Sarah's Skulls and skeletons

The biggest commercial dermestid beetle breeder of the European Union!

Born from a hobby that kept on getting bigger together with the growing number of beetles.

What are dermestid beetles?

Dermestid beetles are the variety of beetle species within the genus Dermestes. They are quite small, the adults generally not bigger that 10 mm. These beetles are nature's cleaning crew by eating carcasses and that is something that characterizes them. The larvae as well as the adults feed on animal products such as meat, but they absolutely won't bite you in your living fingers while handling them. They are a relatively easy species to keep, even when you are new to beetle breeding.

These beetles can be part of the cleaner crew in bioactive reptile terraria and insect enclosures. They will feed on dead insects and sheds. Some species can also feed on plant materials including grains. Those species are more able to survive on a diet of kibble when carrion is scarce. All species are different in their qualities.

Due to their special diet, dermestid beetles can help you create museum-quality animal skeletons. The beetles work delicate enough leave bone undamaged and even cartilage often stays intact. Pet owners that would like a pet memorials in the shape of a skull or bones, may find the thought reassuring that their deceased pet is fuzed into a new life cycle during the cleaning proces.

My dermestid beetles

My name is Sarah Mahie and I am an ecologist by profession. I gained my first colony of dermestid beetles, the species Dermestes frischii, during my Bachelor study in Applied Biology. It's that exact colony that is still thriving in my care since 2017! My interest in these beetle species grew quick and two years later, in 2019, I gained a colony of Dermestes lardarius followed by Dermestes maculatus. And it didn't stop there. In 2020 I established a colony of Dermestes undulatus and in 2021 a colony of Dermestes haemorrhoidalis. The newest addistions are from 2024, them being Dermestes murinus and Dermestes ater. I would love to travel in the future to obtain other species.

All dermestid beetles are kept in homogeneous colonies of a singular species (besides the ones kept in my bioactive terrarium) and they are clean of pests like ham beetles or grain mites. They can be carefully shipped throughout the European Union. You can buy different species of dermestid beetles in the shop.