Does any one know just how fast a beetle colony can clean a skull, say a bear or a deer with antlers. Seems like my skulls were cleaned and returned rather fast compared to my experiences with another company. Just tring to figure if they were boling or some short cut way of doing with the bugs that may not be as good. Thanks
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Depends largely on how 'hot' the colony is. That is - how hungry the larvae are, how many larvae there are and at what 'instar' or growth phase the larvae are in. It will aslo depend on the state of the flesh and the amount of prep work done on the skull. If the flesh is at just the right humidity, it makes it more attractive to the larvae and more will feed and feed more actively.
To sum this up for you - if all the conditions are perfect - a bear or deer skull can be cleaned in as little as over night but an average for a good hot colony and good prep work is about 2-3 days plus degreasing and whitenning etc. Smaller colonies may take a week or so.
Also keep in mind that the amount of actual business the people doing it has will affect overall turn around time. I was giving info on actual working time. If they are busy with lots of orders it may take days or weeks before they even begin your piece. It could just be that the people that did this particular bit of work for you wasn't busy and had no backlog to work through before getting to your piece.
As with all aspects of taxidermy, osteological preparation, molding, etc; there are many things that can affect overall turn around time and doesn't necessary reflect the quality of the work itself =) Hope that helps set your mind at ease somewhat...
Thanks for the direct and honest answer, I was just afraid I might have got took some way.Jusy never knew they could be cleaned in a few days, Thanks again
Glad to help =)