I've got a real problem. I checked my beetles tonight and they are doing great. They are now a fast cleaning machine. There was only one problem...I drape a towel over the skulls to help with the humidity. My bugs are in a terrerium with a mesh screen lid. The glass box is in a plastic bin with insulating foam between the two. I guess the cloth must have been sticking up and kept the lid from sealing all the way. Anyway, a lot of bugs got out. They are outside the glass box, but still in the plastic box which I put the glass box in. So, they aren't technically out, but they aren't where they should be and I would like them back in with the skull. They are hard for me to get out because the foam has lots of crevices. Should I put in some meat to attract them or what? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Return to Gamehead Taxidermy Category Menu
I would put the whole thing someplace cold. Not so cold that it's going to kill them - just enough to make them very lethargic. Most dermestids used for skull cleaning cannot fly under 80 degrees or so... but in this case - you dont even want them to be able to walk.
- Put the whole thing someplace cold to slow them right down.
- Take your enclosure apart so you have access to the foam
- Put the foam into a separate container like a cooler etc.
- Treat that area like a quarantine... open it occasionally (make sure its below 80 degrees so they dont fly out) and remove any bugs that aren't in the foam and return them to their rightful place.
-Maybe break up the foam and remove bugs from one little piece at a time. Then just get new foam.
- When you feel you have gotten most of the bugs out, dispose of the remaining foam in a way that won't allow them access to your home or studio.
Thats how I'd do it just thinking off the top of my head... theres probably other ways of going about it.
If I cool the whole box down and then take it appart, would my whole colony go into hibernation? If so, how long before they become active again? One week? A month? I will probably end up having to do that, but what can I expect as far as them becoming active again?
Thanks,
SD
a vaccuum with a nylon over it. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to take everything apart.
Take and make a sifon container. You can make one with a tube going into a glass jar, and another one with a screen over the end the is stuck into the jar and then attached ot the vacume. this way you can suck up everything and it will just go into the jar. It would have to be a airtight fitting around the jar, but it works great. Actually, the bigger the jar is, the better it works as the wieghted particals and beetles will fall to the bottom and not have a chance ot get sucked up by the other tube, but it works anyway.
I hope this makes sense.