Maceration Step by Step ... Revisited

[Wolfwoman]

I'm thinking ONE is enough!!! lol

[Uncle Bob]

Yes I will.

[zantosa53]

I saw you used ziplock bags to catch the teeth and such, great idea but wouldn't that also catch the runny oncewasflesh? is there something like a pair of nylons? or some kind of plastic netting that's spaced big enough to let the oncewasflesh ( I kinda like that word  ) to let that through but still catch the other bones/teeth? I read somewhere you shouldn't use a metal bucket so I would assume an old screen wouldn't be a good choice.

[Wolfwoman]

I just open the bag, take out the skull and jawbones, pour off (carefully) a bunch of the water, then a take and run clean water in it until it's clear. Stick my hand in and retrieve the teeth. There is nothing better than a ziplock for small skulls, because even nylons are going to catch rotted flesh, and if you use a screen much bigger than nylon, tiny teeth WILL go thru,

[zantosa53]

Alrighty thanks!

[Sea Wolf]

pair of nylons? or some kind of plastic netting

   
    Gross  gross  gross .... No, that WILL catch all manner of nastiness. Nope, plastic baggiies. I like the stronger Ziplocs as the zipper on the top is stiff enough to hold the bag out and keep it from collapsing. The gunk inside easily washes out with a gentle stream of water and leaves all nice clean bone and teeth in the bottom. 

[zantosa53]

hahaha ok then I'll stick with the ziplock baggies.

[DTSkulls]

I have looked over the thread, but may have overlooked it, but do you seal your ziploc bags when macerating? I didn't know if being sealed would matter as far as the gases escaping?

[Wolfwoman]

I seal them when I can, some skulls are too big sometimes. As long as you can get them to float upright they don't have to be sealed.