These are graphic pictures so be warned!




Well here are my dermestid beetles or ‘flesh eating beetles’ as they are more commonly known. I have had them for about 6 months now and the first head was a complete catastrophe from the get go. I won’t share all the details but the taxidermists don’t share any secrets. Hopefully after losing a few hundred beetles the first round and losing a lot during the summer (turns out they don’t do so hot on hotdogs alone) my small colony is on it’s way to rebounding now. I have also learned from my last attempt that drying the head to a jerky like consistency will allow the beetles enough time to eat the meat before it starts to rot since as silly as it seems they will not eat rotting meat. I know shocker to me too.

So I prepared the head, gave it 7 days of wet aging it is called I believe in the fridge then another week in my top of the line head dryer box. Worked remarkable well in my opinion and now I have shared 2 tips.

I am only going to post a few pics and honestly it isn’t done completely yet since I should have rehydrated it slightly around day 7 but was waiting them out to see what they could do but it is damn close.

All the frass you see in the bottom of the pics can never be cleaned since it contains thousands of tiny larva. So there is always a slight odor associated with them.

If anyone wants to see all of my pictures send me a message and I will send you a link to them.

Day one, dried and ready to go in with the beetles
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l37/ChandlerReptiles/Beetles/Head-2day1.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l37/ChandlerReptiles/Beetles/Day3.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l37/ChandlerReptiles/Beetles/Day6-1.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l37/ChandlerReptiles/Beetles/Day8.jpg

Until around day 8 they were concentrating on the inside of the head.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l37/ChandlerReptiles/Beetles/Day11.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l37/ChandlerReptiles/Beetles/Day13-1.jpg

The last picture is close, so very close to being done…all of day 12 is was soaked in water to rehydrate and then today I stuck it back in with the beetles. Hopefully in a few days they will have it the rest of the way cleaned. Of course this process is slower for my colony since I don't nearly have the numbers yet to finish a head with in a few days but they are growing strong now. Since day one I have noticed a huge jump in the amount of larva around in the container.

If you have any questions I will be happy to attempt to answer them for you.

I have a question..... DOES YOUR WIFE KNOW YOU HAVE AN ANIMAL HEAD????????? :devil:

I have a question..... DOES YOUR WIFE KNOW YOU HAVE AN ANIMAL HEAD????????? :devil:

Yes sir she does...there's money in them there heads if I can get a system down...

Just wait a buddy of my traps during the winter so I will have some beaver and coyote ones too.

I know my wife would put her foot down there.....

Anyway, I know nothing about these beetles. What is the life span on them?

Yes sir she does...there's money in them there heads if I can get a system down...


Finally, a solution to the human over populating problem.


Looks like they are doing a pretty good job.... :yessir:

Finally, a solution to the human over populating problem.


Looks like they are doing a pretty good job.... :yessir:


:lmao:

I have a question..... DOES YOUR WIFE KNOW YOU HAVE AN ANIMAL HEAD????????? :devil:

:lol: As he said, yes I know. And if he wants to try to figure this out so be it. Keeps him happy with new projects. What can I say I'm a good wife.

I know my wife would put her foot down there.....

Anyway, I know nothing about these beetles. What is the life span on them?

Complete life span is 4-6 months....

Eggs hatch in 4 days, they go through different instars as larva but it takes about 6 weeks and then they spend the rest of that time as beetles.

Good stuff buddy!!!!
But you already know what i think!!!!!!!:wamma:

That's kind of creepy...i don't know if I'd want to sleep in a house with those... :lol:

That is wicked!

can you imagine something knocking over the enclosure... and it breaking open.... It would set forth a chain of events that would make Stephen King happy :)

can you imagine something knocking over the enclosure... and it breaking open.... It would set forth events that would make Stephen King happy :)

Let's not imagine it. LOL When they first got here I was worried but not anymore. They are in a safe place so nothing can escape.

Let's not imagine it. LOL When they first got here I was worried but not anymore. They are in a safe place so nothing can escape.

Except in the summer....over 80 degrees those little beetles fly...literally.

Got in a routine of moving it out of the laundry room into somewhere cooler before I would open it.

Ive heard of these beetles before. Ive heard if you get a good colony really rolling they can strip a whole carcass in an incredibly short amount of time.

But my question is where does one go to purchase such creatures?

BTW I bet my lobster roaches could give them a run for their money :)

:lol: As he said, yes I know. And if he wants to try to figure this out so be it. Keeps him happy with new projects. What can I say I'm a good wife.


You are a GREAT wife lets make that clear.

Im still fighting to get a snake and he's allowed to play with dead animal skulls! Sheesh!

Ive heard of these beetles before. Ive heard if you get a good colony really rolling they can strip a whole carcass in an incredibly short amount of time.

But my question is where does one go to purchase such creatures?

BTW I bet my lobster roaches could give them a run for their money :)

I got mine from someone in Alaska....bones and bugs I believe.

The issues I have read about the roaches and crickets are the scaring it could leave on the bones.

There were a few people on a hunting/taxidermy forum I was on had colonies that could strip an entire head in less than 2 days.

You are a GREAT wife lets make that clear.

Im still fighting to get a snake and he's allowed to play with dead animal skulls! Sheesh!

She is a great wife!!!

But I also had to install an attic fan in the laundry room wall and if she would have walked into the smell of the last one that I messed up I really doubt I would still be allowed to keep beetles.

She is a great wife!!!

But I also had to install an attic fan in the laundry room wall and if she would have walked into the smell of the last one that I messed up I really doubt I would still be allowed to keep beetles.


Thanks darling.

And I keep being told about this awful smell he came home to one night. It very well could have ended his new project. However 'forgotten' rats in a snake cage (or on top of them -- right Scott?) don't smell any better.

So cool!!!

Ive wanted to do this... lots of people up here hunt bear and deer and such. Ive wanted to get a bear skull and do this!!!!
Coyote skulls would be pretty cool too!!!

Nice loking head you got there. I hope your new business venture brings lots of cash.. Yea Tama thats very understanding.. We sure do test our boundaries, don't we...:D

You can keep those beetles as I remember the roaches all over when we had them from someone *cough cough Scott * knocked them over.

But they are cool as hell to watch via your pics :lol:

Pretty cool info there!

Nice loking head you got there. I hope your new business venture brings lots of cash.. Yea Tama thats very understanding.. We sure do test our boundaries, don't we...:D


That's what keeps a marriage interesting. LOL

What a wife I don't think I could even get away with this. But I may try. She thought my rats were just big mice for a little while.

Thanks everyone, I find the whole process fascinating. Once they finish all they can it will be a new process of learning how to degrease and bleach it...

Thats freaking cool!

I would say I am close now to seeing how to bleach it...
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l37/ChandlerReptiles/Beetles/Day15.jpg

Ive heard of these beetles before. Ive heard if you get a good colony really rolling they can strip a whole carcass in an incredibly short amount of time.

But my question is where does one go to purchase such creatures?

BTW I bet my lobster roaches could give them a run for their money :)

V
you can buy a colony on line. but like chandler implied there's alot of technique to makin' those bad boys hum.
they don't eat living flesh (supposedly ! ) so they're not as scary as they first seem.
we had a colony in my 10th grade bio class that used up all the floorspace in a 55 gallon tank. teach used to bring in roadkill all the time (people probably thought he was nuts pickin' up dead critters) to keep his colony alive but he knew how to tweak those babies to maximum performance like a broadway choreographer during the holiday show season.
good luck chan, you're pretty close with that one, consider sun bleaching if you've got a good spot for it,
ck

It's been sunny one out of the last 10 days...lol

But one of the considered methods...I like the chemical white personally.

Wow, I think a large colony placed directly under the bed of all people might be a nice gift to emergency responders who get the "I haven't heard from my great grandmother who lives alone in 2 weeks" calls. No need for vapor rub...:lol:

I'm going to have to start a thread in one of those non-public places and pick your brain bro. I've got a couple things in mind those beetles might be able to handle. And NO , it has nothing to do with my ex-wife.



Yet.

ewwwwww gross you have beetles yucky yucky yucky. whats cool is up close they dont look like anything that could do much till Jeff shows the pics. nice pictures showing the progression man.

i know this is kind of off topic but it reminds me of a post i seen on aol's homepage tonite about flesh eating bugs. seems the guy is in very bad shape at the moment due to the bite he recieved.

http://news.aol.com/health/article/uk-star-suffers-from-flesh-eating-bug/259365?icid=200100397x1213326357x1200892925

Bryon hit me up any time...open book man.

The beetles themselves are native to the US so it is possible they could easily be everywhere. As long as they are able to winter somewhere warm they will find the food.

Xanaxez those parasites are wicked.

cool pictures