MITES AND DERMESTID COLONIES

How do mites gain access into a dermestid colony?

Are they brought in by flies? Are they attracted to dog food and walk in? Does humidity spikes bring them in? 

None of these are correct. 

Mites are tiny creatures that can move about in their enviroment but they have limits. They are incapable of long distance travel on their own. They need a specific humidity to thrive but they cannot sense  a colony that has high humidity.

They cannot 'find' dog or cat chow in a colony box and they certainly will not invade any colony that has high protein feed in it.

No matter what a person's experience is or what they assume none of the of the above have any place in reality! 

I have spent a lot of time studying mites and know how they can infest a dermestid colony and none these scenarios 'attract' mites.

However, there is a connection to dog or cat food because many producers of dry pet food have an issue with dermestid beetles which mean they also have mites. These processing plants are not inspected as they do not process human food. In this case the animal food is infested at the processing plant with mites and possibly wild dermestids.

High protein, high fat dog or cat food is an excellent food for dermestids

 but it needs to be treated like any other food item that goes into the box - but more than one person has probably infested their own colony by not knowing anything about mites so before you feed - freeze it or heat it to 120 degrees. 

These insects can have threats to their lives but the biggest problem they have is user ignorance. Too many people utilize these interesting animals and yet know very little about them.  

That is why I wrote the new book on dermestid beetles. There are answers to questions and ways to protect the well being of the colony. 

If you want to know more then visit Dermestidbeetles.info for more information on the NEWEST, MOST INFORMATIVE MANUAL ON RAISING DERMESTID BEETLES.

FALL AND HUNTING SEASONS - Time to consider a Euro Mount.

Hunting Season and Trophys

It is September and another hunting season is upon us and many people will be lucky and will want to have their trophy mounted. The cost of a full sized shoulder mount for either deer or elk can be very expensive. There is another choice and that is Euro mounts. These are quite reasonable and require a lot less wall space than the traditional mount.

It is surprising how many small taxidermy shops exclusively do this type of mounting. Many do the skull cleaning with dermestid beetles as they do not do any damage to the bones and there is not grease driven into the bone from boiling. The time it takes to do the job is generally a lot shorter than the traditional methods.

In my case I will be doing some flesh removal but no complete jobs. Too many things for that this year with my  new book on Dermestid Beetles coming out sometime this month. Having a complete

book on the care and feeding of Dermestid Beetles 

should be a big help for many new colony owners. At this time the book is over 120 pages of information, covering everything from building a containment to proper care and feeding to pests that can destroy a colony. This new book is the most complete guide available debunking a number of assumed thoughts on mites and feeding and ventilation. All information is based on good science not just conjecture.

I'll announce when it will be available on Amazon.

DERMESTID BEETLES - EASY TO RAISE

The title is semi-true, until you hear,  "my colony has mites or my colony is dying". Those words are typed or spoken a lot in forums that are frequented by people using the bugs for skull cleaning.

The truth about raising these animals is not many people really know much about them. They feed them, water them sometimes and then walk away. These small creatures tend to survive until they don't.

It's a shame because dermestids are an interesting  insect that left their tooth marks on dinosaur bones and continue to survive today in pretty much the same form.