Dermestid Beetles (flesh eating)
- Thread starter gitrdun
- Start date
Are you a troll???
The beetles are used to clean up the skull so you don't have to get your hands dirty with brains....
- Location
- land of f-cktards
i can see no reason why to defend yourself, ...........as long as your beetles are registered. lol
Thanks 350, that's exactly why I want them. Now, if I could get some helpful information, that would be awesome.
There is a place in the East that was selling them a year or so ago....I may be able to look it up for you. However you should know you probably cant get them this year, they are very temperature sensitive. Also: they stink, you need to feed them year round, you need to build a special container to keep them in, keep them at the right temp....and so on. They are a huge pain in the butt to keep. If you dont want to simmer, which I cant blame you - try maceration. Way cheaper to get into, does a arguably better job and is fairly idiot proof. My $0.02.
If you have mounts and hides that you like you will eventually lose them if you keep a Dermestid colony. They are voracious and get in under the areas of the mounts you can't see and begin their work. Maceration (soaking the skull in water till everything rots off) is cleaner, safer and does a better job is best done on an acreage where you can get away from the smell.
I put my skulls in a barrel of water and let them sit all winter and into late spring. Throwing some dead grass and stuff in helps speed up the bacteria working. If I have bear skulls or skulls that I want to save the teeth on, I bag them separately in big ziplocs full of water so that the teeth will stay in the bag. Once you tip the barrel over the meat is gone or easil sprays away with a hose. Let them dry outside for few days and then you have to degrease the skulls by placing in a tub of detergent and ammonia for a week or so (this also gets rid of most of the smell.). Then you can dry and bleach them.
I put my skulls in a barrel of water and let them sit all winter and into late spring. Throwing some dead grass and stuff in helps speed up the bacteria working. If I have bear skulls or skulls that I want to save the teeth on, I bag them separately in big ziplocs full of water so that the teeth will stay in the bag. Once you tip the barrel over the meat is gone or easil sprays away with a hose. Let them dry outside for few days and then you have to degrease the skulls by placing in a tub of detergent and ammonia for a week or so (this also gets rid of most of the smell.). Then you can dry and bleach them.
jeepjunkie
New member
- Location
- Southern Ontario
interesting thread, I don't know much about the process but wouldn't maggots work for eating the dead flesh away from the bones?
How do you get the smell of rotten flesh off the bones?
I have used a wire wheel mounted on drill to clean off Moose skulls before and it works. It will peel off that leathery type skin that clings to the bone.
The problem with beetles is you have to keep feeding them....so if you don't have a steady supply of skulls they will perish???
I have used a wire wheel mounted on drill to clean off Moose skulls before and it works. It will peel off that leathery type skin that clings to the bone.
The problem with beetles is you have to keep feeding them....so if you don't have a steady supply of skulls they will perish???
I've had them, they work great, clean a bear skull in a day, no stains etc. You can get them here in Canada, you have to order them from Wards science.
You need several thousand beetles to clean a skull, I would suggest buying 100 or 150, you get dinged for the shipping(overnight live transport) costs more than the beetles do. Buy them several months before you need them as it takes awhile for them to populate to the level needed to clean a skull.
If you got any questions just pm or e-mail me.
Kirby
You need several thousand beetles to clean a skull, I would suggest buying 100 or 150, you get dinged for the shipping(overnight live transport) costs more than the beetles do. Buy them several months before you need them as it takes awhile for them to populate to the level needed to clean a skull.
If you got any questions just pm or e-mail me.
Kirby
After you remove all the flesh, inside and out, and have degreased it properly - you soak it in peroxide. The peroxide kills all the smells, and whitens the bone.
sjemac
You said with the maceration you put the skulls in the water all winter! (so Basicaly a Big Block of ice) And then dump it out in the Spring?
I had two Buffalo Skulls this summer that we butchered from our farm!! I hung them about 20ft up in between 2 trees and thought i would just leave them! this doesnt seem to be working to well!
Any Helpfull ideas?
sorry i didnt mean to jack the thread!
You said with the maceration you put the skulls in the water all winter! (so Basicaly a Big Block of ice) And then dump it out in the Spring?
I had two Buffalo Skulls this summer that we butchered from our farm!! I hung them about 20ft up in between 2 trees and thought i would just leave them! this doesnt seem to be working to well!
Any Helpfull ideas?
sorry i didnt mean to jack the thread!
Veterinary schools are a better bet but yes. I had a weird conversation with the technician who ran the 'bug box' at the University of Guelph one night over beer. He was begging me to bring him a carcass immediately since the bugs were hungry and he was afraid they would chew through the freezer sized metal box they lived in! This is definately a job I would outsource.....
