PM. ( zachmanbyam@cs.com ) 64.12.116.213

i have a coyote skull in a bucket, and there is a million of those black and orange dermestids, i was wondering if i could put them in an aquarium and have them eat the meat off my skulls, so i didnt have to deal w/ maggots?thanks

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i think so

This response submitted by luther on 8/11/04 at 3:50 PM. ( ) 206.74.88.177

I've been researching the bugs on the web,and I don't think it would be too difficult.The only problem I see with them is the smell.For more info just type in dermestid beetles on your favorite search engine.


I started with 50!

This response submitted by Amethyst Taylor / Wolf on 8/11/04 at 8:01 PM. ( Rain4stgem@aol.com or wolfstaxidermy@yahoo.com ) 64.12.116.143

I captured 50 wild dermestids 3 years ago. I now have 2 hot colonies that came from those beetles, one in a ten gallon tank (able to clean a bobcat skeleton in a couple of days) another in a 30 gallon tub (able to clean a ram skeleton in a couple of weeks). Those two are the best of my 5 dermestid colonies. I'd have tons more if I fed them more.

Only problem with wild is they carry mites. You want to keep your wild beetles real dry. Feed them really dried out meat for a few months to kill off extra mites. Then you don't want to mist them with water to much or the mites will bounce back. The only mite problem I ever had was in one of my domestic colonies once.

E-mail me if you have any other questions.
Amethyst / Wolf

www.geocities.com/wolfstaxidermy/index.html


thanksw

This response submitted by zach on 8/13/04 at 11:50 AM. ( ) 205.188.116.144

for the info guys


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