Obtaining Dermestid Beetles:

If you are within Australia, you can buy Dermestid beetles directly from me! I have two different options available for purchase on my website, as a full Colony Kit or as a Booster Pack. The colony kit is perfect for a beginner, as it contains everything you need to house and grow your beetles (aside from food), and is small enough that it can be kept in the house or easily moved. The Booster Pack is more suited to someone either building their own colony housing, or wanting to add more beetles to an existing colony.

If you are not in Australia, I would recommend looking online for a listing for Dermestid Beetles in your own country. They are often kept by Museums and taxidermists, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to track down someone who keeps them to buy from.

Alternatively they can be found all over the world in the wild, so with a little research you should be able to track some down in nature if you are determined enough!

Conditions:

In order to provide the optimal growth conditions for your dermestids, it is important to understand their needs. Dermestids love warm, dark and dry conditions, so it is best to keep them somewhere warm, out of the sun and weather. At temperatures above 28*C they can fly, so in my experience it is best to keep them around 25*C - 27*C.

Dermestids require a number of different substrates in their enclosure in order to meet the optimal conditions for the health of your colony, and also to maximise the population limit. They love to burrow and dig, and prefer dry environments that can retain heat. I prepare all of my colonies by creating three layers of substrate - polystyrene at the bottom, recycled paper pellets in the middle, and shredded aspen on the top.

Dermestids love burrowing through polystyrene, so adding a couple of chunks into the enclosure is great for them. In particular, when the larvae begin to pupate, this provides a safe medium for them to hide in. As they chew through it, lots of tiny chunks of polystyrene build up, and so for this reason I place it at the bottom of the enclosure. In a large colony (like my converted freezer builds) I will usually add 3-4 layers of polystyrene to make around a 10cm deep layer.

The next layer of substrate to put down are compressed recycled paper pellets. These pellets are highly absorptive and will help to dry out any specimens that may retain moisture. They absorb odours too, which helps to keep your enclosure from smelling at least a little bit! I will usually add enough paper pellets to make a 2-3cm deep layer.

The top layer will be shredded aspen bedding. Aspen makes a fantastic substrate for the dermestids as it retains a lot of warmth, they can easily burrow through it, and it will absorb any oils that may sweat out of the specimens. It is also the only wood pulp available that is safe for dermestids, as all other available are either treated with chemical insecticides or contain natural insecticides (such as pine).

Watering:

Dermestids obtain most of the moisture they require from the food they eat, but from time to time it is good to give them a little extra. The best way to do this is to place a paper towel over any food in the enclosure and give it a SINGLE mist with a water sprayer. In summer, or if they are somewhere warm, it is best to do this at most once a week. Any more and it can put the colony at risk, as it can encourage the growth of mould. In cooler months, or cooler climates, they require less water as moisture from the air can supply them with most of their needs. In this case it is best to water them no more than once every two weeks. Another option for watering the dermestids can be to place an upturned lid in the enclosure, with a damp cotton bud in it. This way water is always available for them. Just make sure that there is no puddle of water around the cotton ball, because the dermestids can drown very easily if they get wet.

I personally don’t water my beetles at all if I am providing them with constant food. My beetles live in thermoregulated and automatically vented converted freezers, and have a steady supply of food available to them. At most they’ll go 3 days without. I’ve not found a need to water them in this enclosure, however when I used to keep them inside where we had ducted heating they did tend to dry out a little more and so watering once a week tops became necessary.

Feeding:

Dermestids are very hungry little insects. The beetles (adult dermestids) eat very little relative to their size, but the larvae have a particularly voracious appetite and are capable of eating up to 5 times their own body weight each day. They prefer to eat meat over organs and skin, and will not consume fur or feathers. For this reason, it is important to skin and eviscerate specimens that you intend to feed to the dermestids.

In order to maintain the optimal conditions of the colony, and reduce potential odours, I have found it best to dry specimens out as much as possible before feeding to the beetles. This can be done by sitting the prepared specimen in front of a fan for a couple of days to dry. A drier specimen will not have as much of an impact on the humidity of the colony, and will also extend the decomposition time and reduce the potential smell of the colony.

In a pinch, you can feed the dermestid beetles food scraps from both raw and cooked meat, and also dry dog or cat pellets if you have no other alternatives available.

Growing your Colony:

Given the best conditions, a colony of dermestids can grow very quickly. An adult female is capable of laying 5 eggs each day, and upon hatching each larvae will grow to adulthood within 5 to 7 weeks. As these young larvae grow, they will shed their exoskeleton between 5 and 11 times before pupating to become adults. They breed more frequently and grow more quickly at around 25*C, and especially so when there is a constant food supply. To an extent you can slow them down if you need to, by placing them somewhere cooler. As your colony grows you will notice that they clean specimens with increasing speed.

A colony that is provided with a constant food source will generally grow much faster than one with an inconsistent food source. Hungry beetles with no other options to feed may begin to cannibalise the eggs and pupae. Providing additional food, and safe spaces to pupate, along with warmer temperatures is the best way to optimise the growth of your colony.

Cleaning your Colony:

Cleaning out a colony is one of the harder parts of dermestid beetle management. What I find is the best way to do this is to starve the beetles for a few days, then provide them with some food on an egg carton. All the beetles will rush up to feed, and pile up on the egg carton. I’ll wait an hour or so, collect the egg carton, then shake the beetles and larvae into another container. Then I’ll place the egg carton and food back into the colony, wait another hour or so, and repeat. I’ll usually do this for a couple of days, or until theres very few beetles climbing onto the egg carton.

If you have multiple colonies, one option would be to place the beetles removed from one colony straight into the other. Alternatively, you could set up a new colony to transfer the beetles into. This is especially easy if you are using sterilite-style storage containers, as you can rotate them. If not, just ensure that the beetles that have been removed from the colony have some food available to them during the transfer, and some polystyrene to chew and burrow into while they wait.

Once you have successfully evacuated as many of the beetles and larvae as possible, you can then remove the existing substrate from the enclosure. I would HIGHLY recommend wearing a dust mask or respirator for this process, as the tiny little sheds from the developing larvae can become airborne and really aren’t great for your lungs should you breathe them in. I use a scoop to transfer all the substrate into a large garbage bag, however with a smaller colony you may be able to simply pour it straight in. This can go straight into the garbage bin, or you can sift out all of the larger pieces of recycled paper pellets and aspen bedding for composting. I would not recommend composting the finer powder though as it will contain all of the chewed up particles of polystyrene in it, which is not ideal for the garden. More on this below.

Once you’ve cleaned out your colony, give it a little wipe down to remove any dust or smells, and set it up as new. As soon as the substrates are all back in there, add some food and transfer the beetles back into their new enclosure.

If you wanted to try to make use of all of the frass (beetle poop) and waste from the colony, you would need to manually seperate out the polystyrene from the rest. This can be done with a large container filled with water. By dumping in the sifted contents of the colony, the frass and waste will absorb water and sink, while the polystyrene will float. After some stirring and sitting, remove anything that floats and bag it up for disposal, and the dirty mess of water can be poured onto the garden or on the compost. This will smell pretty average however so I wouldn’t recommend doing this if you like having a good relationship with your neighbours!