-
Hello!
Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.
Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....
Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.
Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.
Stuffing your dead snakes?
- Thread starter reptile_addict
- Start date
E. g. guttata
Her name was Mary-9/17/05
Has anyone thought of mummification? Any info on it at all?
MichaelBoyko
Me
... umm... no... I don't think it's ever occured to me... How about you guys...?
thelyonsking
honest, I'll only get 1
I want put in a large jar of formaldehyde so I can be auction off on ebay as a rare-nearly extinct mammal from 1810.
:crazy02:
:crazy02:
Chip
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒ&
If I remember correctly, the cowboy hat folks at Dollywood used glycerine and mineral oil to preserve rattlesnake skins for hatbands. I hate to say it, but Rhett would make a sweet belt/ hatband! I think you would cut at the scutes on one side, Cooter, like the TFH id books show, or else just go with the back scales.
robin h
Hobbyist cornsnake breeder
well, i throw the skin away....this Amazon tree boa was nothing really spectacular...the skin was ugly(I was not single-colored, like the orange, red and yellow tree-boa's...it was a normal garden-phase)
besides, the skin didn't come of easily, because the snake was about 30 inches, it was quite too small to get the skin off in one piece...the neck and tail of this species are very long and thin...:S
I intended to prepare the skeleton(I wanted to build it up again)...though, this was very difficult, the small rib bones were very thin, it would take weeks for me to fix that.
I'm still looking for dead adult snakes in Holland, but I cannot really find snakes for this prupose...
Let one thing be very clear: I only treat animals which died of a natural cause. in the USA, I know people who kill snakes just for the skin( to create a &()@&**)@$&@ hatband....I don't think it's worth a dead snake
)...when you kill an animal for food, and you could use the skin too, OK, that's alright with me, but don't kill one for a hatband
I think stuffing snakes is quite difficult, not because of the skin(it's fairly thick and robust, it won't get torn easily), but one difficult thing is to hide the 'scars'...some people stitch the animalwhen the skin is inside out...like a sock...
when the snake is 'closed' to about 4 inch from the cloaca, they put stuff in it...you can use anything, vermiculite is used sometimes(I heard a few times) but most of the time they use wool or other soft material. you can add a steel pin in it, so you can adjust the snakes form...and keep it that way
the steel pin should end in the head, which is filled most of the times with clay...
when you stuff a snake, the skin should be cleaned too(no rotting flesh....use a enzyme wash....)
when the skin is clean, you should also tan it several times...
I hope you could use this info...but for a better explanation from real experts, check the www.taxidermy.net , experienced people could give you great advice
besides, the skin didn't come of easily, because the snake was about 30 inches, it was quite too small to get the skin off in one piece...the neck and tail of this species are very long and thin...:S
I intended to prepare the skeleton(I wanted to build it up again)...though, this was very difficult, the small rib bones were very thin, it would take weeks for me to fix that.
I'm still looking for dead adult snakes in Holland, but I cannot really find snakes for this prupose...
Let one thing be very clear: I only treat animals which died of a natural cause. in the USA, I know people who kill snakes just for the skin( to create a &()@&**)@$&@ hatband....I don't think it's worth a dead snake
)...when you kill an animal for food, and you could use the skin too, OK, that's alright with me, but don't kill one for a hatband I think stuffing snakes is quite difficult, not because of the skin(it's fairly thick and robust, it won't get torn easily), but one difficult thing is to hide the 'scars'...some people stitch the animalwhen the skin is inside out...like a sock...
when the snake is 'closed' to about 4 inch from the cloaca, they put stuff in it...you can use anything, vermiculite is used sometimes(I heard a few times) but most of the time they use wool or other soft material. you can add a steel pin in it, so you can adjust the snakes form...and keep it that way
the steel pin should end in the head, which is filled most of the times with clay...
when you stuff a snake, the skin should be cleaned too(no rotting flesh....use a enzyme wash....)
when the skin is clean, you should also tan it several times...
I hope you could use this info...but for a better explanation from real experts, check the www.taxidermy.net , experienced people could give you great advice
robin h
Hobbyist cornsnake breeder
formaldehyde btw, it doesn't preserve colors....they will fade away
( I forgot to say in my last post: when you stitched the snake, you should pull it inside out again, so that the scales are outside(logical huh?)...with this method you only have to stitch the las 4 inch from the outside, this is better then a scar over the full length...
( I forgot to say in my last post: when you stitched the snake, you should pull it inside out again, so that the scales are outside(logical huh?)...with this method you only have to stitch the las 4 inch from the outside, this is better then a scar over the full length...
Robin,
Do you prepare your skeletons using lime...or enzymes to remove the flesh? Like preparing (what we Americans call) a European Mount (a large game mount where the skull and antlers are mounted...no hide)?
Do you bleach the bones once cleaned? Have you ever tried laundry blueing for this purpose?
Lots of questions...really out of curiosity...
Thanks,
Derek
Do you prepare your skeletons using lime...or enzymes to remove the flesh? Like preparing (what we Americans call) a European Mount (a large game mount where the skull and antlers are mounted...no hide)?
Do you bleach the bones once cleaned? Have you ever tried laundry blueing for this purpose?
Lots of questions...really out of curiosity...
Thanks,
Derek
Sisuitl
I dig'em!
In my book instead of stitching it says to finish it off the following way:
Take the dead snake body, and build a form based off the original body. The form could be out of clay, plaster (the book's favorite is...EXCELSIOR!) built around a wire frame. Set the glass eyes in the head.
Anyway, you get some paste, like a modge podge type stuff, and brush it on the form as you put the skin back on. Once the skin is on, you take sewing pins and start to line up the edges and pin the skin where it should be. This way it doesn't dry in a distorted way, and you don't have stitches. Let the pins stay in for week or so, so it can dry really well.
As for skeletons, the following works really well:
Order some carrion beetles, or talk to a local science teacher or university to see if you can give theirs a free meal.
Place snake carcass in with beetles.
Depending on the size of the snake and number of beetles, it may take a few days to a few weeks for them to clean it off. If you want the bones to be attached naturally with it's own sinew, you'll have to watch the beetles carefully and take the bones out before they eat the sinew. It's the last thing they eat. Otherwise you may have a big headache trying to figure out what order the vertebae are supposed to go in!
If you decide to bleach them, only use a tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water, and don't let it soak very long. Bleach is suppposed to do two things, kill germs and whiten bones. The bones will be white already, and you don't need long to kill germs. If you soak them too long they will get all rubbery. (found this out the hard way on a deer skull )
Take the dead snake body, and build a form based off the original body. The form could be out of clay, plaster (the book's favorite is...EXCELSIOR!) built around a wire frame. Set the glass eyes in the head.
Anyway, you get some paste, like a modge podge type stuff, and brush it on the form as you put the skin back on. Once the skin is on, you take sewing pins and start to line up the edges and pin the skin where it should be. This way it doesn't dry in a distorted way, and you don't have stitches. Let the pins stay in for week or so, so it can dry really well.
As for skeletons, the following works really well:
Order some carrion beetles, or talk to a local science teacher or university to see if you can give theirs a free meal.
Place snake carcass in with beetles.
Depending on the size of the snake and number of beetles, it may take a few days to a few weeks for them to clean it off. If you want the bones to be attached naturally with it's own sinew, you'll have to watch the beetles carefully and take the bones out before they eat the sinew. It's the last thing they eat. Otherwise you may have a big headache trying to figure out what order the vertebae are supposed to go in!
If you decide to bleach them, only use a tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water, and don't let it soak very long. Bleach is suppposed to do two things, kill germs and whiten bones. The bones will be white already, and you don't need long to kill germs. If you soak them too long they will get all rubbery. (found this out the hard way on a deer skull
)reptile_addict
New member
In that picture was that just the bones? I think that would be kind of kool if I could just make a skelleton
reptile_addict
New member
o thanks. That looks freeky
E. g. guttata
Her name was Mary-9/17/05
I'm seriously wondering (and thinking) about mummification. My girlfriend has a real problem with me getting a kingsnake or stuffing our already dead animals. I personally wouldn't mind getting them stuffed, but I value my relationship more than I value what happens with the snakes. I WILL NOT bury them though, I want to keep them. I'm also not sure if I want to cremate them, because I don't want them to lose their form (I'm starting to sound crazy, I know). I was able to find a place that will mummify my babies, but they haven't told me how much it will cost yet. Hopefully, I'll be able to do it without too many problems, or hurting my almost empty wallet too hard. Oh, yea. Can't make anything out of their skin either because my girlfriend has a HUGE problem with that, so no watch bands or bone collections, they have to stay whole. The more I look at it though, the more I leaning towards cremation because these people are charging a minimum of $6,000 to mummify a small dog, of course I think that price included the "dog casket" and bronzing. Hopefully a small 10 inch snake will not cost multiple thousands of dollars. If that happens to be the case, can anyone get me a number for a crematory?
robin h
Hobbyist cornsnake breeder
well, I haven't done a whole skeleton jet, not enough material... i only had a few small snakes to work on, but it's very difficult, tiny bones and stuff ...
the head on the pic is only without skin...
I remove the flesh with enzyme wash(with lipase, amylase in it)...it's quick when you use it at high temperature.
the glue is just a good white wood glue....it will hold steady enough...
the best thing to use for whitening is H2O2...it will whiten the bones easily....
to extract the fat in the bones, use ammonia(for about a week in an ammonia"pool" should be enough to extract the fat...) when the fat is out of the bones, the glue will hold much better...
on the picture are the jaws of the same boa, without whitening or ammonia...I think it doesn't really need whitening
i only had a few small snakes to work on, but it's very difficult, tiny bones and stuff ...the head on the pic is only without skin...
I remove the flesh with enzyme wash(with lipase, amylase in it)...it's quick when you use it at high temperature.
the glue is just a good white wood glue....it will hold steady enough...
the best thing to use for whitening is H2O2...it will whiten the bones easily....
to extract the fat in the bones, use ammonia(for about a week in an ammonia"pool" should be enough to extract the fat...) when the fat is out of the bones, the glue will hold much better...
on the picture are the jaws of the same boa, without whitening or ammonia...I think it doesn't really need whitening
