Question about skulls?

There is a guy here in Ohio that uses a special beetle to clean the skull. No boiling or effects from the weather, some of the best skulls I have
seen.
 
They use beatles and they get them darn clean too. They also charge a pretty good price to have it done also. Once you buy the beatles and do your skulls, you will have to take care and feed the beatles or they will die and then you have to buy more. Soaking and boiling is the easiest and cheapest way.
 
The beetles that you all are referring to are called dermestid beetles. They can be ordered through some taxidermy supply companys and they live on nothing but dried meat, skin, and each other. They need to be kept at or above room temperature year round, and require a certian amount of space per beetle.
Like Lance mentioned they are rather expensive to house and maintain, therefore skulls prepared with this method can be pricey.
We use to have our own tank full here at the tannery, but they breed like rats, tank was never large enough, they defecate twice what they eat and they are about the worst thing you want on the loose around here with all the hides coming and going. A spoon full of these critters could clean out and ruin a 12x12 room full of hides in less then a weeks time.
We (you all included) actually have our own version of the dermestid beetle living in our back yards. It's a domesticated version. Anyone that's ever had put up fur hanging somewhere and found the floor around the furs littered with hair and dried up insect skins knows what I'm talking about.

Keep it away from your put up hides, throw it in the back yard and let em at it...or soak it and you'll be better off /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
On our sister site, JavelinaHunter.com we have step-by-step instructions for preping & "bleaching" Javelina skulls. I've used these procedures on javelina, bear, and coyote with nice results. You may find them helpful.

AP

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I have been saving my heads also. My method has been the rookie method after reading all of these posts.

My procedure has been as follows:

Let the head sit outside for several months until nearly all flesh is gone. Throw the head in a bucket of water and bleach and call it good. I let it sit in the bleach/water solution for a couple days. I have read that using bleach is bad. What is bad about using bleach?

Brent
 
The best way to do your skulls is to send them to a company that uses dermestid beetles. I use Skull Taxidermy but there are several others that are very good and the cost is very reasonable. Boiling is very hard on skulls, you will loose all the delicate nasal cavity bones, teeth will crack and the final product is not as good as most guys would like. Cost for small game is less then $20, bears about $40. For this amount, its not even worth messing with them.
 
Thought I recognized your handle. Yea, that bowsite has really gone down hill over the past few years. Been running hounds for about 15 years now. Maybe one of these years I'll catch something!

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Full Cry, Two of my late friends were into hounds, I got to go with them back in the day. Real kick in the pants! They ran Plotts. You into predator calling too?
 
You bet! Been all over calling coyotes. My best is 7 coming at one time. I was fortunate to have my video that day and have it on tape. 4 of them came within 10 yards growling, hair up, etc. I think the population was really high in that area and they were all trying to outrun the other guy.
 
We should try and hook up this winter to go calling. Been calling for better than 15 yeas and I am really into it since they banned trapping in 1996. I have 3 different predator guns, and building an AR as my 4th. It is giving me fits though.
 
Do any of you guys pick up skulls from roadkill? Just curious here, I really liked the idea for the bucket and bag style fleshing method for the skulls, sounds much less pungent than the open method.

Thanks for all the info, been reading alot.
 
They use beatles and they get them darn clean too. They also charge a pretty good price to have it done also. Once you buy the beatles and do your skulls, you will have to take care and feed the beatles or they will die and then you have to buy more. Soaking and boiling is the easiest and cheapest way.
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Crapshoot, make sure to take care of those Beatles, as John and George have already passed away. And yes, I imagine Ringo and Paul will charge us plenty to clean our skulls! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Have a good one! Sleddogg
 
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