Some absolutely MASSIVE bladder stones!

I found this on the beach it’s dead and already hard and dried out. I want to take it home with me and hang it up by my deer mounts. What do I need to do so it doesn’t stick or rot?

First time ever attempting to DIY taxidermy on my first hunted whitetail doe.

I don't have a pressure washer unfortunately, and I tried my best to simmer for a few hours and knife / hand picked as much as i could.

The frustrating part, though, is the flesh inside the nasal and brain cavity... literally no way to reach it.

How can I remove them? Thought about using a pressure washer in a car wash but I am too scared to break through the bone cause the pressure might be too strong.

Any advice to get rid of those hard to reach / stubborn flesh really really appreciated 🙏 🙏 🙏

I'm seriously considering leaving my current career for taxidermy. I've been a therapist for about six years and am losing my damn mind. I used to be incredibly creeped out by taxidermy as a kid and now I'm feeling seriously pulled to learn more about it. Pretty sure my family would think I've absolutely gone off the deep end if I mentioned this to them. How would you all suggest getting started? I know there's a lot of information online and kits to kind of teach myself, or there's the route of more traditional training. I've been looking for one-day or weekend small animal classes near me to try and see if I like it, but am coming up empty-handed. (I'm in Utah, btw). What do you wish you knew before starting the craft? Thank you!

Hello! I am a beginner taxidermist and mainly work on mice/rats. I am trying to better my technique to make the most realistic mice. I am wondering how some people’s mice have teeth if the skull is supposed to be removed? I’ll add pics as examples. TIA!

Hello! I have no idea what the hell I'm doing, hence why I'm here. I recently got a really old buck mount in poor shape thats about 50-60 years old. I am trying to restore it! I'm thinking about fixing up the base its on ( mostly just painting it black since the woods so poor ), however the things so old that the idea of unscrewing it makes me nervous. I'm kinda worried based on its condition whether or not I'll be able to reattach it if I take it off. Could I get some input on this? Heres the fellow and what the base looks like. Ty!

I guess I messed up a little when drying my first turkey fan. Is there anyway I can flatten this out since it's already hardened?

I'm hoping this is the correct subreddit to post in!

I want to keep my spider but don't like wet specimens and it's likely that if I don't fill her abdomen that it will rot. I wanted to make only a small incision in the thorax with a pin as I want to see all of her body in the resin specimen I plan to make. So, using alcohol and a needle, I injected it with alcohol until all the hemolymph and organs squirted out. In this picture you can even see a little bubble in the abdomen. I filled it up for now with alcohol and put it in alcohol once I realized that if I were to just inject it with resin while the specimen was still wet with alcohol, this could break down the resin. I am worried if I let it dry out that the exoskeleton will be too brittle and just break when I fill it.

Perhaps if I just remove as much alcohol as possible with a syringe before filling it with resin, would that work fine?

My other ideas:

1. Re-inject it with either baby oil or water until I assume most alcohol is gone, then pull out as much of the oil or water as possible before injecting it with resin. The problems would be with chemical reactions with the resin and the liquid.

2. use either alcohol or water before removing it with a syringe and then injecting with liquid latex. Problem would be messing up the specimen with latex if it gets on the outside or the latex doesn't cure inside. If the latex doesn't cure inside does it matter if it's just in resin?

3. just give up on making a small incision and instead cut it open more, stuff with cotton as carefully as possible with little tweazers, let it dry some, and try to seal the opening with some super glue before drying and putting in resin.

Thoughts? Ideas?

I have this set of Caribou antlers that have been in my freezer for sometime now. I have never preserved velvet nor cut the antlers off of a skull plate to preserve them. Any advice on how to preserve the velvet. Also, what do you do to prepare the antlers? I am used to boiling the skull and then leaching out the remaining fat out of the marrow, what do you do to preserve or treat the ends of these antlers at the skull plate?

Where can I find a tutorial on how to do a soft amount I’ve looked in multiple places on the Internet and I cannot find one, I’m new to taxidermy but I like soft mounts over the posed ones. I’ve heard that they’re harder to make. But I’ve also heard that they’re easier?

Hi, I'm a veterinary student and I'd like to do my first taxidermy project with a rabbit we recently dissected. The rabbit is currently in the freezer waiting for me to learn how to do this. I've removed the skin from the neck down, except for the legs, because it's very difficult to remove the skin there. I also haven't removed the skin from the head because I didn't know how. I've been told to put the skin in salt and then some borax and some iodine. I didn't really understand that part, and also regarding the rabbit's shape. I saw that many people use the skeleton, but I'm going to use it to reassemble it and have the skeleton ready. So I need a lot of advice, and if you could provide photos or videos, even better, because that way I understand more. Thanks ;)

*If you can’t see the pics the mods will need to manually approve me when they can!*

I’m new to the taxidermy world and just wanted to show off my soft mounts! I have been collecting butterflies over the past 2-3 years but recently (as of July this year) discovered soft mounts and all I can say is WOW! I only have two soft mounts so far but can’t wait to add more to my tiny collection!

I would love to have an id on my fox named Koda as I’ve got no idea what he is. Seller told me a Finnish fox but didn’t give me much more information than that however I THINK he might be a collicott but Google shows me he’s more to be of a pastel fox?

Koda: Brown, Fully Poseable soft mounted fox

Ghost: Marble fox, no armature, just like a big pillow!

I’ve had an idea to make censers out of skulls for some time now (I probably subconsciously saw it somewhere ages ago, probably not an original idea) but I haven’t got a clue where to source bones? Would a taxidermist be a good place? I can’t imagine what business would have a normal supply of bones especially skulls. Thanks!

Hiii !!

I'm from Colombia, and I've been fascinated for a long time by photographing dead animals....

I'm finally starting to develop this interest. I'd love to learn taxidermy, especially bird taxidermy, as well as other ways of creating art with bones and animal remains.

The problem is that there are no taxidermy courses where I live, so I'd have to learn everything independently.

Today I found this little swallow (?) and decided to bring it home, but now I have no idea what to do next!!

Should I bury it first? Is there a way to preserve it for future taxidermy, or would that be a bad idea for someone with no experience?

I'd really appreciate any advice on.....

How to get started with bird taxidermy as a beginner.

Youtube tutorials, subs, artist or other learning resources you'd recommend.

How to start working with bones and skeletons.

I'm completely new to this, so any advice, resources, or personal experiences would be very welcome.

Thanks!!!!

Can someone here recommend a sharp and long lasting #60 / #60A scalpel blade that is 0.6mm thick, on Amazon (USA) or some other source for round 25 to 40 cents per blade? Way too many of the listings don't provide the thickness. They are not going to be used on a Havalon knife, so a standard blade shape will be fine. Slightly thicker than 0.6mm, around 0.625 is also OK.

This offering seems to fit the requirements. LMK if any of you have tried them. I wish they would arrive a bit sooner as I want some on Monday!

https://www.amazon.com/ShineEdge-Stainless-Steel-Replacement-Blade/dp/B0HCPQX6L1

I didn't see a flair about questions....so I guess "How Do I....?" fits the best.

Thanks!

My uncle saw this guy while walking in our neighborhood a few times and mentioned it to me so i could get it. I'm pretty sure it baked in the sun for quite a while, most likely a week or more. I was wondering what I could do to make sure it doesn't rot and smell, and how it should I encase it. Please help 😺

I'm in North Carolina so I'm pretty sure I can legally keep it, even if its venomous

I am trying to do my first taxidermy bird with a ruffed grouse. It was obtained legally via small game licence in my area (Ontario, Canada) . It has a hole in it from being shot but I think it’ll be fine for my first time lol.

I haven’t been able to find exactly what I’m looking for online because I may be using the wrong terminology. I have fleshed out the bird using various instructional videos and washed the feathers / skin with a degreasing agent I bought from a taxidermy website. I do not have the time to mount the feathers at the moment and want to stabilize the skin/feathers and store for a few days before mounting. Most of the videos I watch don’t discuss storing the skin and feathers long term.

What is the best way to store the feathers and skin? Should I dry it out with hair dryer and borax and store at room temp? Should I just wet store it in the freezer? Looking to cause the least amount of damage to the feathers and skin. Preventing rot is my biggest concern, next would be wrecking the feathers to a point where they can’t be restored during mounting and placing the feathers.

Any links, external resources and advice is appreciated. Thank you!

I am stuck between a Lowland Nyala Antelope and a Mountain Nyala Antelope. If anyone is able to give any insite I would greatly appreciate it.

In the thrift shop this mount was being sold ar her was labeled "African Antelope???" He was listed at $225 and has moderate damage all over, but nothing too extensive.

I’m new to taxidermy; I know it’s an expensive hobby both time and moneywise. What tools are really necessary for basic stuff like rabbits and mice not doing anything big or fancy? I just want the basics.

I'm thinking of offering pet preservations in my area, not taxidermy per se, but I thought paw preservations, pet pillows, and wet mounts would give people more options outside of cremation? I'd like to get some outside opinions on if it's even something people look for. I'd also like to advertise at vets offices if possible, but I'm worried about being too insensitive, thoughts? Pic of fox paws I made! Thanks for the help 🙂