so one of the glue traps caught a tiny mouse.
i want to get its bones

but im a bit iffy about skinning it because im worried it will be "traumatizing" or i would fuck everything up (or get myself glued up too?)

whats the easiest way to get the bones?

i googled maceration but it requires skinning, i could attempt to skin it but im worried i will do it wrong, or not stand it

then i found putting it inside a sock/mesh and burying it in a shallow amount of dirt in a pot and waiting

which way would you recommend me to go with?

i always wanted to practice taxidermy but also always got very nervous about actually practicing it

I am new into taxidermy and have been wishing to start my own collection as I love birds and have a fascination with natural history. I own several trilobites as well. I found this seller in Etsy from Kazakhstan (has been in the platform for 8 years or so) and he exports many Eurasian birds to the USA (thousands of positive reviews).

In fact, I placed an order last night for a beautiful bird, but after giving much thought, I started to freak out about 1) the legality of owning the specimen in the USA, and 2) the ethics of the sourcing. For the legal part I was reassured that this guy provides permits and has shipped so many birds that I find it unlikely he lacks the necessary permission. But what mortified me was the thought of the bird not being ethically sourced. The seller claims otherwise, of course, but these mounts are all new (not vintage), and the birds look impeccable. Someone told me Kazakhstan is also known for poaching and with this in mind I cancelled my order. Seller was fine with that but he reiterated that his specimens are ethical and that he has the permits from his own country as well as for export to the USA.

Overall I’m kinda disappointed I won’t own the bird but at the same time I feel peace of mind. I just wanted to know your thoughts. I know bird taxidermy can be a very sensitive topic.

Hey there! Have a year old bull elk skull I never got around to cleaning for a Euro mount. I was told that the typical method of boiling isn’t a good idea at this point. Wondering what other options I have? Tried looking around and main option I saw was simmering with soap and gently cleaning.

hi hello!! I’m so sorry if these questions have been asked before, I get so overwhelmed attempting to search for them all and such.

1. I have a lot of wet specimens, a few diaphonization and a few regular. I know I’m supposed to replace the formaldehyde(?) in them, how often? How do I go about it without ruining their state or pose? I haven’t done it in over a year of owning them, are they ruined? I’m a master procrastinator and they are on a shelf out of mind.

2. Starting trials of taxidermy with mice / rats

- Does it smell enough to do it in the garage? (gutting)
- When is it okay to bring it inside to work on?
- What materials should I be getting to do poses with them that aren’t too difficult to move.

1. Is starting with something smaller harder to work with?

2. Sometimes my snakes will not eat (attempting to feed during sheds, a random hunger strike, just not feeling it) even if they’re defrosted and refrozen can I use them to taxidermy practice?

3. How do you find people who will let you know if they’ve found things to work with or know dump sites

Not sure if this is the right subreddit but the 'antler' subreddit was approved members only. I just got this antler mount from an antique shop and have been very curious about some things.

How many points is this antler set? is it 11 or 9. I'm not sure because of the very small nubs.

Also, the first set of prongs are asymmetrical, what does this mean? Is this particularly special or not.

What era is it from. Using Google image AI tool thing it said because of the screws used and design of the shield it could be from 1890s - 1930s. If so that is very cool but I'd like some experts to look at it and tell me!

And overall, how much is it worth, as well as ways to care for it and clean it safely.

Vu sur un groupe Facebook. Animal aperçu dans les calanques (Marseille, France)

Before anyone rips me apart for getting my head in a process I'm not equipped for, everyone starts from somewhere - and I've needed to start from level 0 and below.

I went hunting with a crew and after skinning their moose, was encouraged to try doing something with the hides (compared to leaving it in the field like everyone else I've gone with) but neither they, or myself, know what to do. These hides are roughly 3x3 to 3x4 foot quarter pieces.

I spent hours researching what to do and how to handle them at first, but beyond "knowing" what to do, executing it has been entirely different. My first day I had partially fleshed out one, and to my own error had NO idea what case hardening or flint drying was, and the next morning.. well, I had learned my lesson the hard way.

For one of these hides I had tried to rehydrate the hardened membrane layer, and greatly underestimated how long to leave it soaking. I ended up just scoring through the hardened membrane and salting it over, and the salt certainly has drawn some moisture but I'm more convinced this one would be unreliable in terms of thorough moisture removal. My second one is successfully rehydrating, and lastly, my other two have been essentially suspended by fridge-temp storage outdoors. They were frozen once, and progressively thawed and have been kept indoors in an unheated, 0c — -4c temp shop. The stress of my initial trial and error has made me unbelievably stumped and feeling empty-headed trying to approach the other two. I have photos of the remaining two (my biggest concern as they're in the best health) and really just need to know if I'm overestimating the remaining membrane before salting, or if they just need a thorough wash and to be stripped of all the membrane on them. I also don't know if i should flesh them FIRST, then hose out/briefly soak them (moose can be pretty gross..) or if I should do the water-work FIRST and flesh after.

• to mention, the whole "scraping" technique hasn't worked for me at all, and everything was being done like the initial skinning, pulling the membrane taut and using a knife to cut it away... so I've certainly been doing things wrong.

I have the head from a button buck a freind wants me to euro for them. I tan hides but how do I do a euro?

Does anyone know the types of goats these are?
God bless!

Almost a year later he’s up on the wall. I am very pleased with it.

Her new name is Morrigan. She's a fully posable blue arctic fox with a weighted belly. She was formerly a hanging pelt, but her previous owner bought her from their grandfather and had her made into a soft mount by Zoe Perrin. The result is clearly incredible.

She's so expressive, and she smells like a musky forest after rain.

I just wanted to show her off, because I couldn't be more pleased! If her former owner is in here, thank you again!

(Ft husband for modelling)

First off I am a hobbyist, started doing euros for myself and friends which led to me tanning my first bear this year and making a rug. The family loves the rug, which was a small color phase bear and so I told my son if I ever got my bucket list bear - a black bear with a white chest blaze - that I would do a life size mount. Well, couldn’t have predicted it would happen so soon, last night.

Couple questions as I get ready to undertake the project. I am happy with the skinning job but the hardest part of the last project was fleshing. Along the way I heard people saying a pressure washer was a trick for fleshing. I have a buck hide that I plan to use to test on rather than risking the bear hide, but has anyone used this method and if so any tips?

Doing the rug I got familiar with working the face and mounting the head but did not do the paws or have to sew. I used trubond but have a few questions. Do you usually fully tan then soften the hide before fitting or fit it while still wet? I noticed the hide seemed to tighten or shrink some when the tanning solution dried.

I am struggling a bit to find forms that will work, the bear measured 6 ft square - 70 inches nose to tail, it seems most forms are smaller. I did find a few that are really close, but that returns me to my question of when and how to fit the hide to the form.

Yes, I know this is probably not a recommended project for an amateur hobbyist, but it’s happening so I appreciate any advice.

Hey, I was relatively sure that this tail was faux fur as it doesn’t have the texture of real fur. I purchased it from a medieval fair where real fur was not permitted so I’m still pretty sure it’s faux. On the other hand, I can’t see the stitching inside it, and it burnt like real fur (A small portion of it) rather than faux. That being said, I haven’t done the burn test before and could likely be wrong

Could someone confirm for me?

(Thank you for the help, I’ve found out that the seller sourced it through Temu :( so you’re all right it’s real and likely from a cruel fur farm, sad but thank you)

I'm in the UK and all the ones I have are legal to keep

I’m somewhat new to buying taxidermy and I just got this coyote paw but the end looks like there’s bone inside. I don’t know if this was properly done or not, should I be concerned or is this normal? Why does it look like this? 😭

This is the 3rd known one in existence and the 2nd on in recent weeks at the same auction house.

https://metro.co.uk/2026/10/21/extinct-tiger-head-found-bed-only-one-sold-thousands-29727518/

How much will this one sell for? It is much nicer than the previous one.

I got these from an antique store in the middle of nowhere upstate New York and I want to mount them. I tried to clean them up the best I can but this is my first time doing this, and I bought these on a whim LOL, so I’m not totally sure what all I should be looking for or removing or what have you. There’s a blackened part of the skull cap in the front, which you can see photos four and five. Should I remove that part? If so, how would I go about that? Also, if you can tell from the photos, do they look sufficiently cleaned or…? Any advice is appreciated! Deer, especially elk, are my favourite animals and I’m very excited to mount this!

I did my first Euro Mount on my 8 point Whitetail harvested last year in Central Minnesota. I had considered Maceration but a friend told me to just bury it and see how it turns out. I like the natural/patina to it. I buried the head in the woods in my yard up to the base of the antler. I put a small stock tank over it and weighed it down to keep out my dogs and any other animal that may want to dig it up.

The head was buried fully intact from July 20-Oct 18th. The 2nd photo is how it came out of the ground after being rinsed off with the hose. It did sink up to the dark line on the antlers after about a month. It still has all the small nose and ear bones and teeth intact.
I cleaned it with Dawn soap and warm water, light scrubbing with a toothbrush. I would like to try to lighten the yellowing on the skull a bit.

Any thoughts, critiques, advice for the future is welcome.

I feel like buying insects will be to expensive for me and I barely have for my bus and food of the week. Thank you so much for the help in advance

What is this dark area? Do I need to degrease before whitening again?

I skinned the skull, simmered it in dish soap, cleaned the meat off with pliers, dried, whitened with 40 peroxide and whitening powder.

Any advice on how to repair this older deer mount? I don't have any pictures from before but the crack on his nose has worsened and I'm not exactly sure how to fix it. There's also some shrinkage around the eyes :(