Beetles for skull cleaning.

[One Shot]

Does any one know if there any where up here in BC where one can get beetles for cleaning skulls. I have a friend here who has two skulls that need cleaning. Thank you.

[bsa30-06]

buffalo skulls by chance?

[Kirby]

I have beetles. Or you can order them from Wards science. You need alot of beetles to do a large skull. The orders come in 50 beetles, you need several thousand before you have enough.

Kirby

[waistdeep]

why wouldn't you just boil them for a couple of hours. seems to work the simplest

[Will]

why wouldn't you just boil them for a couple of hours. seems to work the simplest
Boiling if overdone can be disastrous to a skull.......the teeth always fall out and need to be glued back in...nasal passages dissolve away. The bone itself can be weakened and shrunk etc.

Beetles are the only 100% way to clean a Skull without any chance of harm to one's Trophy ! :wink:

[humble hunter]

or just put them in the compost heap and in 3 months they will be clean, as long as you live at the coast where it is warm enough in winter.

[Monashee]

google " dermestid beetles "

[Ajsawden]

i've put a sheeps head in an ant's nest before... that worked pretty good.

[Wildfoot]

dry it in the oven with some salt and pepper. put it by the couch and nibble on the jerky until its clean

[M.Dean]

Can you not take them to a Taxidermist, phone around and see if they can do it. if not My son and I boiled a few, outside, stinks but works! After boiling and cleaning we soaked them up to the base of the horns in a strong bleach and water solition, keep picking and scraping, then we took a few rags and placed them over the skull and poured peroxcide on them, let it soak over nite, they look real good! I tried the ant hill thing with a huge bear skull years ago, dog took it!!! My son went on line and got some good ways to do it also,good luck. Wildfoots idea would work good to, being Xmass and all, nice treat when you have folks over, just pass the head around and pick and chew!!!

[hunter1947]

I put mine in some chicken wire the few that i have shot ,then hung them in a tree in the mid summer months ,go back two months latter the skull is cleaned by mother nature ,i then will boil the skull for one or two hour to finish up the job..

[jimh]

I would never use bleach on a skull because I have read in many places that it will eat away and weaken the bone. I have done many skulls by removing as much as possible to start and then simmering for a while with a bit of salt and detergent in the water. Next remove the rest of the meat etc and rinse well. The last step is to soak in hydrogen peroxide for a couple of days to make it a nice bright white , rinse with water then stick it in the sun to dry. I find that deer etc you don't have to worry about teeth coming out but but raccoons , wolves , sometimes bears etc some teeth may come out but make sure you don't pour them down the drain and they're easy to glue back in place. Some of the greasier skulls you may want to soak in a degreaser before the peroxide. Beaver skulls turn out really nice because the skull is white but thier large front teeth retain the orange brown colour for a really nice contrast. All this takes several hours and things like dental picks make it much easier. Jim

[kennyj]

I've always boiled mine.My new neighbors asked me what I was doing and I said I was making Horn Soup. Now when ever I have a skull to boil we call it making horn soup.Its a lot of work,several hours and several boils for a large skull,but they look great when done.
Keep us posted on the beetle method.

[David Heitsman]

Get a quote from your local taxidermist, leave it with him, pick it up later.

No fires or burners to attend to, they don't smell afterwards and think what else you could do with all your newly found spare time!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Get a quote from your local taxidermist, leave it with him, pick it up later.

No fires or burners to attend to, they don't smell afterwards and think what else you could do with all your newly found spare time!

I could think of better things to do with $100-150. Plus it can be really rewarding actually to do things on your own.
Hunting included:-|.

SSS

[David Heitsman]

Time = Money

Merry Christmas SSS! You've obviously read my article.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Time = money

Agreed............. but money ain't everything.

SSS

[Will]

I know after I did a Bear skull on the Wife's stove she'd happily pay the 100 bucks to have the next one done elsewhere......:twisted:
:wink:

[phoenix]

When in doubt, e-bay
http://cgi.ebay.ca/1000-Dermestid-beetles-taxidermy-kit_W0QQitemZ140192190219QQihZ004QQcategoryZ71130Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Kim

[David Heitsman]

It says that the Alaskan Taxidermist on Ebay ships beetles to Canada.

Who would clear that? The Department of Agriculture!?:grin:

[mainland hunter]

I was told CFIA, "permit to import plants and other things" under the plant protection act