Got my bear skull back!
- Thread starter wyoboypt
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JohnCushman
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Awesome!!!
mdeerjunkie
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Super cool!
OntarioHunter
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My daughter and I have a budding taxidermy business. We do a lot of euro skulls. I think that cat skull could stand a bit of whitening. Go to a beauty shop and pick up a bottle of #40 peroxide and a can of Clairol whitening powder. Mix the two into a paste and lberally paint it on the skull. Wrap skull up in plastic wrap and leave overnight. Then wash clean with soapy water. Repeat as needed. I recommend heating the skulls before painting the peroxide paste. It performs better. Drop the skull in boiling water for a minute or two.
WAIT!! Looking at that cat skull I'm questioning if it was "bleached" with chlorine bleach. Very bad! A client brought in a buck skull about the same colour and wanted us to whiten it up. When I pulled it out of boiling water it proceeded to fall apart in my hands! Eventually we had to mount the antlers on a fake skull. Turned out okay but a lot of work. Check with whoever did the work on your cat skull and make sure they didn't use chlorine bleach. If they did you need to paint the whole thing with satin urethane now or it will eventually fall apart.
Here's a bear skull we finished a few weeks ago. I pinned the jaws in open position to show the teeth better. I made it so it can be displayed on a shelf/table or hung on the wall.
P.S. Just noticed the other client's fake skull job is hanging next to bear skull.
WAIT!! Looking at that cat skull I'm questioning if it was "bleached" with chlorine bleach. Very bad! A client brought in a buck skull about the same colour and wanted us to whiten it up. When I pulled it out of boiling water it proceeded to fall apart in my hands! Eventually we had to mount the antlers on a fake skull. Turned out okay but a lot of work. Check with whoever did the work on your cat skull and make sure they didn't use chlorine bleach. If they did you need to paint the whole thing with satin urethane now or it will eventually fall apart.
Here's a bear skull we finished a few weeks ago. I pinned the jaws in open position to show the teeth better. I made it so it can be displayed on a shelf/table or hung on the wall.
P.S. Just noticed the other client's fake skull job is hanging next to bear skull.
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Eric.MN
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So cool!
Sask hunter
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Looks good!
Thank you! I will check. He says his whitening process is simultaneous with the degreasing. I’ve noticed grease coming back on a few of my deer skulls also. I will check. I have to be nice though cus he did do it for free. I took him last week and helped him get a cow w his bow in a gen unit so he was thanking me by doing it for free.
OntarioHunter
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That sounds a little strange. We do the two processes separately. First thing after the animal has been killed the brain should be removed. It is VERY greasy. You can make a tool for this from very heavy wire ... or brass rod available at Home Depot. Bend a one inch loop at end and cut to about a foot long. With a variable speed drill insert into brain cavity through spinal hole and spin slowly. It will suck the brain out. Key is "slowly" or you may be wearing some brain tissue.
Our beetles died off so we're doing it the boil method only right now. Using lots of Dawn dish soap and about a quarter cup of soda ash (latter not critical but helps with degreasing) I simmer the skulls just below boiling for 45 minutes or more as needed. Then high pressure hose and wire brush to finish removing tissue. After skull is clean then peroxide treatment as above. I suggest letting the skull dry after boiling to see if further degreasing is needed, then reheat before whitening. May need to change the water up to three times during boiling process if it gets too greasy. You can tell by murkiness.
sierrahunter
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Word to the wise: do not boil your bear skulls! I’ve done quite a number of bear skulls over the years, and boiling them, even for a short time, often causes the teeth to crack. The teeth don’t crack immediately, but over the years, you will find the canines will split and the molars shed pieces. I’m not sure why, but I’ve only found this problem with predator skulls, and not so much with deer skulls. If you google this issue, you will find others who share my experiences.
Regarding the yellow, versus white skulls; for years I would peroxide bleach them, and they look great. But I decided to leave some unbleached, and found the yellowing bone to look more natural. I like it better, but to each his own.
Enjoy your skulls!
Regarding the yellow, versus white skulls; for years I would peroxide bleach them, and they look great. But I decided to leave some unbleached, and found the yellowing bone to look more natural. I like it better, but to each his own.
Enjoy your skulls!
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OntarioHunter
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Yes, be careful about "boiling" skulls. Note that I said cook them just below boiling. A healthy simmer. Also it's better to remove the skull intermittently and pull/brush off flesh that's cooked loose. That way the skulls don't get overheated. It is important to keep teeth that fall out from falling to the bottom of the boiler. They will get cracked for sure. We use a turkey fryer on propane cooker with french fry basket and a fine sieve inside that.
My African skulls sure came back messed up due to over boiling and other issues. Teeth fell out and were lost for every skull but one. The old buffalo skull had NO teeth left in it. Not one. The kudu lost half its nose and it was apparently cooked to pieces. They added another piece ... from some other kind of animal. All skulls but kudu and gemsbuck came with horns attached ... and stinky slime left underneath. Worst was all skulls were PAINTED, no doubt to cover up flesh left on the bone. And to cover up the globs of window glazing putty used to stick the warthog's jaw on the skull. Obviously brains were not properly removed (especially impala which still had quite a bit inside the skull) and consequetly there was some serious staining. Everything arrived just at the start of COVID lockdown so cleaning up the mess gave me something to do. That kudu was a real pisser ... then I unrolled the the wildebeest hide. Not mine! Clearly a very dark cow and shot in the back (mine shot through both front quarters). She was probably sick and on the ground. That was it! Contacted my PH and he talked to lodge owner. They are now no longer doing business with that taxidermy outfit.
Anyway, I would not advise cooking either of those skulls extensively. They don't need it because flesh is removed. But if they are heated up before applying the peroxide, it whitens much more effectively. Also setting the skull out in the sun after pasted also helps. I do think peroxide would help that cat a lot.
Using the #40 beauty salon stuff seldom yields a sparkling white skull the first attempt. That almost always takes two paintings/washes and sometimes three. I'm with you in that I prefer something with a bit more of a fresh bone appearance instead of snow white. For my stuff I usually stop after the first whitening. But clients seem to prefer snow white look.
If skulls are cooked and they've been super glued, it will show up as piss yellow. Don't worry about it. Peroxide knocks that discolouration right back to bone white.
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