Dermestid Beetles for European Mounts

I have an established colony of beetles that I can split from.

I can sell "2 oz." starter colonies that will take about 2 months to expand to the point they can clean a deer skull in 5-7 days (my colony started this way by being fed duck, turkey, coyote, beaver, otter skulls, raw meat scraps etc.). This 2 oz. includes approximately 1000 adults and multiple stages of larvae. I'll then pack in cotton bedding which will contain thousands of eggs (they are too small to actually see).

Care is easy: I keep them in the basement in a clear sterilite tote just big enough to put a skull in, cotton balls for bedding, temperatures above 60 (or they won't eat much) but less than 80 (or they'll fly away), and a spritz of water 2-3 times a week. Smell is not an issue unless you overfeed them, even then it goes away in just a day or so (my wife's only mentioned the smell twice ). I should mention that beetles are not magic, you still have to skin the head and remove the eyes and brains (pliers, a sharp knife, and a coat hanger make this quick work). I'll let them eat most everything off the skull, take it out to soak in water for a day, and put it back in with the beetles. I end up with a nice natural bone skull.

Cost is $50 picked up. I can mail them as long as temps are above 50 or you can pick them up in Northeast AL. Add $10 to ship. If you are in a hurry to clean deer skulls and want a bigger quantity we can talk about that, but I can only pull so many from my colony. If you want to talk more about them PM your phone number. If you end up buying some I will provide you with a 'how-to' sheet with these details spelled out. Thanks.

Man. I may be interested. Just scared to keeps these things at my house with Taxidermy in the house. Have heard they will destroy it if they get out

Hmm yea they might. I keep them in the basement and a buddy of mine keeps his in a shed with a heat lamp. I'd recommend freezing the skulls again after the beetles have it cleaned.

Do you do beetle work? If so, pm me your contact info.

This is a post on here that most people outside the deer hunting world wouldn't believe is a real "Thing."

definitely real - just not done that much anymore since there's other non-insect ways to do a skull mount

Just curious about this - if taxidermy mounts have tanned-finished hides and no other meat/fat or anything other than a form, how could these beetles destroy them? If a skull has to be skinned and the eyes removed for the beetles to work normally then a taxidermy mount wouldn't have anything for them to eat?

Or would they just gnaw on it anyway?


I have a hog head frozen that I'd love done but don't have time to skin it. It's been in my freezer almost three years. My wife's forgotten about it, thankfully.

The skin, eyes, brain and excess flesh are removed to make the beetles more efficient and reduce rot and smell. They’d definitely eat that stuff, but it would be a slow process and rot and smell would kick in. As for mounts, the beetle larvae actually prefer a drier consistency in their food choices, thus the belief that hides would be in jeopardy. Most taxidermists who use them place a skinned head in front of a fan to get the flesh to a jerky like consistency. It’s a neat hobby, I had a colony for about a year but sold them to one of foldemup’s friends when I was moving to a new home with nowhere to keep them.

Can you not just stick deer head in a giant Ant bed?

Beetles without a doubt do a superior job than all other methods. That is why museums use them. That being said, the skull cleaning beetles are also known as carpet beetles and can wreck a house.

You can, but doesn't work as well. And the squirrels and birds and coyotes, etc destroy the rack.

You can if you're not in a hurry. I did a doe head once just as an experiment. Found a big ant hill at the club, set the head on it and covered with a 5 al bucket with a cinder block on top (to keep critters away). Came back 6mo later and removed the bucket. Ants had built the hill up to totally fill the bucket. Took a stick and duck the skull out and hosed it off and it was totally clean and no smell.

Yeah if ya want a dog to take off with em

Oh my, good stuff here.

Yes, beetles clean EVERYTHING off the skull without having to boil, pressure wash, or pick at them. These other ways can cause the skull to separate and destroy the fine nasal bones and just don't get them completely clean and they take time. I got sick of doing them this way and spending so much time and propane. Boil them too much the split and fall apart and boil them too little and you have to pick at them and not to mention boiling takes the stain off the antlers.

As for leaving them outside... that's a gamble I'm not taking on a deer I care about. You never hear the stories about partially cleaned heads, sunbaked heads, and heads that got drug off.

I've got beetles and you've got last year's spike still in the freezer...

If you buy beetles now, a bag of cotton balls, and a plastic tote you can grow a colony right in time for bow season.

No funny. Been there and done that.

Beetles are the best way to do it for sure. GLWS!

They are finishing up my alligator right now, saved me $300 over having it sent off.

I've read about these things. Seems like a good idea other than the smell

man, I may be calling you next year after I kill my bull.

My bulls coasting me $200 from a guy that does it on the side. Local taxi a lot more than that

My processor in Lincoln does the European mounts for $40, and they look good, no way i'm fooling with it for that price.

Maaaaaan, let's multiply $40 by all of the skulls I have done just for myself....$720, and that may be conservative.