Beetles Won’t Finish The Job

Liannei · Jan 24, 2020

I’ve been having an issue with my beetles not “finishing” the job. There will be very few beetles left on the pretty clean skull, but I’m left with hard bits of flesh in some spots. Is there something else I can do to get my skulls completely clean before moving on to the next steps?
Thanks for the help!

Great Skulls · Jan 24, 2020

You can try soaking in water a bit or even ammonia and then putting back in the bugs.

Or just keep soaking in the water, ammonia or dawn/water, and scrape off after a few days. This will get you a jump on the degreasing too.

joeym · Jan 24, 2020

You may be leaving too much meat and n the skull before introducing it. I pare off everything I can. They should strip a skull n 24-36 hours. Your colony size dictates consumption. If they are not cleaning them rapidly, there is too much food, or not enough beetles.

geckofactor · Jan 24, 2020

That will come off either in degreasing or for sure in whitening but if it worries you soak it for a day then put it back in they'll get it.

Liannei · Jan 25, 2020

joeym said: ↑

You may be leaving too much meat and n the skull before introducing it. I pare off everything I can. They should strip a skull n 24-36 hours. Your colony size dictates consumption. If they are not cleaning them rapidly, there is too much food, or not enough beetles.
Click to expand...

This is my real concern. It definitely takes longer than 36 hours for a deer skull. I have trouble getting a lot off of the skull before it goes in, especially around where the lower jaw connects. Any tips there?

joeym · Jan 25, 2020

This is what a head looks like when I prep it for beetles

Liannei · Jan 26, 2020

Thanks Joey M.

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