Titanus
L3
Hey everyone!
First post here on the forums so forgive me if it's in the wrong section! I have a question that maybe some of you well versed beetle nuts can help me with! I live in western Washington and unfortunately there's a decided lack of oak available (which sucks for beetle enthusiasts like us!). There is however an abundance of massive maple trees that grow in the moist forests surrounding my house. I read on this site (LINK) that maple can be used for raising Eudicella sp. and was wondering if any of you know if it'd be suitable for any other species. I made up a trial batch of substrate consisting of approximately 50/50 well rotten maple wood and well decomposed maple leaves. I used a food processor to grind them all up into as fine a consistency as was possible and I have to say, it looks pretty decent! So I guess I have two questions really. First, is there anything I should add to the substrate to enrich it such as soil or compost (the local zoo here sells bags of 100% organic 3 year composted dung from their large grazing herbivores such as elephants/giraffes/hippos etc)? And last but definatly not least, what can I raise on this substrate? I was thinking about trying maybe either Gymnetis caseyi larvae from Peter Clausen or even some D.tityus/granti larvae from someone else on the forum. What do you guys think?
PS:
I was going to post some pics of the mix I made, but it turns out I'm more technologically challenged than I thought!
First post here on the forums so forgive me if it's in the wrong section! I have a question that maybe some of you well versed beetle nuts can help me with! I live in western Washington and unfortunately there's a decided lack of oak available (which sucks for beetle enthusiasts like us!). There is however an abundance of massive maple trees that grow in the moist forests surrounding my house. I read on this site (LINK) that maple can be used for raising Eudicella sp. and was wondering if any of you know if it'd be suitable for any other species. I made up a trial batch of substrate consisting of approximately 50/50 well rotten maple wood and well decomposed maple leaves. I used a food processor to grind them all up into as fine a consistency as was possible and I have to say, it looks pretty decent! So I guess I have two questions really. First, is there anything I should add to the substrate to enrich it such as soil or compost (the local zoo here sells bags of 100% organic 3 year composted dung from their large grazing herbivores such as elephants/giraffes/hippos etc)? And last but definatly not least, what can I raise on this substrate? I was thinking about trying maybe either Gymnetis caseyi larvae from Peter Clausen or even some D.tityus/granti larvae from someone else on the forum. What do you guys think?
PS:
I was going to post some pics of the mix I made, but it turns out I'm more technologically challenged than I thought!
