Tiny skulls

[The Hedgehog]

Ever try it? A friend who traps gave me a mink. The canines are 1/3 diameter of a toothpick and the teeth between them are about like a hair - I lost them.

Any tips?

 

[The Hedgehog]

Okay maybe not 1/3 the diameter but toothpick size. Small.

 

[Gellar]

I have a skull collection of most mammals in Iowa. Missing some of the rodents. The canines on almost all of them have cracked and split in 2. The incisors on most of the rodents fall out and have also cracked in half. They were all beetle cleaned so over boiling is not the issue. Some of the animals like mink and raccoon I’ve glued the teeth back in. I don’t have an answer for you. I’ll post a few pics later today.

 

[Treeshark]

Never done something that small, but that is cool! Like a tiny sabertooth.

 

[LuketheDog]

I'd think beetle cleaning would be best for those little ones. Very cool though.

 

[MThuntr]

Would the sous vide method work better for controlling temps on something that delicate?

Elk Euro - Sous Vide

Thought I’d do a quick post as this method works so well for cleaning a skull. 48 hours 155 for first 24 hours and then 145 for the last 24 hours. 4 scoops of oxiclean. Power-washed and drying, no picking required. After whitening with 50vol developer creme After sealing with...

www.hunttalk.com

Another Sous Vide Euro

Seems more and more people are trying these, sorry if y'all are sick of these posts. But I wanna chronicle this as potential list of what to do and what not to do for this - implying whatever I screw up this time around. It's not yet finished, but just started it this morning. A little buck...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[TheTone]

Done a few tiny ones in buckets and other small containers just so I could keep track of the teeth

 

[Four22]

I had a fawn antelope that was from winter kill. Had about 2” horns on it and the skull was maybe 4” long.

I tried and tried and tried to get the smell out but never could get it to stop smelling like death. I pitch it but kept the horns.

 

[npaden]

I did a turkey skull one time when I was running my beetles. Amazing the number of bones in a turkey skull.

They did a good job on it, but then it was all in pieces and I had to figure out how to get it all back together which included a liberal amount of glue.

Only tip I have is to keep each skull in it's own little container. Easy with beetles, harder with other methods.

 

[npaden]

The canines on almost all of them have cracked and split in 2. The incisors on most of the rodents fall out and have also cracked in half. They were all beetle cleaned so over boiling is not the issue. Some of the animals like mink and raccoon I’ve glued the teeth back in. I don’t have an answer for you. I’ll post a few pics later today.

I've had that issue with even bobcat and bear teeth. Not sure what causes it. Elmers glue generally fixes it fairly well.

 

[sclancy27]

I bet a sous vide would work well. No boiling action and you can pick your temp. Sadly, no pressure washing that little guy tho, you'd prob atomize it.

 

[Caseknife]

Found a weasel skull, I think, a few years ago, just cleaned it in a small container with hydrogen peroxide. The teeth did fall out but were captured in the container. Had to get a desk style lighted magnifying glass to reassemble it. Will have to get a picture.

 

[MNElkNut]

I have had my buddy who does beetles do a bunch of stuff for the local high school teacher. Mice are crazy small and delicate as can be expected. But even pheasants, ducks, huns, and sharpies are crazy small. They were in a little clear plastic case and I wasnt about to take them out!

 

[MTelkHuntress]

The smallest I've done is a ruffed grouse. I did the sous vide method and it worked well enough. I have some improvements for next time. I did lose a tiny bone but that could have been prevented if I put the skull in a mesh bag.

 

[Bryerific]

I keep meaning to finish cleaning up this skunk skull but now all of the teeth are in a ziplock and that sounds like a tough puzzle.

 

[Hunting Wife]

That turned out really nice.

My only tip if you are doing the boiling method would be to run the simmer fluids through a strainer. And have some kind of fine strainer over the sink drain to catch teeth.

I keep meaning to finish cleaning up this skunk skull but now all of the teeth are in a ziplock and that sounds like a tough puzzle.

Smallest teeth will be in the center, getting larger as you move outward. They’ll only want to fit one way (left-right). It isn’t really as hard to figure out as it seems. They usually go back into the right space fairly easily. If you have to force it, it’s probably wrong. When they look pretty even/straight in arrangement, glue them in.

 

[Bryerific]

That turned out really nice.

My only tip if you are doing the boiling method would be to run the simmer fluids through a strainer. And have some kind of fine strainer over the sink drain to catch teeth.



Smallest teeth will be in the center, getting larger as you move outward. They’ll only want to fit one way (left-right). It isn’t really as hard to figure out as it seems. They usually go back into the right space fairly easily. If you have to force it, it’s probably wrong. When they look pretty even/straight in arrangement, glue them in.

you are right, calling it a tough puzzle might be a bit dramatic and I’ve already reassembled it once. Now that a bunch of them have split into pieces, I guess it’s the thought of trying to glue them all together/in that keeps it low on the priority list!

 

[Irrelevant]

I did a robin once, it was my son's first kill (we had to have a little talk afterward). I also cooked it up for him to eat. The first bite he saw was good, but he couldn't choke the second bite down (there were only two bites worth).

The skull was done slowly over low heat, the bones were impossibly fragile.

I can also remember spending hours trying to find all the teeth for a vole skull I found in an owl pellet. Never did find them all, and probably didn't get the teeth I did find into the right spot.

 

[BrentD]

This reminds me, I have a woodcock skull in the refrigerator. Been there for months, unamusing my wife. I was going to do it via anaerobic maceration, which is popular with bird skulls. Just need to find an empty peanut butter jar or similar.