Maceration Step by Step ... Revisited

[Sea Wolf]

Awww. I was just a little kid. Was a tiny little B+W set. I can remember Captain Kangaroo, Cheyenne, Gunsmoke and the Kukla, Fran and Ollie shows. I did also listen to Abbot and Costello on the radio as well as The Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger.

[vmuniz]

wolfwoman, thanks for sharing with us these steps. i mascerated my first boar skulll! i found it dead and the masceration cleaned it up in 2 weeks! that water stunk like hell but much easier work that boiling.  I actually did it at my moms house with the neighbors house being about 10 feet away from the masceration igloo! No complaints from no one, i was very surpised! now i get to degrease the pig, that will be fun! i'll try the warm water and dawn for a while, if that doesn't work i'll use ammonia. thanks!

[Wolfwoman]

Thanks   Dawn will work on a boar, it will just take TIME. Change out the water every week, keep it warm and just be patient. I had a boar awhile ago that took almost 6 months to get all the grease out with dawn, but I think it was because it was boiled first. Same thing happed with a couple baboons I did. I got them already 'cleaned' and they needed degreasing, the grease was just sunk into the bone and it took a long time.

[Sea Wolf]

        WW, have you had good success with Dawn and bear skulls? The one I got from Larry will be ready for degreasing this weekend. I'll try Dawn to start but I'm prepared to use acetone too.

[Michelle Nelson's Taxidermy]

Does acetone work faster to degreese bear skulls?

[vmuniz]

yikes 6 months! long time for dawn, how many bottles of dawn will i go through for that long?

also can you tell if a skull is fully degreased by taking it out of the water and looking at it right there, or do you have to wait a day or overnight for it to dry completely?

[Wolfwoman]

SeaWolf, I only use Dawn, have tried ammonia and don't like it...the result or the smell, haven't tried acetone, don't want to

vmuniz, on a boar you can use a cup per 5 gallons, and it may degrease sooner, you are macerating so a lot of the grease will come out that way. The ones I had were in bad shape. Sometimes you can tell right away, sometimes it takes a day or two.

[Sea Wolf]

    Vmuniz, I had a cougar skull that degreased in Dawn for almost two weeks. I took it out, rinsed, peroxide whitened and dried it. It was beautifuly clean, white and no sign of grease. I got distracted and it sat on the table for a good two weeks unfinished. I picked it up the other day, and low and behold, small spots of oil were showing on the lower jaw (around the holes where the nerves were) and in the deeper spots of the eye sockets. There is still fat and oil deep in the bone. I now have it submerged in acetone and will leave it there for a while and dry again to see if that fixes it.

[vmuniz]

it takes time to do it right...thanks for the info seawolf and wolfwoman

[Mudcat72]

Wolfwoman(or anyone that knows),

What are the little white powdery deposits left over when maceration is complete? I get them on mine and here they are on yours.

[Sea Wolf]

  I believe you will find that those deposits are just residual fat. I get it on mine too. I take an old tooth brush and some Dawn and just scrub it all off. I generally scrub the whole outside of the skull with Dawn and a brush before degreasing anyway. I also have small diameter bottle type brushes (for test tubes and smaller that I run into the vein holes and small places). Fat, when decomposed sometimes turns into this waxy substance but it is easily washed off. Do a Google search for Adipocere. Some really interesting things come up.

[Mudcat72]

Thanks Seawolf,

Yes, I got them now on a coyote skull I'm doing. I've gotten them before, but had never gotten them all in the nasal bones like I did this time. They are easily taken care of on the outside of the skull, they've been a pain to get out of the nasal bones. Assuming they were saponified fat deposits, I thought they'd melt if I put the skull into hot water. No dice. I'll have to look up adipocere

[Sea Wolf]

Adipocere is what it is called. I don't think any of the info you find will help in dissolving it though. My two guesses might be acetone or alcohol. Possibly also strong detergent and heating, but not simmering might break it up. If it is just in the nasals .... *maybe* try heating a strong solution of Dawn and water to simmering, prop the skull up in a bowl, so that it is facing straight up, and pour the boiling water through the nasals? It's only a guess, but it might be enough to melt off the deposits and flush them away without damaging anything.

[Mudcat72]

Thanks, I had tried dawn/water as well as acetone for just a short time. I didn't have much patience on this one because I was aggravated. The melting point is higher than 212F because I took it to a gentle boil for 10 minutes or and it didn't do anything. So, I let it dry, then I banged on the skull and watched pieces of that stuff fall out. I'd scrath on it a little more with a dissecting needle and bang a little more and got most of what was visible. As well as that workrd, I'm hoping the peroxide will bubble out more of it and also whiten up the bone so much that what is left won't be noticeable.

[oldretiredguy39]

Hi WW

Just re-read your post on maceration--- somewhere else I read that no Dawn is added at the maceration step-- only after the flesh has been removed and you are ready for degreasing---

Please clarify-- Dawn gets added----
Thanks
ORG
P.S.Black bear skull ---frozen-- no flesh removed-- just the skin-- in a month-- all but a few shards of skin removed-- brain cavity is clean as a whistle--- I'm sold-- thanks again