maugus63

I have a Coyote Skull from a coyote that my brother in law killed a year ago this past December. He shot it while deer hunting and it had too much pelt damage to salvage. I left it all last winter and this past summer and went this fall to "salvage" the skull. I collected skull, jaw, and all the teeth I could find. I brought them home and let them soak in bleach and water for over a month. I let it dry and they came out remarkably clean and white. I need to glue the jaw together where it connects in the front and I want to glue the teeth back in the sockets. Any recommendations on a glue to use? I got two part epoxy and glued the jaw together. However, I did not seem to hold and the jaw came apart easily. I also wanta glue that will work on teeth as well.

Any input will be appreciated!
MIKE

sd_buckeye

please be aware that i am no expert at all. i have just recently gotten into the exicitement of taxidermy... I actually have cleaned, boiled and bleached 2 coyote skulls in the past week. I just use super glue to reattach the jaw sides together as well as reinserting teeth back in. I haven't had a problem with the jaw, nor have i had problems with the teeth when i try and see if they'll come out... Iread in a taxi book i havethat you can use any white gluesuch as elmers to reattach jaw and insert teeth also, but i don't know if it's true or not.

cyclone

Toothpaste..

maugus63

SD-Thanks for the input!
MIKE

M.Magis

Two part epoxy will hold as well as anything, but your problem may not be the epoxy letting go, but rather the bone breaking and letting go.Are there very small bits of bone left in the epoxy? If so, a different glue isn't going to help. Soaking in bleach for a month didn't help matters, as it breaks down the bone and could be causing the breakage. Bleach and bone don't mix. For future projects, don't use bleach, and Super Glue can't always be counted on in the long term.[/align]

sd_buckeye

M. Magis,
i don't mean to sound rude at all by saying this, but your post basically just said that bleaching it was bad, and that super glue may not last in the long run... Um... can you help us out and give us a solution then or did you just want to tell us were doin it wrong? once again not trying to be rude, am just looking to learn all that i can about these things.

M.Magis

Well, I sure wasn't trying to be rude. As I mentioned, epoxy will hold as well as anything, but may eventually turn yellow. Super Glue tends to give out over time. Bleach will deteriorate bone. Leave it in too long, or use too strong of a solution, and you'll just have a crumbling mess left. Once it's been exposed to bleach, there's not much you can do to reverse the effects. Sealing the skull in a water/Elmers mixture may help. I suppose it depends on how bad it really is.

sd_buckeye

Thank you for the information M.Magis. Would you recomend me using a different adhesive than super glue then? I know the original question was not by me, but i think i'm learning just as much here.

M.Magis

For glueing the teeth, plain Elmers should fine work since the teeth shouldn't be subjected to any real strain. I prefer epoxy for just about anything that won't show, but it's often overkill.

CrittersTaxidermy

maugus63,

I do many, many skulls and skeletons a year. Taxidermy is our main business but skull cleaning and articulated skeletons are our second half of our business.In the future try not to use Bleach to whiten your skulls or bones. It will breakdown its structure and make them brittle and splinter. We use very strong peroxide and delute it down, depending on the thickness of the bone. for example if it is a buffelo skull I use a stronger constration vs. if I need to whiten a snake skeleton.
As for a glue. I go to my local beauty supply store and by the super glue for acrilic nails. I find that it works best for not yellowing and it holds the best. I have never used epoxy I hate the stuff for skulls, almost as much as I hate boiling them. We use beetles to clean ours.