Sawdust?

A

aspenentomology

Pupa
So I have a few stupid questions on substrate-making for larvae. Sawdust seems to be a primary component of fermented substrate, but where do you get it? The obvious answer is to make it, but how would you do that without a big machine? My grandpa does woodworking and gets lots of sawdust from that, but it's not sterile. So my main question is how do you get sterile sawdust?

 
I am new to beetle keeping myself but...

I have heard people use Traeger-brand wood pellets to make sawdust? You pour hot water on it and they expand. You're supposed to use them for grilling for smoky wood flavor, but this website explains how to make them into beetle food: here. I have not yet personally tried it myself... but I assume it's safe or this person would not be using them for their insects!

They are food safe so I assume they are fine for insects. Amazon advertises they have no binding agents or additives so I think they are literally just compressed wood sawdust into little pellets.

If you don't want to try that, best I can say is to rot your wood until it's soft enough to be broken by hand and then mash it with a flat hammer to make particles. That's what I did with mine and it got pretty fine and very dusty, but my oak wood was also allowed to rot for several weeks before I broke it up.

 
GelGelada said:
I am new to beetle keeping myself but...

I have heard people use Traeger-brand wood pellets to make sawdust? You pour hot water on it and they expand. You're supposed to use them for grilling for smoky wood flavor, but this website explains how to make them into beetle food: here. I have not yet personally tried it myself... but I assume it's safe or this person would not be using them for their insects!

They are food safe so I assume they are fine for insects. Amazon advertises they have no binding agents or additives so I think they are literally just compressed wood sawdust into little pellets.

If you don't want to try that, best I can say is to rot your wood until it's soft enough to be broken by hand and then mash it with a flat hammer to make particles. That's what I did with mine and it got pretty fine and very dusty, but my oak wood was also allowed to rot for several weeks before I broke it up.
Click to expand...
Wow, I never realized it was that simple. Thanks for the reply! 

 
You will need traeger oak pellets, wheat bran or flour, active dry yeast, and water. Using a plastic tub would help in the process.

  • Place pellets in the plastic tub, add warm water until they all expand.
  • You should wait until the sawdust dries a bit before adding the proper amount of wheat bran. 
  • After adding the wheat bran, mix it in thoroughly. Then add a packet of yeast. Add water if necessary. 
  • After mixing and making sure the moisture level is right, store them in breathable bags. 
In a few months you will have fermented sawdust. You can tell by the smell of the substrate when it is done. It should smell earthy and be darker in color. 

 
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