Traeger Pellets

Bill Myers

Tenebrio
I came across the following information about the composition of Traeger pellets and thought I'd share it with you:

"The base wood if you are on the west coast is alder and the east coast is oak.

"Mesquite or Hickory 100% base wood (alder or oak) with flavor oils no actual Mesquite or Hickory wood in the pellet.

"Apple, Pecan or Cherry 70% base wood 30% Apple, Pecan or Cherry wood
"Maple 100% Maple wood
"Alder on the west coast is 100% Alder on east coast 70% oak 30% Alder
"Oak on the east coast is 100% Oak on the west coast 70% Alder 30% Oak"


Question: Has anyone tried using the Maple Traeger pellets for Dynastes larvae?
 
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wait..what does it mean by "Oak on the east coast is 100% Oak on the west coast 70% Alder 30% Oak"?

does it mean it has 70% alder and 30% oak? Cauz if it is, then alder is working pretty well lol
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That's what I'm wondering because my adult D. tityus beetles just LOVE them some maple syrup. And, I've noticed that the wild caught D. tityus beetles seem to be larger than the captive bred beetles. So, I'm wondering if maple wood provides more nutrients for the larvae than oak wood does.

Also, I'm thinking about composting some acorn nuts to see if that will help provide extra nutrients. I've noticed when I'm out collecting decomposed oak for the larvae that acorn nuts abound. So, doing my best to simulate nature when fermenting Traeger pellets, I think I'll throw a few in the composter and see what happens.

Cheers

 
If only my captive bred Dynastes Tityus' could be as big as the wild caught.
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I guess its all on what you feed them and/or their genetics. My tattoo artist has a pair and the male has the thickest horn I have ever seen on an Eastern Hercules Beetle. The legs were even bulky with big spikes.

 
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how big are the wild ones? i'm keeping some larva atm, and one of them is 26g. I heard 30g for this sp is pretty big

 
You can see people who post them on a site called Instagram. I guess they live in the areas where Dynastes Tityus thrive, and they look huge. I have to scale out my larvae as well but they are still very young at this time. I want to try the dog food method of providing protein but fear the introduction of mites because I already got all of them out of the substrate.

 
Mites are a big nono. Larva doesn't need dog food in my opinion, as long as they have a good substrate they don't need it

 
Mites are a big nono. Larva doesn't need dog food in my opinion, as long as they have a good substrate they don't need it
Yup, I agree, Oak. As long as the substrate provides the right nutrients, you shouldn't have to add dog food or fish flakes.

Getting it right is the trick, however...

I separated out some L1 and L2 D. granti larvae today. I had put four eggs into each cup. The one thing I noticed was that all the L2's (five of them) had eaten all of their siblings. The L1's hadn't. And, I still have about 30 eggs that haven't yet hatched, but still look viable.

Because of the cannibalism, I'm thinking protein is a key ingredient in their diet that I need to figure out how to introduce without causing a population explosion of mites.

I've been toying with the idea of adding a soy or pea protein powder to the compost. Haven't yet done it, though.

Cheers

 
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