Flesh Eating Beetles! Starting a Dermestid Beetle Colony to Clean Bones and Skulls 

I promise I have one in the works! It’s just cold here right now and I’m hibernating 😂

Free critters are the best! When we bought our farm there was an old shed full of junk. We found a half empty bag of old oats and it was FULL of mealworms! I made my kids grab cups and we raced the chickens trying to grab them all as they spilled out of the bag. 😂

None of the holes seem to be big enough for them to fit through. They do fly around inside occasionally so I’m glad I have a screen on top that’s for sure! 😂

Mine did fine. I thought I had killed them over winter cuz they slowed down, but I’m thinking like the mealworms maybe they kind of hibernate? They don’t seem to mind the heat in my garage either and since I raise chicks in there under heat lamps it’s actually often warmer in there than outside. I am however getting rid of my colony. Not because I don’t like them, but I’m expanding other operations on the farm and only have so much time and energy. I haven’t done enough with them to make them more profitable than my other farm projects, so I’m passing them on to somebody who will put them to better use. I still consider them incredibly easy and would recommend them to somebody who isn’t quite all over the place like I am 😂

They unfortunately can

65-80 degrees is best.

Honestly not sure, the conditions in FL are so much different. I have friends and family down there and things y’all can’t grow or store down there is always so different. If you do it, let me know how it goes for you! 😊

I personally would not. I’ve had wild dermestid beetles get into my mealworm colonies, and I feel like I end up with more mealworms chewed up, so I always assume it’s the wild beetles and clean the colonies when they appear.

@@ElbonMillFarm Thank you so much for interesting and reply. ❤❤🌹🌿😊

+Arerona I would think so, honestly I’m not positive though.

yes, but don't expect them to eat a whole pork chop so fast

Mine are in my critter room in my garage, which already has a bit of a stink from my mealworms and baby poultry during hatching season 😂

My colony was in my garage, so nothing was able to get to them.

You may need to rehydrate the flesh. They don’t seem to like dried out meat.

@@ElbonMillFarm would you be kind enough to let me know how to rehydrate the owl? Thanks.

Have you looked at it lately? If it’s just in a bag in a shed, it may have rotted by now. If that’s the case, easiest thing to do would be to spread the gunk out on a screen and pick the bones out then clean them yourself. Unless it’s frozen, I doubt the carcass is fully intact. If it’s not rotted but dried I would carefully soak in warm water then give it to the beetles after the flesh is soft again.

@@ElbonMillFarm Understood. Thank you for your time and advice. I really appreciate it.

You’re welcome! 😊 Good luck!

I purchased 1,000 larvae for $20 from www.rainbowmealworms.net

@@ElbonMillFarm wow what a good price. Enjoy the beetles.

@@patrifilms I know, I was super excited to find them that cheap. 😊 They’ve already started producing new larvae, so I didn’t even bother ordering any more.

@@ElbonMillFarm Yes!! The colony is going to get big soon, my colony was only 50 this summer when I bougth them and now they are x2 o x3 more.

That’s good to know! I have an abundance of eggs usually, so if I run out of bones for them to clean, I can do eggs. 😊

@@ElbonMillFarm I've sent hem eat raw, also. A colony of beetles can take on two dozen eggs pretty easy.

I haven’t done a new video but they’re doing well. They’ve got a deer jawbone right now and have begun reproducing, so I’m hoping by spring my numbers will have really picked up. facebook.com/633498066720599/posts/4887283818008648/

@@ElbonMillFarm awesome, glad to hear. I have mine on the way and have a stockpile of different skulls for them. Looking forward to starting a new hobby.

@@ElbonMillFarm also, what temp and humidity have you been keeping them at?

Well honestly, I just wing everything I do, so I don’t actually know what my temp and humidity is in there currently. 😬 I’ll try to find one of my thermometer/hygrometers and put it in there. I think they recommend keeping them around 70 degrees and I think 50% humidity. I just kind of watch to make sure they seem active and the bedding isn’t getting wet and moldy.

@@ElbonMillFarm awesome, glad they're healthy and doing good work for ya

Hi, I recently sold the colony. I have too many projects going on and needed their space for other things. They were easy to maintain though. My only problem with them was occasionally flies would get in there and so I’d have maggots too, but that was probably location and the type of tank I used for them. Plus the maggots helped things go faster so it wasn’t really a big deal other than being gross. I may do them again in the future, I just currently needed their shelf for other more financially beneficial farm projects.

@@ElbonMillFarm good to know about the flies bit. 🥰

+Zenno Zangetsu well…I think I killed them unfortunately. I’m hoping some eggs might hatch and I can start over.

@@ElbonMillFarm Ahhhhhhhhh, I see, I see. Thanks for the update!

I’m not sure exactly which cat you saw. We have five and they’re often underfoot when I try to get things done. 😂 They’re all girls, and their names are Pip, Chaos, Bob, Stephen, and Rasputin, and for the record I only named one of those! My kids did the others 🤣

@@ElbonMillFarm it looks like a brown and black calico in the background lol. Thanks for the informative video actually. How often do you change to wood chips for the beetles?

I see her now! That’s Bob. She’s a weirdo 😬 And I haven’t had to change my wood chips yet. I’ve been placing the skulls on top of the styrofoam so the chips haven’t gotten gross yet.

Hey, it was free, I use what I’ve got 😂

I hear ya, I’m busy Bitchen cause I need to drop the cash or build one, pretty certain it’ll go with the later.

Having critters certainly isn’t cheap 😬 That’s why I got the beetles, to make a little money on the side from cleaned skulls. I won’t get rich, but I might manage to buy a bag of feed or two 😂