Flesh-Eating Bugs

[Strutter769]

... and no personal connection to Lucy.

[stephanbakir]

That too :P do you have a hunter in your family?

[Strutter769]

Nope. On the contrary.. We're animal lovers.

[stephanbakir]

I'm an animal lover, and a hunter
When one of my animal dies, I generally try to preserve it in some way to use it for educational purposes, I've got an articulated blackthroat monitor skeleton I did last year, skulls from colubrids, pythons and chameleons etc... That way they don't just rot away and they can still benefit the hoby.

[Strutter769]

I usually do a private cremation, but that's not in the budget right now, so I thought of this as an alternative.

[KORBIN5895]

Originally Posted by Strutter769

Thanks Kevin for the link.. I called and I mentioned I would be freezing the carcass first and he said it was good because it'll toughen the meat a bit, like you said.

Yes, he also told me the body would need to be gutted and skinned. Any volunteers? I can't do that....

Sounds like Pete is getting soft. Lol!

[pdomensis]

Just curious but how is this a cheaper alternative than a DIY funeral pyre? You could also keep the head in a jar of formaldehyde.

[Strutter769]

I don't understand "funeral pyre"?

Do I need to worry about the euthanasia drugs affecting the beetle? I thought about only cleaning the skull, but I like to go "all or nothing." Lol I found someone somewhat local who will complete the entire process for me for $50+beetles. That's great, cuz Marcy is dead set on not having that odor anywhere near her! Lol

[stephanbakir]

I designed a dermestid enclosure that doesn't smell at all... costs about 15$

Anyone who cleans the bones for you will charge you money, its work... That being said, they wont articulate the skeletons for you because its a royal pain if you havent done it before.
50$ is a fair charge for a large skeleton, its actually pretty cheap. especially if its articulated.

[Strutter769]

Oh yeah, I get that. He initially was only interested in the preparation, but not the beetles. But he too thought $50 was fair.

How do I get my hands on one of your enclosures?

[stephanbakir]

You make them.
Its essentially a big critter keeper with 75% of the top covered in plastic (the beetles need good air flow, but I'll get to that) and the rest of the top covered in fine mesh screen (REALLY fine mesh, the larva can climb walls and are super tiny) on the side farthest from the screen top you make a hole big enough for a computer fan and you cover the fan in fine mesh so the beetles cant go out that way, the fan sucks air from the enclosure and out an exhaust tube and blows it outside your house.
The only time smell escapes the container is when you open it, mind you this is only useful if you have under 5-10,000 beetles but I doubt you will have anywhere close to that many.

[Strutter769]

Stephan, have you articulated skeletons?

[stephanbakir]

only a blackthroat and a ball python, but I cheated on both
if your colony is big enough to come at the skeleton from all sides and envelop it, they tend to eat the tissue first, then the cartilage. If you keep an eye on their work and pull the body at the right time you can remove the cartilage yourself and all the bones will be more or less in the right order when you get to them.

[Strutter769]

I was told 300 would do it in "weeks.' That's the smallest amount available.

[stephanbakir]

How big is this animal?
Doing it in "weeks" in one shot is a terrible idea, if its even a little humid it will rot in those places.
If its a large animal I'd prepare it was usual then chop it into pieces that will take 1-3 days and freeze the portions, be sure not to damage the bone.

Kodiak bones and bugs will send you 1200 for aprox 100$ with a great care guide. they over count, for the lols Kayla and I counted the colony I got and we were well over 1700 and that doesn't include the small nymphs that are too small to see/bother with