Alligator Skull Mount

[JTHOMP]

I still have my gator heads in the freezer from last September. Already applied for tags again next season so might and well thaw them out and give it a try. I kept the heads from a 5ft and an 8.5 ft gator. Doing the smaller now for a trial run then will do the bigger one later. I may need a bigger pot for that one.

The head is simmering now. Then will pressure wash. Here’s a couple photos of what it looked like after thawing and cutting chicken scraps. My helpers were happy to stay by my side the whole time.

 

[LopeHunter]

Will you mount on a wall? I did not find an off-the-shelf solution so used a gate hinge that only opened part way then flipped so that "stop" point would result in the gator skull being slightly tilted down. I screwed the gate hinge into the underside of the hull then I tipped the skull upwards to screw the hinge into the wall. One tooth was lost so I carved a wooden tooth to fit in the socket that was the right shape and length then painted to match the real teeth.

 

[publichunter1]

I used to boil them and got tired of figuring out where all the little bones and teeth went after. A buddy in Jackson did mine with beetles. My kids love them.

 

[JTHOMP]

Haven’t thought of anything other than just displaying it on the shelf or unused office space.
Well pressure washing could’ve gone better. Put 1 one hole in the top of the mouth. Then doing the lower jaw split it in half at the front of the mouth. Hopefully I can glue that back. On the plus side I haven’t lost any teeth. Still got some stuff around them but trying to be gentle with for now. Back in the pot with peroxide.

 

[JTHOMP]

For peroxide soak I changed the water and filled just enough so the 3 pieces could lay flat. I didn’t have and salon 40 and didn’t feel like going to town so I used a big bottle regular 3% hydrogen peroxide. Let that sit for an hour and a half. The first 30min I stepped away and was a slight rolling boil. Killed the fire and let that sit in the hot water the rest of the time.

To clean up after that I used the regular spray nozzle hose and dental floss picks. Really helped to get in between the teeth. When flushing out the nose cavity did put a small split in the seem. Not bad and a easy glue fix. Let dry, glue nose, jaw, and maybe some teeth and it’ll be done.

 

[azelkhntr]

Very cool. I didn't realize the back of the skull was so short. Makes for a real small brain. I recently met someone like that. Guess all the actions up front eh.

 

[publichunter1]

I'd call that a really good job for your first one.

 

[JTHOMP]

I'd call that a really good job for your first one.

Thank you. I’m actually happy with it. Got some gluing to do but not ruined. This is the 3rd head I’ve boiled in 3 years. A pig, deer, and now a gator. Next on the list the bigger gator.

 

[publichunter1]

Gator is definitely the hardest of the 3. I’ve done probably 50 heads between whitetail, muley’s, hogs, gators, and elk.

 

[bullbugle307]

That's a really cool skull. Nice job.

 

[thusby]

Impressive you got the teeth to stay in. When mine was boiled a bunch fell out everywhere. Kind of a trick to find the right hole to put them back into.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

The trick is not to boil,but just let it simmer for a long period.Boiling causes all the teeth to fall out
and the skulls to crack and fall apart.Learned my lessons the hard way from many-many Javelina.

 

[JTHOMP]

I more or less followed along with the whitebone creations guy on YouTube. Yes simmer but let it sit just long enough that the skin starts to peel. I took mine out with less peeling that what his looked like.

I think you can over do anything whether it’s temperature, time, or both. The deer I’ve done I was cautious to just simmer but still over did it and lost some bones.