Preserving tooth discoloration on euro mount

[45freezer]

Thought this would be a simple Google search but unfortunately it's let me down this time, hopefully someone on here has some insight. Plan on doing a euro mount with my bears skull and I do like the bleached look but want to maintain as much of the color of the teeth as possible. I whitened one I found last winter and had used peroxide with great results but the teeth became just as white as everything else so I was thinking about attempting to mask them somehow this time around...assuming plastic wrap would have a high potential to seep in though, was considering beeswax but that could prove to be just as tedious as pulling them all out and gluing them back in after. If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated. Picked up my meat from the butcher Saturday and this is one tasty bear, will definitely be trying to catch up with another one in the fall!

[TexasWalker]

The only way to do it properly is to pull them all and glue them back in.
It is a bit tedious but it's simple and also allows you to clean out all the cavities in the jaw too.

[45freezer]

The only way to do it properly is to pull them all and glue them back in.
It is a bit tedious but it's simple and also allows you to clean out all the cavities in the jaw too.

Any trick to not damaging the teeth or just dust off the pliers, grit your teeth and hope for the best? Would probably rather have bleached teeth than crack or break them trying to pull them out, assuming it's a bit easier to do after boiling though?

[caddisguy]

Don't follow my advice without additional opinions (I don't want to mess up your skull) but I just let mine soak in water (in a container with a lid) for a week or so and change half the water every couple days... if its not perfectly clean already, pick off the loose stuff each water change. After a week or two at the most those teeth will pretty much fall out except for the canines (which I'd opt to leave in and try to shield from the peroxide if thats even possible)

I've never tried pulling the canines but the rest should pretty much fall out. Try not to get them mixed up or lose any down the sink.

[OceanMon]

How about coating the teeth in clear epoxy or polyurethane, then peroxide?

[45freezer]

How about coating the teeth in clear epoxy or polyurethane, then peroxide?

That was another thought I had, I do have some polyurethane on hand, not sure if it would potentially react in any way with the peroxide but that might be my best bet.

Caddisguy do you do anything to whiten them after or just leave them as is? The tannery offered to beetle and bleach it but the teeth would get bleached as well, was already half planning on doing it myself but they gave me some extra motivation with that plus the fact that they want the small 250 just to toss it in a tank of beetles and give it a peroxide bath...I'll put that towards gas money scouting for the fall

[caddisguy]

That was another thought I had, I do have some polyurethane on hand, not sure if it would potentially react in any way with the peroxide but that might be my best bet.

Caddisguy do you do anything to whiten them after or just leave them as is? The tannery offered to beetle and bleach it but the teeth would get bleached as well, was already half planning on doing it myself but they gave me some extra motivation with that plus the fact that they want the small 250 just to toss it in a tank of beetles and give it a peroxide bath...I'll put that towards gas money scouting for the fall

I leave mine as is. I like the natural look. The one on the left here I actually shot in the head and wrote it off... left it in the bush. Curiosity got the better of me a month later and I found the top and half a jaw... saw some potential... a week or two after that, I couldn't resist tracking down the other half of the jaw. It was pretty much cleaned by nature already other than the mouse crap so I just gave it a really good wash off with dove soap... got around to gluing it back together a year or two later. The second one was done with the soak / bacterial rot method. Unfortunately caddisgirl says I can only clean skulls in the house "if she doesn't know about it" ... tough in a small condo but I'll find a way to do up the big guy I have been waiting to do for a year now, currently sitting under a chair on the balcony all wrapped up in garbage bags (had it buried for a few months too but something unburried it and chewed up the cloth bag I had it in... hopefully its ok)

Keep in mind that beetles is probably the best way to do things. I am not sure what impact soaking has on the skull. Not sure if it makes things more brittle but it's possible. Mine seem pretty good but I don't throw them around either lol

[45freezer]

I leave mine as is. I like the natural look. The one on the left here I actually shot in the head and wrote it off... left it in the bush. Curiosity got the better of me a month later and I found the top and half a jaw... saw some potential... a week or two after that, I couldn't resist tracking down the other half of the jaw. It was pretty much cleaned by nature already other than the mouse crap so I just gave it a really good wash off with dove soap... got around to gluing it back together a year or two later. The second one was done with the soak / bacterial rot method. Unfortunately caddisgirl says I can only clean skulls in the house "if she doesn't know about it" ... tough in a small condo but I'll find a way to do up the big guy I have been waiting to do for a year now, currently sitting under a chair on the balcony all wrapped up in garbage bags (had it buried for a few months too but something unburried it and chewed up the cloth bag I had it in... hopefully its ok)

Keep in mind that beetles is probably the best way to do things. I am not sure what impact soaking has on the skull. Not sure if it makes things more brittle but it's possible. Mine seem pretty good but I don't throw them around either lol

Mrs 45freezer has the same policy, might have to use my storage locker. As far as I know the main benefits of using beetles is minimal loss of size, I guess boiling them can potentially take away that extra 1/16 of an inch necessary to make B&C/P&Y, didn't take a rough measurement on this guy but he's definitely no book bear. I probably would opt for them to do it if the teeth were going to keep their color but I don't think it will be too difficult of a DIY, the other one turned out great but it was already stripped by nature as well. Just wanted to see if anyone had any other ideas, now that I know my polyurethane thought wasn't too crazy I think I'll try that and see how it goes, excited to see how it turns out and will post a picture when it's done. Did you leave the brain in for the bacterial rot skull or get as much off/out as possible beforehand?

[twoSevenO]

Uou could do the paste method? Make a peroxide paste with baby powder and apply that to the skull with a brush. Leave on for a while then rinse off. That way you can avoid getting it on the teeth. The only alternative to boiling the whole skull as far as I'm aware

[45freezer]

Uou could do the paste method? Make a peroxide paste with baby powder and apply that to the skull with a brush. Leave on for a while then rinse off. That way you can avoid getting it on the teeth. The only alternative to boiling the whole skull as far as I'm aware

That's not a bad idea either. Will boiling with water alone start to bleach the teeth? Thinking if I use the bacterial rot method I wouldn't have to boil it at all but as I said the only other euro mount I've ever done was already cleaned by nature so all I did was whiten it with peroxide.