Cleaning a beak cover?

[Ginger2000]

I got gifted a Crow Skull from a nice gentleman in England last year. It's been in my freezer for a while but I decided to pull it out along with a few foxes and get them into Maceration.

While stripping the skin off the bird I pulled the beak covers off.. I'd LOVE to keep these and put them back on the skull when it's ready, how do I clean them? Something tells me maceration might make them weak so I bagged them and put them in the freezer for now.

I did a quick search on the forums but couldn't find any answers...

[grf68]

I've done a few crow skulls and all I do is drop the sheaths into dawn and water once I get them off and when they are clean just put them aside till the skull is ready for them, I've yet to try it but I've heard of putting them in rubbing alcohol till your ready to put them back on which would probably make it easier because they are a little tricky when they are dry. Also keep them away from peroxide, I've made that mistake, it pretty much ruins them. Good luck with it.

[Guus]

I always rinse them under warm water, sanitize them in alcohol or formaldehyde and then dry them. When the skull is ready to put them back on I put them in hot water for a couple of minutes to make them soft again so they will slip easily on the skull again. White glue to glue them in place, same for nails. Done hundreds of skulls like that and it always works fine. Snipes and curlews are tough to do this way but if you search for duck beaks you'll find some threads by Wouter and me which explain some other techniques. A crow is a good skull to do as a first, they have strong thick beaks and should be no problem at all. When dry you can scrape the flaky stuff off with a scalpel so that they will look smooth, shiny and black again.

[Ginger2000]

Thanks guys!! I'll get pics up when its ready!