Do dermestid beetles damage deer antlers?

Submitted by Alex Binford on 10/30/04 at 1:43 PM. ( reader4000@lycos.com ) 65.229.51.233

If I put a deer head into my dermestid beetle colony, will they damage the antlers?

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No

This response submitted by George on 10/30/04 at 1:59 PM. ( georoof@aol.com ) 205.188.116.133

Dermistids eat protein, not bone.


Actually they can eat bone!

This response submitted by The Taxidermologist on 10/31/04 at 9:09 AM. ( ) 24.3.179.164

They probably could damage antlers that were harvested prior to the hardening off of them - i.e. those still in velvet, but adult antlers should be good.

As far as dermestids eating bone - yest they can. The most at risk bones are those from individual species with very airy bones - owls, nightjars, swallows, etc. or those that are juveniles or those with with weaker bones - juvenile rabbits for instance. Very small animals are also at risk - shrews, mice, ect., where adult dermestids will actually chomp through the braincase.

However, even adult large scale animals can be at risk. I have run adult bear skulls through a colony after the bear heads had been in a freezer for years. Fat from the brain case leaked into the bone on the surface, and after prep the bone evidently was very tasty eating material. That is to say, the surface was completely eaten off. One be ever vigilant in operating a colony - granted it is the BEST way to clean skeletons, but there are always potential pitfalls to watch for.


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