how to do taxidermy

Taxidermy is a traditional method of preserving vertebrate animals to expose them. Whether you want to pay tribute to an animal dear to your heart or celebrate a hunt, learning the basic skills of preparation, conservation and maintenance will save you money to keep your animals.

 

Prepare the animal

 

Freeze the animal until you are ready to prepare it.

 You will need to remove the skin as soon as possible, but it is important to prevent the animal from deteriorating before storing and caring for the skin. For more security, freeze the animal so you can get the necessary equipment for a basic taxidermy:

• a sharp knife
• a sewing needle
• some thread
• padding or plaster for animals
• borax, alcohol or your favorite preservative

 Prepare the frame.

 Depending on your pet, you can prepare the body cast at that time or get a prefabricated frame (which is usually done for deer busts). You can also create your own frame from recycled materials, which is a particularly useful process for small animals. Use poles to create a wooden frame of the body shape and wrap the frame in string or old plastic bags  ^[1] .

 

• To prepare a mold, obtain a modeling agent to create a mold of the shape of the animal to fill with plaster. Mix a small amount of plaster with water and stir quickly in the mold. Remove the mold and smooth the silhouette with sandpaper or a small pocket knife. Do not dwell too much on the details: you only need the basic frame and a shape that suits the skin.
• If you make your own frame, have a malleable example to compare it to help you. Take a picture of the animal before removing the skin and use materials that can be easily handled once you have started assembling the frame. Mammalian feet are particularly difficult to straighten. Consider buying a prefab mold to use as a template for your large items for your first try.

 Remove the skin. 

Whether you're about to keep an iguana or a lynx, the process begins by removing the skin and keeping it. The peculiarities of the conservation process vary depending on whether you have a mammal, a reptile, a fish or a bird. Read on for more specific instructions on skin care.

 

• Use a sharp knife, gently cut a cut on the belly, paying particular attention not to puncture the organs or cavities, which could ruin the skin. Spread your knife evenly inside to soften the skin while peeling it with your other hand. Act as if you were removing an animal's jacket and pants. Remove as much flesh and fat as possible, being careful not to tear or make a hole in the skin.

 If you keep a fish, a bird or a lizard, treat your head separately. 

Remove the skin on the head of a mammal as you would with the rest of the body, but for lizards, fish and birds, you must remove the brain, eyes and tongue and leave the shape of the head intact for conservation. The physiology of a bird makes that you can not (and would not want) to remove the beak, then, you will have to remove the parts of the bird that can rot and smell bad.

 

• Small animals are much more difficult to stuff than larger mammals. Having small dentistry instruments or a scalpel can help you during this stage of the process and you should be very careful to remove as much flesh as possible. Small garbage can be removed during the preservation process, but you will need to make sure to remove larger pieces of flesh from the head before continuing. It requires patience and a well-hung stomach.

 

Keep the skin

 

Tan the skin of mammals. 

Brush non-iodized salt on the flesh side of the skin, about 3 cm thick and let stand for 24 hours. Remove the salt and repeat the process with new salt. Let the skin dry in a dark, cool place. However, watch to make sure it does not become too hard to mold  

• When it has hardened, moisturize the skin using fresh water, a small capsule of Lysol disinfectant and table salt. Dip the skin in this mixture overnight and rinse it several times until the salty mixture is gone. Hang the skin so that it drains and wipe it with a dry cloth when it is no longer flowing. At this point, you can use a remover to treat the skin more, but be sure to remove any pieces of flesh or fat that are still hanging on the skin before tanning.
• Treat the skin with a tanning oil. Heat the oil in the microwave and brush it on the skin with your hands. Let the skin rest for several hours and wrap the skin in a plastic bag by keeping it in the refrigerator until you are ready to put it on the mold.

 Use an alcoholic mixture to keep the skin of reptiles. 

Dip the skin in a mixture of 50% glycerin and 50% alcohol for up to two weeks  . Keep it in a cool, dark place. When removing the skin, pat it and remove all glycerin.

 

 

To conserve birds and fish, pass borax inside the skin. 

Place the skin with the flesh part down on a generous layer of borax in a shoe box. Sprinkle about 5 mm more borax on the leather. Let stand in a dark, cool and dry place for about 4 days. The flesh will be rather stiff when you have removed the borax. Brush the excess and the skin of your fish or bird will be perfectly preserved.

 

 

 

Exposing and maintaining a taxidermy

Dress your mold. 

If you have made a decent mold, stuffing your skin should be as easy as dressing a doll. Secure your skin on the mold, being careful to smooth any unnatural bump or irregularities. You must solve the structural problems before sewing.

• Keep some string on hand to arrange areas that need to be adjusted. Cut small pieces of string or newspaper to fill a striated muscle or other part of the body.

Sew. 

Use an appropriate thread color, assemble as tight as possible the seam you cut first and make the seam as invisible as possible. Adorn your taxidermy with dummy eyes and original teeth by sticking them.

Exhibit your work. 

Imagine. If you are exhibiting a pet, immortalize it in a peaceful position, possibly in a nap position. Otherwise, if you are celebrating a successful hunt, strip the animal's teeth with a fierce air. More elaborate additions are commercially available, but make your own. Organize a table of branches and stones on your wall on which to put your taxidermy.

Maintain your taxidermy. 

After stuffing your pet, make sure you do not ruin this work by ignoring it. Keep objects away from sunlight by keeping them in a room in your home that you control. Moisture can be moldy while excessive dryness can cause cracks or cracks. If the framing takes an unusual shape, consider opening it and sewing it. Dust it regularly to keep it clean and keep it looking realistic.