kitty litter for bug bedding?

I use the bedding that's made for pet rodents, "Critter Care" or "Care Fresh". It's the non-wood kind. I would think "Yesterday's News" cat litter would be ok, but I've never tried it. I wouldn't use the clay kitty litter.

Personally, I would not keep a colony in the house. I've tried allot of different things to fight the smell, activated charcoal, high quality odor eliminators, air fresheners... I can always still smell it. Therefore, the buggies get their own house, well away from mine.

 

I just use a long outdoor extension cord and an energy efficient space heater with thermostat/overheat protection. Heater only cost $15 and it keeps my bug house super toasty without running up a big bill. Might be something for you to look into next year. Good luck with your experiment, hope it works for you.

 

No, but I'll check the brand when I head out to the bug shed later. Bought it at Wal-Mart a few months ago, and I love it. The thermostat makes it so easy to keep the temp consistant, and it puts out a surprising amount of heat for such a little unit.

 

An economical way to keep beetles outdoors is in an old chest freezer. I have several and heat each one with a 60 watt ceramic reptile heater plugged into a thermostat. It easily keeps them at 80 degrees.

 

I have a better and way cheaper way to heat them, also don't buy anybedding ! just shred you some newspaper, add just the amount needed to cover the bottom of the container. The beetles will build a layer of frass, the frass is good for the bugs. should keep it between 1 to 3 inches deep.

 

Vent the freezer to the outside using a computer fan.

 

I have a inline 120 volt duct fan rivited to the side of my tank, that blows out of the bug house through 4 inch piping. I also have a bathroom fart fan running 27-7 in the house also vented out of the bug house. Keeps smell way down, but you can still smell it a bit. Got to get used to it, if you are going to do skull work there is a bit of smell involved.

 

You won't get condensation, just the opposite. The colder it is outside the drier it will be inside the heated colony. You will need to mist the colony every day or two to keep the humidity above 30%. When it's hot outside I keep the freezers ventilated to lower the humidity. When it's cold I keep the vents shut so the colonies don't get too dry.