HELP!! PLEASE!!

[B2L]

alright mr. snake fits form pretty nicely except the head... i guess i need to order a small change out one.. but anyway had some scales slip on his head.. prb. from trying to get it on a head it wasnt going to go on... can they be fixed?  While im waiting for the change out to get here what do i do with the snake... i have pickled, tanned, and oiled... can he be frozen again or mist him up and leave him in a sealed container and throw him in the fridge... If i could have something go right on the first time I will have a heart attack.....! 
Thanks
Eric

[Barry]

are you sure they slipped or just the outer layer  and you stated that you oiled the skin you needed  to skip that step to mount the skin to a form!!!! Also it is best to some times mold the head  cause most forms don't have the right size so best to make a fmold of original head "Kirby" can set you on the right path here 

[B2L]

woo.. rittel's tanning instructions say when tanned, remove the skins from the tan, rince and drain for 20ish minutes - then oil.... ? is it going to be alright.. if i f'd this up im going to scream and all of you will be able to hear me wherever you are... I had the trusty old dremmel out, i need to buy a plug in one, but the battery died while i was making the head smaller...
for the scale part... i dont know which one it was... i think slipping cause i was holding little scales here and there... lost ~ 20... got one part on his head you can definitly tell is different from the rest..
Thanks
eric

[B2L]

heres a couple pics..
1... see the missing scales.. how the hell do i fix that problem and what caused it??
2... does my dremmeling/ reforming of the head look alright or should i buy a new one.. i have been working on this damn thing for way to many hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
eric
and if im goign to order a new head what do i do with the skin till then...

[Barry]

I think you will be just fine just repaint the scales . Next time make sure you have some nice reference pics of your snake. I had the same problem with the last snake I did just going to let it dry and paint it. It could have been getting ready to shed it's skin when caught  Just a thought

[B2L]

ive decided to order another head so i really need to know what to do with him until i get it.. and did by me putting the oil on it schmuck it up?
when ordering a new head... where do they take the measurements from... across the head and from where the curve meets the neck to the nose?
i hate being clueless!!
Eric

[Yeager1]

What's wrong with the head form in the picture? Show some side shots of the head.

[Ron B]

Head looks fine,  its the NECK that has issues

[Yeager1]

Could be because you detach the head from the form when you mount a snake Ron?

[Ron B]

I don't   Still, it looks like a chicken snake   I do not like chicken snakes!!!

[Yeager1]

How the hell do you get the skin started on the form unless you cut the head off the form? Unless you cut your incision all the way up to the bottom jaw. I ain't talking bout mounting chicken snakes either!

[wetnwild]

just buy a reproduction head if it dont work, attach, and paint

[B2L]

First, whats a chicken snake?  This was one big timber rattler with an awefully small head.. I ordered a replacement head measuring 2in by 1 5/8... Should just about do it... I didnt know if this one looked right or not after i put the dremmel to it...I know not everything was perfectly symmetrical..
Yeager tells me to refreeze it while waiting... Thanks, but do i want to keep him dry like I did after first skinning him?
I dont have a side view but heres a front view...

Thanks everyone
Eric

[Yeager1]

A chicken snake is what us Southerners call a grey rat snake. Timber rattlers have small heads compared to other rattlesnakes. The next one you catch will more than likely have a small head also. What hind of head did you order? If you froze it, just wrap it in papertowels to let it thaw out in. The towels will wick away the moisture as it thaws.

[wetnwild]

Almost all the commercial forms are sculptrd for western diamondbacks. it is always best to do an alginate cast of the head when still on the snake, cut off the head on the form, and use your cast head instead . That way it will be a perfect fit, and will have the correct anotomical shape