Black cleaner Beetles

[tarsalqueen270]

Hello, we have done some skull cleaning/European mounts last year and plan to do more again this year. I was wondering if anyone had experience using "black cleaner beetles" or "Buffalo beetles" to clean skulls. If you do, what are the pros and cons? How long does it take? Any helpful links/books/etc?
thanks

 

[swd]

I have heard of dermestid beetles being used for this.

The two things that stand out from the people I have heard of that use them are the smell. Not sure the beetles have any real smell, but the rot of the skulls as the beetles work is everything you would imagine. The other thing is that the skulls need to be degreased in some way afterward. This tends to be a process considered to be the secret ingredient...

 

[Hduke86]

I had a buddy that had some and while they may seem "convenient" at first they or their environment does stink and you pretty much clean the skull off and out like you would if you just boiled them. We just went back to boiling, water hose nozzle and bleach paste from a hair salon supply store and be done with it in an evening.

 

[tarsalqueen270]

I have heard of dermestid beetles being used for this.

The two things that stand out from the people I have heard of that use them are the smell. Not sure the beetles have any real smell, but the rot of the skulls as the beetles work is everything you would imagine. The other thing is that the skulls need to be degreased in some way afterward. This tends to be a process considered to be the secret ingredient...

Thank you. I was wondering if keeping them in a mostly sealed aquarium type container in the garage would be effective.. but after thinking about it and hearing responses it seems like the old boil and spray method is better!