Beetles

[kglacken]

Who has them? Pros and cons. I just got this thought today about getting some. I like to have good looking euro mounts on bucks and animals I dont want to pay to have shoulder mounted. Ive tried the ants nest and boiling and pressure washing and it works but it takes a lot of time. Id love to be able to throw it in the beetles and leave it. Anyone have them? Require much work?

[kenzmad]

I think the Smossy duo were getting into them

[Becky]

We had them great over the winter but with the influx of temperature and not getting temperature correct they all died. We'll be getting a new colony started soon.

Pros - I think they do fantastic. You get cartilage and detail left that would be lost with boiling. Also if you have a large colony they'll clean the skull fairly quickly. Safer. Simple to keep, we used an old chest freezer.

Cons - They smell horrendous so don't keep them close to the house .. They're living creatures so it's not really "set it and forget it" like other methods, you have to clean their substrate etc.  When you're first building a colony it's extremely slow going but it'll get there.

Good luck! I highly recommend them.

[elk247]

Beetles are awesome. But like a coon dog or a fishing boat its even better if a friend has them.   

[Becky]

Beetles are awesome. But like a coon dog or a fishing boat its even better if a friend has them.   

Lol 

[bugs n bones]

It's a full time job to run a successful beetle colony or colonies, you just don't throw it in....If you put shut it that's what you will end up with. You must be very careful not to introduce bad bugs to your colony. Mites, ham beetles etc etc.

[cryfowl]

I had a good colony of dermestid beetles for years.  All my hunting friends loved them, because they aren't in their garage.  They take some work and the set up can be spendy.  They do smell a bit.  I stopped raising them this summer as I got tired of having to feed them in the off season, but they cleaned skulls in about 3 days.  Here's a pic of my set up.

[Jonathan_S]

I just stick it in a bucket of water for a few weeks in the summer and then pressure wash.  I prefer the natural color but you can bleach immediately afterward too.

[n_mathews13]

On that note..Iv had my bear and deer skull at a guys house for a year or so. How long should it take to do the beetles and whiten them up?  I'm aware near are greasy and require more time , but a year?

[Becky]

^ when we first started our colony it took about a month at the longest. That's just one or two at a time, does your buddy have a lot of people he's been cleaning for? After a year, if it's still even in the beetle cage all flesh would be absolutely rotted away.

[DUGANDEER]

On that note..Iv had my bear and deer skull at a guys house for a year or so. How long should it take to do the beetles and whiten them up?  I'm aware near are greasy and require more time , but a year?

To get the grease out completely some bears can take a lot of time. 

[n_mathews13]

Yeah he does a lot of skulls as a side job .. And yeah, bear take awhile. Iv done a few skulls myself ( I just didn't want to mess this one up since it might make 20" ) since they are greasy . But a year?