Like many of you, I have been making flake soil for awhile now. I generally use Traeger Oak Pellets or Lumberjack Oak Pellets. Occasionally in the past I have used Mesquite and Maple when the store was out of Oak. It seem to work the same but I can't say for sure if it affected larvae in a way I did not notice? I would like to hear the opinions of all you flake soil makers and what you think of using something besides Oak. Like Maple or Mesquite, etc. Have you used other hardwoods and have you noticed any kind of difference in your larvae? Occasionally the store I purchase from does not have Oak and I'm worried that getting something like Maple can cause an issue. Thank you for sharing!
BBQ Pellets, Oak vs other hardwood
- Thread starter Garin
- Start date
On this website -> https://beetleguide.wordpress.com/substrate/
There is something written pertaining to that topic.
There is something written pertaining to that topic.
Goliathus
Pachnoda
There are various varieties of hardwood pellets that should work just as well as oak (including maple, apple, pecan, hickory, mesquite, cherry), so long as they're adequately processed through fermentation. It's the level of decomposition that really matters. Oak is just the standard for beetle substrate production in some parts of the world due to availability, and not necessarily because of any special properties. I've never tried using mesquite pellets, but incidentally, mesquite is the natural host tree of Megasoma punctulatum. For Megasoma sleeperi, it's Palo Verde.
Yeah, as mentioned on the website, there are even known occurrences of Dynastes tityus larvae being found in pine trees, which is a softwood. There are many other species that have host plants as larvae that are not oak, like coconut trees. The reason why oak is desirable is mostly to do with the lack of many special properties found in other trees, like the Mahogony wood having high insecticidal property and high tannin content. The darker hardwoods and pine trees are mostly an issue due to having antifungal, antimicrobial, and insecticidal properties. They would definitely slow down the composting of your flake soil due to that. Also, the insecticidal properties of the wood doesn't prevent it from being eventually used by the larvae when broken down enough. Most of these compounds that are harmful are alkaloids, which should theoretically eventually decompose and be in very minute amounts in the soil.
Honestly, if you are rearing Dynastes tityus, I wouldn't worry too much. Those guys are known to be able tolerate a lot of different substrate types.
Honestly, if you are rearing Dynastes tityus, I wouldn't worry too much. Those guys are known to be able tolerate a lot of different substrate types.
Goliathus
Pachnoda
On that note, I actually found termites living in an old Cherry-laurel stump this past weekend. I was kind of surprised at that, since the wood of this tree is toxic. But, the stump was quite old and rotten, and apparently, the poisons had long since faded away - enough that termites could inhabit the wood, anyway. I didn't see any other organisms in it.
Very interesting! It does make a lot of sense though. When a tree gets weak and sick it is more susceptible to insect invasion because it can't produce as many toxins to fend off pests, and the death and decay of a tree is essentially an extreme version of being weak and sick.
Goliathus
Pachnoda
From that article:
Secondary Fermented Flake Soil
This type of substrate is sawdust that has been fermented twice. It is very dark and black, very close to garden soil. This is the ideal fermentation level for rhino beetles, such as those in the genus Dynastes...
In my experience, double-fermented sawdust isn't really flake soil anymore - it's basically become DIRT! I suppose that the level of decomposition that hobbyists get from single fermentation might vary quite a bit, depending upon the set-up and overall technique. Also - as a safety precaution before using it, I generally allow my flake soil to just sit and continue to "mature" for months after fermentation is completed, which might produce a somewhat similar effect as double-fermentation.
A lot of beetle substrate manufacturers in Asia will double ferment the flake soil in order to make it look essentially like dirt. Here is a popular manufacturer's beetle substrate page https://www.fortech.co.jp/shop/M/M_index.htm
The descriptions sometimes references primary or secondary fermentation. They even sell a product that they say can be used to make secondary fermented soil. As you can see from the site, the fermentation level and darkness varies a lot depending on the use case.
It is funny though, that you could probably use some of these to grow plants because they are essentially garden soil at this point lol