IL_BWHNT

I just got my 3 finished up. The boiling is the quickest way, but I could not stand the smell. I buried mine under my deck and left it there over the winter. When the ground was finally unfrozen I dug them all up. Clean as a whistle. I then glued all the cracks so nothing fell off. After this wipe em down with peroxide. When buried I never could smell anything and there were 3 deer heads under my deck.

GR8atta2d

Hey according to Gil Grissom on CSI last nite, if you let the skull sit in raw sewage, the flesh and such will rot twenty times faster than normal?

I dunno but it would be a good test to see if the stuff they do on that show is bunk or not.

Seriously, my local taxidermist Boils them, don't know all the details though.

CG

I have Dermestid beetles and they are BY FAR the easiest to use......Not quite as fast as boiling but YUCK!! What a pain.....Beetle will clean a deer skull in 2-10 days (it depends on how "hot" the colony is at the time...if you catch it just right it can clean a deer skull in 24 hours but that is unusually fast).........I will never go back to boiling......

wihunter402

Where can you get these bettles? I reall like the idea and we shoot a lot of deer every fall.

CG

Actually the easiest way is to find a carcass and pick your own but then you have to deal with infestations of mites, etc. School supply houses have them. I use Carolina Biological..... www. carolina.com ..... Type in dermestid and it will come up........$17 for an assorted set which has beetles, larvea and pupa ( I would get 2 to start a colony)........Lot's of info on the net on proper containers....I personally use big plastic containers (100 quart w/ lid) from wal-mart and card board for the bedding material.....If you don't have skulls to clean they like high protien dog food......They have to be kept between 70-80 degrees if you want them to eat and cold temps <40 degrees will kill them so you have to have a place inside for them.....

wihunter402

Thanks CG. I will check into that. Not sure if the wife will let me have them in the house. I get a feeling I will have to wait until summer and they can be kept outside.