Beetle ?
 

I was wondering if you Guy's could tell me something about these Beetle's that clean the Skull's of animal's?Were do you get them?Are they easy to keep?Are they just meat eater's? Thank's for any info

RE: Beetle ?
 

I could be wrong, but i dont think there are actual beatles that you get to put on your skull. I think when people talk about the beatle method they are just refering to burrying the skull under ground and letting bugs and everything eat the meat off.

I usually boil mine but that can make the skull fragile if you get the water too hot. If you have time i think that burrying it is better for the skull.

RE: Beetle ?
 

Well I've seen some beetlesdown in Texas that man they just smell blood or something I don't know from where they come from but as soon as the deer starts bleeding they come from everywhere, they are black and they start eating all the blood and everything on their way (flesh I mean).:eek:

RE: Beetle ?
 

They are called dermestid beetles and you can order them from taxidermy supplies houses. They will clean a skull like nobody's business.

RE: Beetle ?
 

Wow, i didnt know there were actual beetles you could order...

RE: Beetle ?
 

CSI Las Vegas talks about them sometimes. Are they expensive? I have a mule deer head, it has never had anything done to it, the guy that I got it from shot it and he just cut it off and was gonna get it european mounted, but he didn't, now it is all dried and I was wondering how to clean it up, would beattles work or just try cleanin with water?

RE: Beetle ?
 

There not expensive, they stink and are a pain the the rear. But if you don't mind that they do a great job on cleaning up a skull.

RE: Beetle ?
 

Yes they are dermistid beetles, and you can get them at taxidermy supply stores. I ordered mine from a business that does skulls, they have a starter kit they send, and you get them started. The larvae(babies) is what does most of the eating, the adults will eat some, but mostly breed, and they do multiply quickly. They need warm dry environment, and from what I saw with mine, they will eat anything on or in the skull. The ones I had stunk so bad, you dont want them in your house or near it for that matter, I mean the meat they are eating is decaying while they eat it, but I guess if you had enough of them they would clean a skull before it had time to rot, but on average mine took 1-2 weeks for them to completely clean a skull, but I didnt have a large colony, or the perfect setup. I kept mine in a shed outside in large rubbermaid plastic totes, which were big enough to put in a couple skulls and put the lid back on. In cool weather I kept a heat lamp on the totes to keep them from getting cold. They did a great job of cleaning skulls, and I made a little extra money with them each year, but got tired of trying to find stuff to keep them fed through the late spring and summer months when I had no skulls to clean, and the smell was terrible so I gave my colony to a buddy who was interested,, but it didnt take him long to get rid of them.. One thing to remember is to freeze the skulls for a week or so after they are cleaned, to make sure all the beetles and larvae that may be left in the skull are dead and dont get into your home, and possibly on other mounts. They can destroy other mounts, and I was told they will eat holes in material, clothes, and even wood, but I never tested them out on that.. Hope I helped out some, let me know if you have any more questions.

RE: Beetle ?
 

I am not sure if the beetles could eat a scull thats been dried out? The fur /skin can get pretty hard on a scull if just left to dry. Maybe you can boil it to soften it up then cool it. Then maybe put the beetles on it?

I would post this in the taxidermy forum. They could lead you in the right direction!

Good luck!

RE: Beetle ?
 

When I had mine, a guy brought me a skull that had hung in his shed for a year,, and like the one you mentioned, it was completely dried out. I put it in with the beetles, with a couple other skull, and yes they did eat it,, but it took them a long time, it took them about a month to completely clean it off, but it looked just like the rest of the skulls when they were finished, I was surprised they cleaned it that well, but it didnt matter to them if it was dry.

RE: Beetle ?
 

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.

RE: Beetle ?
 

Here are a few more deer getting ready to go into the colony with aclose up of the coyote head to show how clean they got it.

RE: Beetle ?
 

I watched an episode of "Dirty Jobs" when he went to a company that cleaned skeletons and those beeltes did an awesome job. They used fish aquariums and just put the bones in with the beetles.

RE: Beetle ?
 

I clean skulls using dermestid beetles. The results are fantastic but the work is difficult!

Some Highlights:
The beetles need to stay between 65-85°F - below 65 they become sluggish, below 40 they die. Above 70 they are active but above 80 they can fly.

The smell of decomposing flesh WILL attract other unwanted insects.

The beetles are very susceptible to mites in too wet of an environment. This will hinder reproduction and may kill an entire colony.

After the bugs eat the flesh you will have thousands of bugs to get out of the skull - even when you think you are done, you will have hundreds trapped - it can take hours to get them all out.

The smell is strong enough to penetrate the fabric of your clothes and will carry with you in to the house/car/etc. Your wife won't like it! ;)

I have a dermestid beetle start up document that I've created if you are interested, PM me.

RE: Beetle ?
 

I've had a colony of dermestid beetles for about a year. They are a good amount of work to maintain, but they are the best way to clean a skull.

RE: Beetle ?
 

I think I'll just stay with the boiling method.