Skulls

[Diehard Hunter]

If anyone has intact skulls from animals they shoot or trap, I could use them. I have a beetle colony and will need several skulls to get them through until next deer season. I am in Knoxvile and travel to Cleveland five days a week. I can meet you in anywhere in between.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

Drop by your local processor.probably some laying around

 

[Mike Belt]

Curious...How long have you had your beetles and how hard are they to keep alive in the winter? I've thought about starting a colony. Can't you just throw them some boloney or something in between heads?

 

[Diehard Hunter]

Curious...How long have you had your beetles and how hard are they to keep alive in the winter? I've thought about starting a colony. Can't you just throw them some boloney or something in between heads?

The hardest part is keeping them warm and well ventilated. I finally just built a custom box 5' long, 3' wide and 2' deep. I hen lined the bottom and sides (up about 8") with epoxy resin to keep them from escaping. The top is metal window screen. In the box I have a reptile heat pad on a piece of glass suspended about 2" above the bedding material, have a black heat lamp on top of the screen and an oscillating heater set to 75 degrees in front of the box. I covered the screen top with a couple of pieces of really thin cheap carpet (just laying on top) so it would stay dark in the box. The beetles don't work well in the light.

A lot of places say you can feed them dog food, but it is mostly corn so it doesn't work very well. Hotdogs and lunch meat work fine if you don't have anything else. However, I am looking for skulls. The beetles need to eat and I need skulls of different animals for my collection at school. I use them in class to teach the students how to identify all the different species.

I mist the skulls lightly with water every other day if they have dried out. Moisture is your biggest enemy in a beetle colony, temperature is your second. You want to keep them between 70 and 80 degrees. Above 80 degrees the adults can fly.....you don't want them in your taxidermy items or carpet! Below 70 degrees they slow down. If they freeze.....they die. I have had beetles for about two years now. I started with a small colony in a Rubbermaid tote, but if you want to do a deer sized animal before the meat gets rotten and really stinks ou need a pretty large colony and that won't survive in a tote. Here are a couple of photos of my bug box. The white stuff is styrofoam. They burrow into it and lay eggs.

 

[Mike Belt]

Interesting.

A couple of questions:
1)The reptile heat pad on the suspended glass; does this just sit in one corner of the box?
2)The temperature range of 70-80; where do you keep this box? I'd put mine in the garage. I might could keep them from freezing but in the summer time the temperatures would probably exceed 80. What happens then?
3)The moisture problem; does a lack of or too much moisture create the problem?
4) How long do the beetles live and do they repopulate at the same rate they die off?

 

[Diehard Hunter]

Interesting.

A couple of questions:
1)The reptile heat pad on the suspended glass; does this just sit in one corner of the box?
2)The temperature range of 70-80; where do you keep this box? I'd put mine in the garage. I might could keep them from freezing but in the summer time the temperatures would probably exceed 80. What happens then?
3)The moisture problem; does a lack of or too much moisture create the problem?
4) How long do the beetles live and do they repopulate at the same rate they die off?

1)The heat pad and heat lamp are in the same end of the box. It creates a refugium if it gets too cold. By suspending it with glass it isn't in contact with anything so I do have to worry about overheating, moisture, etc. the beetles can move away if they are too warm or closer if they are cold.

2) the problem above 80 degrees is the adults flying. They really aren't prone to fly much, but they can above 80. I don't want that. I don't want escapees. One other thing I do to help prevent escapes is to keep a shop light on in the area at all times but cover the top of the cage to keep it dark. They aren't prone to "go into the light" they prefer the dark.

3) too much moisture is the problem. In a closed box there is no air flow. Excess moisture will lead to mold growing. That mold will kill your beetles. I although use commercial mammal bedding. The commercial bedding will absorb excess moisture, much like kitty litter, if I do have a problem. I can then scoop that bit of bedding out to prevent mold growth. The only moisture I introduce into the system is when I kist the skulls being cleaned. This does two things. One it keeps the meat they are eating soft and two, if the beetles are thirsty, they will be attracted to where I want them....on the skull.

4) with food, the reproductive rate will exceed the death rate, if you provide them substrate to breed in. They will breed in the frass they create and in the styrofoam you put in the box.The colony will grow fairly rapidly. I think the life span, from larvae to adult is about 8 weeks

 

[Mike Belt]

Do they typically get their "drink" from their food or do you have to supply them with any water? Lastly, is there any odor?

 

[Diehard Hunter]

Do they typically get their "drink" from their food or do you have to supply them with any water? Lastly, is there any odor?

You do not need free standing water. They get all the moisture they need from the food.

Ah, the odor.......the answer is yes! However, it can be managed. There will be some smell of ammonia no matter what you do. You can't get rid of it. You can manage it by changing some of the bedding periodically. The other odor comes from the skull. If you put a skull in there and it rots before they can eat it all....it really sinks! Especially if you left brains in it! I manage this by drying the meat out in a freezer. After I skin and de flesh the skull, I place it, uncovered, in a chest freezer for a couple of weeks. If you have a frost free freezer it will work even better! I then bring it out and place it in front of a fan while it thaws. This will dry the meat out pretty good. Yoo want any remaining flesh to be jerky like when you put it in the beetles. If it is soft and mushy, it will rot before they eat it. If it oozes down Into the bedding you will have mold and odor problems!

 

[Mike Belt]

When I flesh one out I generally do a pretty good job of getting 99.9% of all the meat. I also de-brain them. How long would it take a healthy population of beetles to clean something like that?

 

[Diehard Hunter]

When I flesh one out I generally do a pretty good job of getting 99.9% of all the meat. I also de-brain them. How long would it take a healthy population of beetles to clean something like that?

That depends on what Healthy is? I wouldn't try to clean a deer sized skull with less than 1000 beetles.

The best supplier I have found for beetles is http://www.bonesandbugs.com. He sends very detailed instructions with the beetles too.

 

[Tennessee Lead]

DH maybe you could contact a Taxidermist and you could use the heads after he had caped the hide and sawed the horns off.


Sent from my iPhone that I ain't smart enough to use with tapatalker

 

[LanceS4803]

My taxidermist uses beetles but keeps them in a completely separate building from his workshop.
Bad things can happen if the beetles get into the shop.

 

[Mike Belt]

One last question (I think, lol)...You say you try to keep the temperature 70-80. I'd keep them in my garage and the summer time temperature would much warmer than 80. Would heat kill them or would I just have to contend with them flying?

 

[Diehard Hunter]

One last question (I think, lol)...You say you try to keep the temperature 70-80. I'd keep them in my garage and the summer time temperature would much warmer than 80. Would heat kill them or would I just have to contend with them flying?

The heat will not kill them but you would have to contend with them flying. They are not apt to fly, but they can. It's not like you will open the box and they will all fly away. In reality, they will try to get under cover away from the light. The humidity during the summer is the real enemy. You will want air circulating on them to keep the bedding dry. The heater I use during the winter has a fan only setting I use during the summer to ensure air flow. Through the colony.