/ Register

  1. Welcome to Taxidermy.net, Guest!
    We have put together a brief tutorial to help you with the site, click here to access it.

Dog Food?

Discussion in 'Skulls and Skeletons' started by RBlack, Mar 31, 2018.

  1. Mar 31, 2018 #1
    RBlack

    RBlack Member

    166
    2
    Im always open to learn new stuff. This last week ordered a book by J.A.Long on Dermestid beetles, some here my have read it. Anyway he had stated that he uses dry dog food as bedding for his bugs. Maybe Ive been under a rock to long but I have never heard of it, some of you guy might. My question is how many of you do or have tried it and did you like using it?
     
  3. Mar 31, 2018 #2
    Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    14,141
    2,262
    Taxachusetts
    As bedding, no. If you do some archive searching on here you will find many posts about keepers putting dry dog or cat food into their enclosures to tide them over between heads and then getting an infestation of mites. I fed dry dog food once and also got mites. .. Probably a bad idea. How old is that book (published)? Also seems counter productive. How does he explain, that as your bugs are now housed on a layer of food ... that they will still rapidly devour and clean a skull offered to them?
     
    Chippers likes this.

  5. Apr 2, 2018 #3
    fogbound

    fogbound Member

    368
    7
    Lyle WA
    Agree with Seawolf. Dry dog food is poor for bedding. There is some protein there, which will be consumed. The balance is corn/soybean/etc meal which will become a component of the frass. This WILL facilitate moisture collection, which is bad, and can eventually provide ideal conditions for mites.
     
  6. Apr 2, 2018 #4
    J7

    J7 Member

    37
    2
    Washdahoegon
    Just a guess because I have not read the book. But maybe it said use dry dog food bags as bedding?
     
  7. Apr 3, 2018 #5
    Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    14,141
    2,262
    Taxachusetts
    All you need to do is invest in a smaller paper shredder. All the newspaper I want is available free. Run it through the shredder and there you go.
     
  8. Apr 6, 2018 #6
    RBlack

    RBlack Member

    166
    2
    I went back and re read of course what I had read. NO, he was not talking about dog food bags but dog food itself being used as substraight. My first thought was of mold possibly. He did state that the dry food would either have to be heat treated or frozen in case of mites. I do question the use of using it myself, right now I would not be comfortable using it. Like most of you I have always used paper. Im currently at work and dont have the book to quote him but he does have some good information in there especially about life cycle.