Dermestid Beetles

[marcus44]

Just placed an order for a colony of Dermestid beetles, going to start cleaning skulls. If anyone would like a skull cleaned, let me know. I'm in Kelowna, but do travel to Vancouver and Kamloops every couple months and I could make arrangements to pick up and deliver

[marcus44]

My colony has arrived and is doing well. I just started on a muley skull, pictures to come.

[firebird]

Cool. Have you got a rot room/shed?

[marcus44]

Cool. Have you got a rot room/shed?

No, they are set up in my garage. I have a nice habitat set up for them. Fairly small scale for the time being.

[marcus44]

Unfortunately my beetles have not survived and I am not continuing

[twoSevenO]

Unfortunately my beetles have not survived and I am not continuing

Do you know why they died?

[rocksteady]

My beetles have survived and thrived..

Doing it as a side hustle until i retire, then full on..

[rocksteady]

Do you know why they died?

Common death is from ham beetles or mites

[marcus44]

When I put my second deer skull in, it must have had some larvae on it and it was over run by maggots

[rocksteady]

i am not up and running as a business yet, just a hobby.. will get into it full time once i finish work.

So far this year i have done 3 elk, 1 wt, 2 bobcat, 2 cougars and 5 bears..

Its not as easy as easy as one would think...

Even after the bugs they still need to be degreased in ammonia or a hot soap bath, then another week or so in peroxide.. *which due to covid cannot be found

[rocksteady]

Andnot nearly the money maker.. by the time you get the enclosure, heater, thermostat, chemicals..... its more of a passion than a business..

[RyoTHC]

i am nit up and running as a business yet, just a hobby.. will get into it full time once i finish work.

So far this year i have done 3 elk, 1 wt, 2 bobcat, 2 cougars and 5 bears..

Its not as easy as easy as one would think...

Even after the bugs they still need to be degreased in ammonia or a hot soap bath, then another week ir so in peroxide.. *which due to covid cannot be found


glad I’m sitting on a couple bottles of peroxide so I can do my moose skull you’re right you can’t find it anywhere atm. I imagine it might be a while before the stuff salons use is easy to find again.

mind sharing where you got your beetles ? I’d like to set some up to do my own skulls and my hunting groups.. there’s a couple places in the states but would rather support Canadian.

[rocksteady]

The only place i could find, with the required permits, was at Kodiak bones and bugs taxidermy out of washington state.

Good to deal with but export permit costs as much as the bugs

[rocksteady]

i just got hooked up with a local suplier that will get me a 5 gallon pail of 27% (store bought is 3%).. $100 but probably 10 years of product..

[rocksteady]

and they stink bad.. i have mine in an unheated garage in an old chest freezer and whhoo-wee can they produce some odors

[Dirty Steve]

Just dropped my moose rack off at Hunters Union in Salmon Arm. Very, very happy to support a local business that is a big part of our hunting community. Great service great people, and a very professional operation. Theres a lot more that goes into it I think. Key part is degreasing. To do it properly I think the skull has to soak for a couple months + I m very happy to pay them for their professional expertise, years of knowledge and a great rack for the wall in the end.

[marcus44]

Yeah it definitely turned out to be more than I had expected to do the head I did get finished. Having as cold of a winter as we had definitely slowed them down too. They were in my garage which doesn't get opened often over the winter. It was neat to watch the progression. And maybe in the future I will try again when I have more room and time to do so.

[upnover]

Andnot nearly the money maker.. by the time you get the enclosure, heater, thermostat, chemicals..... its more of a passion than a business..

Hi, i poured salt on my caribou skull. Does that mean it is no longer a candidate for beetle cleaning? I did not know you had this service or i would have called, because i am also in the east kootenays.