How To Keep And Raise Dermestid Beetles
This is a little guide on how to keep and breed dermestid beetles.
Setting Up The Enclosure
The enclosure must meet the following Requirements:
-Must be made from hard plastic or glass
-Must be deep enough yet high enough to provide space as the colony grows
-Must have a lid
Okay the two best enclosures for colonies are:Glass aquiriums and of course sterilight tubs.To make the inclosure more friendly to the beetles air needs to be supplied you can do this in two ways:
1-Cut out a portion of the lid and glue/tape screen onto the hole.
2-About 30-50 air holes need to be poked into the lid.
Now that we have air flowing we'll need some substrate.You can use any of the following:
-Paper towel
-Shredded paper
-Cotton
-Bran or oats
-Foam
-cat/dog food
-Cardboard
-cerial
Add about 1cm to 1inch of substrate depending on the size of your colony.
Once that is done it's time to move onto the next step.
Getting a colony started
Once you have your inclosure it's time to look for dermstids!Common places to find dermestids are:
-Under old laundry
-In carpets
-Under carpets
-in dog food and cat food dishes
Once you find some [around 5-10] You can place them into the inclosure.In about 1 week after adding them into their new home you can add some cat food/dogfood or ferret food this provides protein so the larvae can grow and turn into beetles.
Maintaining A Dermestid Colony
Maintaining a dermestid colony is easy!Once you have beetles you'll need to provide some moisture cricket gel or just some lettuce[avoid iceburg!] and even a carrot can be used to provid moisture.Avoid bannanas and potatoes as they are too moist and mould quickly and can kill a colony fast.Once the bedding is a fine powder it's time to sift!Sift over a icecream pail and put what ever stays in the strainer into the old enclosure.If you want to add some carrot or some ferret food to the icecream pale in a week sift it out and throw the old frass out.
If you follow these simple yet effective way to breed Dermestids you can have a colony going in 45 days!It takes 45-50 days from egg to adult.
If you have any conserns feel free to post them in a comment.
Setting Up The Enclosure
The enclosure must meet the following Requirements:
-Must be made from hard plastic or glass
-Must be deep enough yet high enough to provide space as the colony grows
-Must have a lid
Okay the two best enclosures for colonies are:Glass aquiriums and of course sterilight tubs.To make the inclosure more friendly to the beetles air needs to be supplied you can do this in two ways:
1-Cut out a portion of the lid and glue/tape screen onto the hole.
2-About 30-50 air holes need to be poked into the lid.
Now that we have air flowing we'll need some substrate.You can use any of the following:
-Paper towel
-Shredded paper
-Cotton
-Bran or oats
-Foam
-cat/dog food
-Cardboard
-cerial
Add about 1cm to 1inch of substrate depending on the size of your colony.
Once that is done it's time to move onto the next step.
Getting a colony started
Once you have your inclosure it's time to look for dermstids!Common places to find dermestids are:
-Under old laundry
-In carpets
-Under carpets
-in dog food and cat food dishes
Once you find some [around 5-10] You can place them into the inclosure.In about 1 week after adding them into their new home you can add some cat food/dogfood or ferret food this provides protein so the larvae can grow and turn into beetles.
Maintaining A Dermestid Colony
Maintaining a dermestid colony is easy!Once you have beetles you'll need to provide some moisture cricket gel or just some lettuce[avoid iceburg!] and even a carrot can be used to provid moisture.Avoid bannanas and potatoes as they are too moist and mould quickly and can kill a colony fast.Once the bedding is a fine powder it's time to sift!Sift over a icecream pail and put what ever stays in the strainer into the old enclosure.If you want to add some carrot or some ferret food to the icecream pale in a week sift it out and throw the old frass out.
If you follow these simple yet effective way to breed Dermestids you can have a colony going in 45 days!It takes 45-50 days from egg to adult.
If you have any conserns feel free to post them in a comment.
