can I use this?

G

Greg

L1
Hello everyone, I was hoping some of the more expereinced here could give me some input on the pictures as to if it is suitable for Stag grubs? I'm new to all of this and have been reading as much as I can, but find alot of conflicting info and personal expereinces. after taking the photos, I chopped into the wood and found what looked similar to mealworms, maybe wireworms or click beetle grubs? The fallen tree in question is an ash. I'd like to rear Lucanus elephus with this log. Should I grind it up as you do with Dynastes, or give it to them it chunks? a mixture of loam and chunks? maybe the log isn't suitable at all and I need to keep looking but if it is, please let me know what I need to do with it to make it usable for grubs. would it work only for specific species of stags, or would it be more of a universal piece should I decide to raise species of stags outside of Lucanus? Thank you in advance.

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Still looks pretty raw to me. The near perfect rotting log can be torn apart with your hands with ease and not have a lot of hard chunks in it. If you gather a suitable log, soak it in water for 24 hours. This is what foreign breeders do to moisten the log and kill any big pests that can be inside. An example would be centipedes. When you set up your container for stag beetle breeding, fill the bottom with substrate, add the log, compress and fill the container with substrate to the top. Then add leaves to the top so the female has something to grab onto if she flips over. Don't forget to add beetle jelly! For rhinoceros beetles, the log would have to be perfectly decayed. For example, the last few weeks I've been going into the wilderness with buckets and tearing apart logs that are rotten. I came out with a good amount! However, this was not ready to use for rhinoceros beetles just yet. I had to hand shred this substrate to my liking and ferment it. Just after two weeks of adding the necessary ingredients, the substrate stopped generating heat. It was a dark brown color and smelled earthy. This is how I figured it was ready. Dynastinae need wood with significant decay. If you have success with a rhinoceros beetle breeding operation, make sure to add rotten oak leaf flake to larvae containers.

 
Thank you for the reply. The left end (base) is very spongey and crumbles in your hand. is that what I'm looking for? if so can I use the portions of a log like this? the further I dug with my hands or chopped into with a claw hammer to the center of the log the tougher the wood got which I assumed was too raw as you put it. Ive done Dynastes and some flower beetles years ago and that black/dark soil-like decomp wood is easy to find. Its what they are calling "white" rotted wood I'm having trouble pinning down. Ive read to look for shelf fungus on logs and that is suitable for stags, but the few I came across today were much tougher than what I have pictured. a good hammer blow only puts a small dent in it. I plan to start out with grubs, not adults. from what I understand the female adult needs whole pieces to lay eggs, but do the grubs also need logs or pieces mixed in the substrate as well? I was thinking to use the decomp. "white" wood after running it through a food processor add chopped oak leaves and maybe humus/decomp. cow manure.

 
You can chop it up and feed it to the grubs. They do not require chunks of wood. Anything that's soft enough for hands to tear apart is suitable, and even some that aren't that soft can be used as well. Chunks can work too, but it's harder to fill the container completely. If there is too much space left with no substrate, the larvae can feel insecure, etc. The soil-like stuff isn't suitable for stags.

 
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