Dermestid Beetle CareWhat Flesh Eating Bugs Need to Survive!Using the Dermestid Beetle to clean deer skulls is a quick and effective way to produce a beautiful European deer mount.
Dermestid Beetles need minimal care to survive, but they do have a few basic needs. They prefer to live and work in darkness, so this needs to be kept in consideration. For their housing, some people use old freezers and put a screened top on them. We used big Rubbermaid bins in which we cut the middle out of the top and replaced with screening. You will need screening in their tanks for a few reasons. If there is not enough ventilation, the tanks can get moldy causing death to your bugs. 
The beetles can also climb up the sides of their housing and escape, or worse, other bugs will be able to get in. You do not want other bugs to get into their tank, as this also can cause disease and destroy your colony. In the bottom of their tanks, simply put a 3 to 4 inch layer of pine shavings that you can find at any pet shop. Make sure it is pine shavings and not cedar, as cedar can be deadly to them. Throw some styrofoam chunks in the tank as they will burrow into this and lay their eggs in it. For a water source, we simply folded up several papers towels, and every few days, would spray the paper towels with a fine mist of water. If the temperature in their tanks is kept under 80 degrees, they will not fly so you won’t have to worry about them flying away when you open the lid. On the opposite end, they can and do freeze to death, so they will need to have a heat source in the winter. The optimal temperature to keep them active and eating is 60 to 80 degrees. They will eat at lower temperatures, but not as quickly. You can start them off on hotdogs when you first get them, until the colony grows in size. When they are ready to start cleaning skulls, make sure that you have properly prepared it first. The more they are fed, the quicker the colony grows. You can control their population by raising or lowering the amount of meat you give them. We buy our beetles from a supplier that is based in Alaska. He guarantees his beetles to be healthy and we are very pleased with his services and highly recommend him! If you are looking to purchase Dermestid Beetles, we can assure you that you will be pleased with Kodiak Bones & Bugs Taxidermy.
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