Soup anyone

[Diehard]

Sorry, just seeing this thread! I have been swamped lately! Anyway, I use beetles. The biggest problems with beetles is keeping the environment right. You can’t let them get cold, you can’t let them get above 85 degrees, they need moisture, but not too much, and it can be a real pain keeping the spiders out of the big box! My big box is 2’x 2’x 4’ with a screen top that I place carpet over. For wooden boxes, I seal the inside with epoxy resin so they can’t squeeze out between boards and they can’t chew their way out. I line the top edge with vasine incase any decide to climb. The bottom of the box is covered in 2-4” of small mammal bedding (cellulose or aspen chips). I then place a piece of plywood on top of the bedding to put my skulls on. This way, the beetles can hide in the bedding but they can’t bury any part of the skull. This prevents excess moisture in the bedding and stops any staining of the skull. Remove as much meat as possible, remove the brain and eyes. And place the skull in to let them eat. When my colony is going full force, they can clean a deer in 3-5 days. I keep them fed in the office season with predator skulls, hamburger, etc. they can survive on dry dog food, but it is not ideal. I am having to move my office right now, so I have let all my beetles die. I will get a new colony going next fall.

[Tngrizzly_]

I used to simmer mine, THEN I learned a new trick. Get the skin off, put it in a big enough container that you can close the lid. I use a small chest deep freezer that's up behind my barn. Throw it in it, cover with water and walk away. After a couple months dump it out and wash with hose.

I bet the smell is bad.
How clean does it get doing that?
I wonder if I put it at the edge of a pond and tie it off, if the fish will help clean them up!

[akachuck]

I’m makin another pot if y’all are still hungry

[Tngrizzly_]

I’m makin another pot if y’all are still hungry

Can't be any more worse than your mom cooking

[akachuck]

I’m makin another pot if y’all are still hungry

Can't be any more worse than your mom cooking

You’ll be getting a very kind response from her once she gets back from Nashville

[shootnmiss]

I used to simmer mine, THEN I learned a new trick. Get the skin off, put it in a big enough container that you can close the lid. I use a small chest deep freezer that's up behind my barn. Throw it in it, cover with water and walk away. After a couple months dump it out and wash with hose.

I bet the smell is bad.
How clean does it get doing that?
I wonder if I put it at the edge of a pond and tie it off, if the fish will help clean them up!

If I ever get off work I'll post a picture. They come out clean as hell. Nice and white

[Tngrizzly_]

I used to simmer mine, THEN I learned a new trick. Get the skin off, put it in a big enough container that you can close the lid. I use a small chest deep freezer that's up behind my barn. Throw it in it, cover with water and walk away. After a couple months dump it out and wash with hose.

I bet the smell is bad.
How clean does it get doing that?
I wonder if I put it at the edge of a pond and tie it off, if the fish will help clean them up!

If I ever get off work I'll post a picture. They come out clean as hell. Nice and white

[shootnmiss]

Found a pic

[JCodd]

Sorry, just seeing this thread! I have been swamped lately! Anyway, I use beetles. The biggest problems with beetles is keeping the environment right. You can’t let them get cold, you can’t let them get above 85 degrees, they need moisture, but not too much, and it can be a real pain keeping the spiders out of the big box! My big box is 2’x 2’x 4’ with a screen top that I place carpet over. For wooden boxes, I seal the inside with epoxy resin so they can’t squeeze out between boards and they can’t chew their way out. I line the top edge with vasine incase any decide to climb. The bottom of the box is covered in 2-4” of small mammal bedding (cellulose or aspen chips). I then place a piece of plywood on top of the bedding to put my skulls on. This way, the beetles can hide in the bedding but they can’t bury any part of the skull. This prevents excess moisture in the bedding and stops any staining of the skull. Remove as much meat as possible, remove the brain and eyes. And place the skull in to let them eat. When my colony is going full force, they can clean a deer in 3-5 days. I keep them fed in the office season with predator skulls, hamburger, etc. they can survive on dry dog food, but it is not ideal. I am having to move my office right now, so I have let all my beetles die. I will get a new colony going next fall.

How do you deal with the grease in the bone.

[Tngrizzly_]

Found a pic

And all you did was soak in water and wash away. I know you said that you took the hide off first

[shootnmiss]

Found a pic

And all you did was soak in water and wash away. I know you said that you took the hide off first

That's it! Simple

[WG Taxidermist]

I’m makin another pot if y’all are still hungry

Can't be any more worse than your mom cooking

X2! That's got to smell terrible for sure. Lol! So how do you get the smell out of the skull? Bone is coarse so it's going to soak up that stinky water.

[WG Taxidermist]

Sorry, just seeing this thread! I have been swamped lately! Anyway, I use beetles. The biggest problems with beetles is keeping the environment right. You can’t let them get cold, you can’t let them get above 85 degrees, they need moisture, but not too much, and it can be a real pain keeping the spiders out of the big box! My big box is 2’x 2’x 4’ with a screen top that I place carpet over. For wooden boxes, I seal the inside with epoxy resin so they can’t squeeze out between boards and they can’t chew their way out. I line the top edge with vasine incase any decide to climb. The bottom of the box is covered in 2-4” of small mammal bedding (cellulose or aspen chips). I then place a piece of plywood on top of the bedding to put my skulls on. This way, the beetles can hide in the bedding but they can’t bury any part of the skull. This prevents excess moisture in the bedding and stops any staining of the skull. Remove as much meat as possible, remove the brain and eyes. And place the skull in to let them eat. When my colony is going full force, they can clean a deer in 3-5 days. I keep them fed in the office season with predator skulls, hamburger, etc. they can survive on dry dog food, but it is not ideal. I am having to move my office right now, so I have let all my beetles die. I will get a new colony going next fall.

Thanks for the response diehard! How do you regulate the temperature in the box? Do you use a heat lamp or some other heater?

[shootnmiss]

The smell will air out. First time I did it, I had two hog skulls and two deer skulls in it. That was rough

[WG Taxidermist]

Four at once! I bet they were awful! Lol!

[shootnmiss]

Four at once! I bet they were awful! Lol!

You can't imagine. I tied the hog skulls up in sacks so I wouldn't lose the teeth. Cutting them open was bad.

[Diehard]

Sorry, just seeing this thread! I have been swamped lately! Anyway, I use beetles. The biggest problems with beetles is keeping the environment right. You can’t let them get cold, you can’t let them get above 85 degrees, they need moisture, but not too much, and it can be a real pain keeping the spiders out of the big box! My big box is 2’x 2’x 4’ with a screen top that I place carpet over. For wooden boxes, I seal the inside with epoxy resin so they can’t squeeze out between boards and they can’t chew their way out. I line the top edge with vasine incase any decide to climb. The bottom of the box is covered in 2-4” of small mammal bedding (cellulose or aspen chips). I then place a piece of plywood on top of the bedding to put my skulls on. This way, the beetles can hide in the bedding but they can’t bury any part of the skull. This prevents excess moisture in the bedding and stops any staining of the skull. Remove as much meat as possible, remove the brain and eyes. And place the skull in to let them eat. When my colony is going full force, they can clean a deer in 3-5 days. I keep them fed in the office season with predator skulls, hamburger, etc. they can survive on dry dog food, but it is not ideal. I am having to move my office right now, so I have let all my beetles die. I will get a new colony going next fall.

How do you deal with the grease in the bone.

I soak it in a mixture of hot water, biz no bleach detergent, and dawn dish soap multiple times until no more grease comes out.

[Diehard]

Sorry, just seeing this thread! I have been swamped lately! Anyway, I use beetles. The biggest problems with beetles is keeping the environment right. You can’t let them get cold, you can’t let them get above 85 degrees, they need moisture, but not too much, and it can be a real pain keeping the spiders out of the big box! My big box is 2’x 2’x 4’ with a screen top that I place carpet over. For wooden boxes, I seal the inside with epoxy resin so they can’t squeeze out between boards and they can’t chew their way out. I line the top edge with vasine incase any decide to climb. The bottom of the box is covered in 2-4” of small mammal bedding (cellulose or aspen chips). I then place a piece of plywood on top of the bedding to put my skulls on. This way, the beetles can hide in the bedding but they can’t bury any part of the skull. This prevents excess moisture in the bedding and stops any staining of the skull. Remove as much meat as possible, remove the brain and eyes. And place the skull in to let them eat. When my colony is going full force, they can clean a deer in 3-5 days. I keep them fed in the office season with predator skulls, hamburger, etc. they can survive on dry dog food, but it is not ideal. I am having to move my office right now, so I have let all my beetles die. I will get a new colony going next fall.

Thanks for the response diehard! How do you regulate the temperature in the box? Do you use a heat lamp or some other heater?

I keep them in a temperature controlled environment if possible. I kept mine in the garage, and put a heater in front of the box during the winter. During summer, I had a few flyers, but kept them out of the house with a permethrin barrier spray.