I also had a colony I ordered from a taxidermy supply store. They were pretty cheap, unless you bought a full colony. I would recommend buying a start kit a couple months before the season so you can raise a full colony yourself.

If I can remember right, the best temp is around 80 deg. So I needed a heat lamp to keep the beetles fully active. They eat about anything, I gave them hotdogs in the offseason becuase there cheap.

They prefer meat that is dried to a jerky texture. So if you just skun a head, put it in front of a fan for a couple hours to dry it out a bit. It the head is too dry, soak it for a couple days to moisten it back up to the correct texture.

I also sold mine after I made a good chunk of money, only because I was getting ready to move and my wife didn't really want them to make the move either, but here are a few pics of ones I did with the beetles.

It is pretty obvious, but the ones in front are done (including coyote) the ones in back are getting ready to go into the beetle colony.