Titanus Posted September 17, 2012 Report Share Posted September 17, 2012 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Posted September 17, 2012 Report Share Posted September 17, 2012 i think maple is ok but just not good as oak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titanus Posted September 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2012 So any male I'd produce would be a minor male? I guess that wouldn't be much of a problem if I were raising only cetoniidae, but I was really hoping to raise some Lucanus and Dynastes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 im not sure but there can be majors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Minard Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 I think that you can raise, say, L elaphus, easily... and I could provide some maybe? . I don't think you would get minor males with it, btw. Oak might be the best universal substrate but many species prefer other tree types. I've seen that birch is perfectly fine, for example! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titanus Posted September 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 Well I'd be very tempted to try my new mix with some elaphus! But in general, should I add any kind of supplemental compost (like that zoo doo dung compost I mentioned earlier), or would it be best to just leave it as a 50/50 wood/leaf mix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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