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RE: European Mount... anyone? Piebald?

Quote:

I don't like to boil skulls. I think it does too much damage to the nasal cavity, which is really delicate. I have a small colony of dermestid beetles and they do a really good job of cleaning the skull.

Yeah, I don't like the boiling, plus it can loosen the skull seams. I leave mine outside in a cage as the little women doesn't like the idea of flesh eating beatles in the house :eek:

RE: European Mount... anyone? Piebald?

There is a chemical for boiling skulls called Sal-Soda which is just sodium carbonate (not sodium bicarbonate which is baking soda). Basically, you mix one cup for 3 gallons of water, or there abouts, and boil for about 20 minutes and litterally everything fleshy falls right off the bone and pours out of the brain cavity, no scraping, peeling or pulling, no BS!!! (Handle with gloves!!!!!!) If you boil it in this stuff too long it will eat the cartiledge out of the nose as well but if you do it for only about 20 minutes, the cartiledge is fine. Don't boil the antlers!! Then soak in hydrogen peroxide (the strong 28%) that you can get from a hair salon and it'll be pure white. My taxidermist then seals it by brushing on Elmer's glue.

My favorite method is dermestid beetles but they are a PITA to keep contained and fed so nobody has them in AK that I know of. Skulls Unlimited is a great place to send stuff for this treatment.