I got a couple of elk skulls back from a recent hunt, but they weren't cleaned (I thought I told the guy to clean them first!).
I tried boiling one of them clean, but can't seem to break the fascia covering the skull down.

Does anyone have some 'spare' dermestid larvae they could send me? There are no museums or universities willing to do this for me (damned bunny-huggers!).

TIA,
George

[ 02-05-2003, 20:52: Message edited by: GeorgeS ]

Try Carolina Biological Supply co. or Ward's. They used to list them in their catalog at one time.

Thanks, I found both of them online. Now, I have to find a container big enough for the elk antlers that closes tightly enough to keep the little buggers in place.

George

George, no need for a huge container : you can use a more reasonably sized recipient and put a 2" wide layer of vaseline on the top of the walls and on the base of the antlers : insects cannot climb on greasy surfaces, and thus they won't escape. That's what I do with my cockroaches breeding enclosures, and I don't have a single roach loose in the home (fortunately).

Merci, mon ami, but what the hell are you raising cockroaches for????

George

He's probably raising them to feed insectivorous reptiles or arachnids.

I would also guess he is raising the Madagascan species.

An easier roach to maintain, in my opinion, is the Death's Head roach, Blaberus cranifer. This is a flightless species and cannot climb slick surfaces such as Rubbermaid tubs, etc.

If interested, I can provide sexually mature adults once the weather warms up and shipping is safe.

Regarding the dermestid beetles, you do not want these little beasties to escape! The damage they can do is incredible. King Baboon's advice is sound. The Vaseline barrier works quite handily.

I had a setup at university years ago where I had implemented a water barrier using a container within a container; a moat, if you will. The little shits simply floated across the water and climbed up the exterior container and went off on walkabout!

Subsequently, I had some serious explaining to do

Hey George,
I would just put the bugs in big plastic bags and tape them up with the skulls inside, they will have them clean in no time if you have enough bugs.

George,

Tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes and geckos don't feed on veggies, and I am bound to raise insects to feed them. Cockroaches are far easier to breed than locusts or crickets for instance, stink less, and make less noise. I find them less palatable to certain sensitive spiders though.

Holmes,

I currently breed only Nauphoeta cinerea, and am very pleased with this fast-growing, fast-expanding (and fast-escaping ) small species. I used to deal with Blaberus craniifer and Gromphadorrhina portentosa, I find these big bugs very convenient to feed adult tarantulas in the >12 cm legspan range. I have a strong preferency for the hissers though, bigger, more meat / less chitin, and the really huge tarantulas such as Theraphosa, Lasiodora, Citharischius, etc. love'em .

George,

Such is life living in NYC eh! No back yard to bury the skulls in? .

Best Regards,

JohnTheGreek

John,

There are a lot of places to bury skulls, but most of the good ones already have bodies in them.

It's just that the ground is so frozen around here right now that there isn't any insect activity.

George

Hello King Baboon,

I have not worked with nor am I familiar with Nauphoeta cinerea. Sounds like a great prey item for the geckos and other similarly sized insectivores.

My need for adult Death's Head roaches is limited. I use a lot of sub-adults, however, their reproductive and growth rate requires constant culling.

Sounds like quite the menagerie you have there! My experience with arachnids is very limited but I'll bet they are rather fascinating to maintain.

Regards,

Holmes

Holmes,

Unfortunately I am not a 'tarantuler' anymore since yesterday night : sold them all . I used to deal with more than 80 species, more than a thousand spiders at one time, and gave birth to tens of thousands of spiderlings.
I am leaving my job to start my own business, and have to move. Problem is that I will have to stay at my mother's place for a few months, and she will only tolerate my pueblan milk and my cornsnake. I had to get rid of arachnids, and my beloved mangrove . Still have a few geckoes for sale.
But yesterday I visited the 'zoo' of the guy who was buying my remaining T's, and I fell in love with some of his puppies : he has a pair of Cerastes cerastes - beautiful -, a pair of Trimeresurus albolabris - WOW - and a pair of Elaphe taeniura frisei - WOW WOW WOW - .
I have always liked taeniura and always wanted to have some, but my dormant interest for the hotties awakened yesterday.
Sounds like within a few months will be for me a new start in the nasty critters' world
By the way, you seem to have plenty of cool stuff at your place, come on, tell me!

George,

I thought the best places for bodies were concrete foundations and the East River LOL!

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

John,

That's fine for 'planned burials', but the spur of the moment affairs require loose soil. It makes digging easier.

FYI, in the 1970s, one of the first signs of spring in NYC would be when the bodies would float up to the surface of the river.

George

George,

OH to be in Manhattan now that Spring is here

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

George,

Any luck cleaning up those skulls yet?

I have some that were clean and boiled but not bleached...I am having reall problems getting them white now....

Regards,

Peter

To get them white use #40 hair Peroxide. Place paper towels all over the bone that you want bleached, then use an atomizer bottle to liberally wet the towels. After they are wet then wrap the skull in plastic bag/s and seal around the base of the horns with tape. The idea is to have a medium to hold the peroxide against the bone and a plastic barrier to keep towels from drying out. Leave for a couple of days then check for desired whiteness. If the skull was done a long time ago and is off colored it may not come completely white, however, it will be much whiter than before.

Jeremy,

As we speak, the skulls have been wrapped in cotton wool and soaked in 60% Peroxide for the last 24hours! One has come out ok..the other seems to be black "inside" the bone so I will leave it another 24 hours or so...if that does not work I may try boiling it in peroxide and see if that helps!

Regards

Peter

Pete,

The skulls are in the backyard, buried under about two feet of snow. They aren't going to get cleaned up until the "Great Spring Thaw".

George