Skull mounting

[black3]

:)Tenbears,

I just noticed the Taxidermy forum today. Although I am not a taxidermist, it has always held a fascination to me.

I have done a couple of skull mounts on whitetail that come out fairly decent, but I can't get the skulls as white as I would like.

Would you mind giving a few instuctions on skull mounting?

Thanks,

black3

[Tenbears]

Sure, more than happy to. The key to producing a nice white skull is Never boil them. Many novices us the boiling technique. to remove the flesh. This liquefies fats in the meat and brain. Impregnating the bone with grease that will cause discoloration. Masacration of the skull does a decent job. But nothing beats the job done by a colony of dermestid beetles.
I remove as much meat as possible liquefy the brain, by placing a 3/16" rod with a bend in the end of it in an electric drill. And inserting through the spinal process. Run the drill. and add water until the brain pours out. Then let the beetles have at it. when they have finished their job. I soak in water over night. then wile the skull is still wet. I apply a coat of Clairol Basic white. Mixed with enough 40% peroxide to make a paste. allow to dry a day or so. Then brush the powder off with a wire brush. you will have a nice white skull that will not discolor.

[black3]

Thanks Tenbears,

Yes, I had used the boiling method and added peroxide to the last boiling stage.
I have heard about the beetles, but I don't know how to get hold on any. If you know a source for them please pass the info on.

Thanks,

black3 ;D

[Tenbears]

I have had My colony for a long time. And Been Lucky not to have had a catastrophic loss. But if you type Dermestid beetles into the search feature of your browser. You will find plenty of places to purchase a starter colony. as well as information on care and maintenance.

[black3]

Thanks, Tenbears!

I'll definitely look into getting some beetles. Sounds like a lot less work getting a nice white skull also.

black3

[HighTeckRedneck]

I have done a few, but I don't get too caried away. I usualy just clean the majority of the flesh off of the outside of the skull then hang the skull in a tree until the end of the next summer. Then wash good with a mixture of bleach and dish soap. They aren't a realy brite white, but they are a lot whiter than many boiled ones I have seen.

[Tenbears]

Hightech: your technique is a good one, right up until you used bleach. Bleach attacks the bone, in time it will cause the skull to begin to yellow. and flake. The bleach will literaly eat away at the bone. Slow masicration of the skull is great. Taxidermist do not use it simply because of time factors. Next time rather than Bleach. go to a beauty supply store, and buy some 40% peroxide. you can get it in a cream form. and it is not cost prohibitive. It will yield nice results. but will not deteriorate the bone.

[HighTeckRedneck]

Thanks for the advice. I'll do that with the 2 I have out in the tree rite now from last year. I had just always used bleach because it was here. I have not noticed any damage to any of the skulls I have done, but then again most of them are just lying on a shelf out in the garage and have not been touched since they were cleaned. I keep all the antlers from deer I harvest, or find dead, so I guess that you could call me a colector. I started saving the entire skulls about 5 years ago just because the antlers look better that way if I ever decide to hang them up somewhere.

[Easystyle]

I save all my antlers too. At one time I had planed to do antler mounts on all the small ones, and shoulder mount the big ones. that was 20 years ago. In 20 years I have mounted one of my own deer. and now have enough of them to keep me busy for a year. The funny thing is. I got into taxidermy so I could mount my own deer.

[mamaflinter]

Easystyle can you share a picture of your mount that you did? It would be very interesting to see.


Are you staying strictly with deer or do you plan to learn to do other animals as well?

[woodywilliams]

www.skulltaxidermy.com/