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Dermestid beetle

Discussion in 'Bowhunting Talk' started by merlinbyler, Dec 9, 2017.

  1. merlinbyler

    merlinbyler Weekend Warrior

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    merlinbyler, Dec 9, 2017
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  3. Junior

    Junior Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Never used them personally but would definitely rather have my skull mounts beatled than boiled! Only had 1 skull come back to me with bugs in it yet! LOL

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    Junior, Dec 9, 2017
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  4. merlinbyler

    merlinbyler Weekend Warrior

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    I hear ya. Local taxidermy does boiling and he is wanting me to take the euro part of his taxidermy work over. So all my euro's have been boiled but he recomended me checking out the beetle option.

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    merlinbyler, Dec 9, 2017
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  5. Junior

    Junior Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Good luck to you! Sounds like an interesting adventure!

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    Junior, Dec 9, 2017
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  6. Zimboydevon

    Zimboydevon Weekend Warrior

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    I had beetles and did skulls that way for several years.. its definitely the way to go if you plan to clean the whole skull and leave the inside nose pieces in tact. That being said I had quite the learning curve.. they are great when they are doing what they are supposed to do. What gets frustrating is when you have several freezers full of heads and the beetles don't wanna eat anything...
     
    Zimboydevon, Dec 10, 2017
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  7. merlinbyler

    merlinbyler Weekend Warrior

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    So what did you figure out the problem was??

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    merlinbyler, Dec 10, 2017
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  8. Junior

    Junior Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Im just curious what is the life expectance on the bugs and how much can they eat?

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    Junior, Dec 10, 2017
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  9. Jrob140

    Jrob140 Weekend Warrior

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    Did my first euro this year, I boiled the head for 2 hours, pressure washed it, then reboiled it for another 30 minutes and it turned out perfect for me. I boiled it in water only and then if I decide to I'll go back and paint it with the 40% peroxide solution.

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]


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    Jrob140, Dec 10, 2017
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  10. Zimboydevon

    Zimboydevon Weekend Warrior

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    well for the beetles to do their job you have to have all stages of the life cycle present.. actually the larva do most of the eating, not the beetle. when you have a gap in that life cycle, is when it can be frustrating. There are different things that can affect that... maybe fly eggs get brought in on a skull.. or maybe you get mites in your container from having a skull in too wet, or for me I had another kind of beetle somehow get into my container and I had to kill everything and start over.. and sometimes they just don't eat a lot for whatever reason. pretty amazing critters tho
     
    Zimboydevon, Dec 11, 2017
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